Miss Sincerity

Miss Sincerity is a studio album by American country artist, Billie Jo Spears. It was released in November 1969 via Capitol Records and contained ten tracks. The disc featured several covers of popular songs of the era, along with several songs about social issues. Among the latter was the track "Stepchild", which was the only single included. Miss Sincerity was Spears's second to make the American country albums chart and was reviewed favorably by critics.

Miss Sincerity
Studio album by
Billie Jo Spears
ReleasedNovember 1969 (1969-11)
RecordedJune 1969 (1969-06)
StudioColumbia Studio
GenreCountry[1]
LabelCapitol
ProducerKelso Herston
Billie Jo Spears chronology
Mr. Walker, It's All Over!
(1969)		 Miss Sincerity
(1969)		 With Love, Billie Jo Spears
(1970)
Singles from Miss Sincerity
  1. "Stepchild"
    Released: August 1969

Background, recording and content

In 1969, Billie Jo Spears reached commercial success for the first time with the top five single, "Mr. Walker, It's All Over".[2] Its success inspired Spears and her label to record a series of songs that discussed social issues, including the tracks "Pittsburgh General" and "Stepchild".[3] Both songs were included on Spears's third studio album called Miss Sincerity. The album was produced by Kelso Herston at the Columbia Studio located in Nashville, Tennessee. The sessions were held in June 1969.[4]

Miss Sincerity consisted of ten tracks.[1] Several covers of popular country and pop songs were featured on the album. Among the country songs covered were George Jones's "I'll Share My World with You", Tammy Wynette's "Singing My Song" and Merle Haggard's "Today I Started Loving You Again". Spears also covered Joe South's pop single, "Games People Play". New tracks on the album included "Thing of Pleasure", "Pittsburgh General" and "Stepchild".[4] Similar in theme to that of "Mr. Walker, It's All Over", "Pittsburgh General" raised awareness to the working conditions of hospital nurses. "Stepchild" described the story of a boy who murders his stepfather.[3]

Release, chart performance, reception and singles

Miss Sincerity was released in November 1969 on Capitol Records. It was distributed as a vinyl LP with five songs on eitehr side of the disc.[4] The disc did not enter America's Billboard Top Country Albums until January 1970. It spent a total of three weeks charting, reaching the number 41 position the same month. It was Spears's second album to make the Billboard country chart.[5]

Miss Sincerity received positive reception from critics followings its release. Alan Cackett of Country Music People called it "one of her finest album collections", finding that Spears "brings a touch of her own personality" to each cover tune.[6] Record World magazine gave the disc four out of five stars. Critics highlighted the tracks "Stepchild", "Games People Play" and "I'll Share My World with You".[7] The only single included on the album was "Stepchild". Capitol originally released the track in August 1969.[8] It only reached number 43 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 1969.[9]

Track listing
Side one[4]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Stepchild"Dallas Frazier2:44
2."I'll Share My World with You"Ben Wilson2:28
3."Before Your Time"Jerry Chesnut2:35
4."Today I Started Loving You Again"Merle Haggard2:50
5."Games People Play"Joe South3:05
Side two[4]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Softly and Tenderly"
2:46
2."Singing My Song"
2:14
3."A Thing of Pleasure"Eddie Rabbitt2:14
4."You'll Never Love Me Now"Haggard2:33
5."Pittsburgh General"Gene Crysler1:53

Chart performance
Chart (1970) Peak
position
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[10] 41

Release history
Region Date Format Label Ref.
North America November 1969 Vinyl Capitol Records [4]

References
  1. "Miss Sincerity: Billie Jo Spears: Songs, reviews, credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  2. Huey, Steve. "Billie Jo Spears: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  3. Bufwack, Mary A.; Oermann, Robert K. (2003). Finding Her Voice: The History of Women in Country Music. Nashville, Tennessee: Vanderbilt University Press. pp. 271–272. ISBN 978-0826514325.
  4. Spears, Billie Jo (November 1969). "Miss Sincerity (Disc Information)". Capitol Records. ST-397 (LP); ST 8-0397 (Club LP Edition).
  5. Whitburn, Joel (1997). Joel Whitburn's Top Country Albums: 1967-1997. Record Research Inc. ISBN 0898201241.
  6. Cackett, Alan (November 1978). "Billie Jo Spears". Country Music People Magazine. Vol. 9, no. 11.
  7. "Country LP Reviews" (PDF). Record World: 65. November 15, 1969. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  8. Spears, Billie Jo (August 1969). ""Stepchild"/"Softly and Tenderly" (Single Information)". Capitol Records. 593.
  9. Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
  10. "Billie Jo Spears Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
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