The Voice of Billie Jo Spears

The Voice of Billie Jo Spears is a studio album by American country artist Billie Jo Spears. It was released in November 1968 via Capitol Records and contained 11 tracks. The disc mixed both new recordings with original material and featured her first charting single: "He's Got More Love on His Little Finger". It was the debut studio album of Spears's career and received positive reviews from critics.

The Voice of Billie Jo Spears
Studio album by
Billie Jo Spears
ReleasedNovember 1968 (1968-11)
RecordedMay – August 1968
StudioColumbia Studio
GenreCountry[1]
LabelCapitol
ProducerKelso Herston
Billie Jo Spears chronology
The Voice of Billie Jo Spears
(1968)		 Mr. Walker, It's All Over!
(1969)
Singles from The Voice of Billie Jo Spears
  1. "Harper Valley PTA"
    Released: August 1968
  2. "He's Got More Love on His Little Finger"
    Released: November 1968

Background, recording and content

Billie Jo Spears first signed a recording contract with United Artists Records in 1964. However, she had limited success with her first several recordings. Her label producer (Kelso Herston) moved to Capitol Records and was able to bring Spears to the label with him in 1968. The first recordings Herston made with Spears would be The Voice of Billie Jo Spears.[2] The project was recorded in sessions held between May and August 1968 at the Columbia Studio.[3]

The album consisted of 11 tracks.[1] Many of the album's tracks were cover tunes. This included Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe"[3] and two of Tammy Wynette's singles: "I Don't Wanna Play House" and "Take Me to Your World".[2] New tracks are also featured such as "Home Loving Man", "Till Something Better Comes Along", "Talk Talk" and "He's Got More Love on His Little Finger". Three of these songs were composed (or co-composed) by Jack Rhodes, whom helped jump start Spears's early career.[3]

Release, critical reception and singles

The Voice of Billie Jo Spears was released by Capitol Records in November 1968. It was distributed as a vinyl LP, featuring six songs on "side A" and five songs on "side B". It was the debut studio album of Spears's recording career.[3] The album was received positively by critics and music publications. Billboard magazine called it a "powerful LP", highlighting the track "Get Behind Me Satan and Push".[4] Alan Cackett of Country Music People magazine found that the disc "showed off her emotional styling on a selection of well known songs".[2] AllMusic later rated the album 4.5 out of 5 possible stars.[1]

The first single from the album was the song "Harper Valley PTA", issued in August 1968.[5] A competing version by Jeannie C. Riley released at the same time became the commercially successful version.[6] The second single issued was "He's Got More Love on His Little Finger" in November 1968.[7] It was Spears's first single to make the American Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Spending ten weeks on the chart, it climbed to the number 48 position in January 1969.[8]

Track listing
Side one[3]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Home-Loving Man"Jack Rhodes2:17
2."Take Me to Your World"
2:58
3."Harper Valley PTA"Tom T. Hall3:12
4."Till Something Better Comes Along"Jerry Chestnut2:56
5."Talk Talk"Rhodes2:37
6."Mollie Brown"
  • Rhodes
  • Billie Jo Spears
2:05
Side two[3]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."A Woman of the World"
2:07
2."I Don't Wanna Play House"
  • Sherrill
  • Sutton
2:45
3."He's Got More Love in His Little Finger"
2:50
4."Get Behind Me Satan and Push"
  • Ann Kiker
  • Doris Hamilton
2:16
5."Ode to Billie Joe"Bobbie Gentry4:30

Release history
Region Date Format Label Ref.
North America November 1968 Vinyl LP Capitol Records [3]
United Kingdom March 1970 [9]
Australia June 1971 World Record Club [10]

References
  1. "The Voice of Billie Jo Spears: Billie Jo Spears: Songs, reviews, credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  2. Cackett, Alan (November 1978). "Billie Jo Spears". Country Music People Magazine. Vol. 9, no. 11.
  3. Spears, Billie Jo (November 1968). "The Voice of Billie Jo Spears (Disc Information)". Capitol Records. ST-114.
  4. "Billboard Album Reviews". Billboard. November 23, 1968. p. 53. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  5. Spears, Billie Jo (August 1968). ""The Harper Valley PTA"/"Home-Loving Man" (Single Information)". United Artists Records. 2279.
  6. "Billie Jo Spears". City of Vidor. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  7. Spears, Billie Jo (November 1968). ""He's Got More Love on His Little Finger"/"A Woman of the World" (Single Information)". Capitol Records. 2331.
  8. "Billie Jo Spears chart history (Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  9. Spears, Billie Jo (March 1970). "The Voice of Billie Jo Spears (United Kingdom)". Capitol Records. ST-21533.
  10. Spears, Billie Jo (June 1971). "The Voice of Billie Jo Spears (Australia)". World Record Club. S-4900.
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