Rock Me Back to Little Rock

Rock Me Back to Little Rock is a studio album by American country artist Jan Howard. It was released by Decca Records in June 1970 and was her tenth studio album. The project contained 11 tracks with a mixture of original tunes and cover songs. Among its tracks were two single releases: "We Had All the Good Things Going" and the title track. Both made appearances on the US country songs chart between 1969 and 1970. The album itself also made the US country chart. Both Billboard and Cash Box magazines reviewed the album following its release.

Rock Me Back to Little Rock
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 1970 (1970-06)
Genre
LabelDecca
ProducerOwen Bradley
Jan Howard chronology
If It's All the Same to You
(1970)
Rock Me Back to Little Rock
(1970)
Bill and Jan (Or Jan and Bill)
(1972)
Singles from Rock Me Back to Little Rock
  1. "We Had All the Good Things Going"
    Released: August 1969
  2. "Rock Me Back to Little Rock"
    Released: February 1970

Background, recording and content

edit

Jan Howard was the former wife of country music songwriter Harlan Howard. With his encouragement, she began her own recording career in the late 1950s and had her first commercially-successful release in 1960 with "The One You Slip Around With". Signing with Decca Records in the middle 1960s, her recording career became more successful with top ten, top 20 and top 40 singles like "Evil on Your Mind", "My Son" and "Rock Me Back to Little Rock".[3] The latter song would serve as the title for Howard's 1970 studio album,[4] which consisted of 11 tracks[1] and was produced by Owen Bradley. Among the new recordings were three songs penned by Howard herself: "Hello Stranger", "Love Is a Sometimes Thing" and "I Never Once Stopped Loving You". The latter was co-written with Bill Anderson. Additional tracks were cover tunes including "Let It Be", "Try a Little Kindness" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water".[4]

Release and critical reception

edit

Rock Me Back to Little Rock was released in June 1970 by Decca Records and was Howard's tenth studio album in her career. It was distributed as both a vinyl LP and a cassette. Both versions had six tracks on "side 1" and five tracks on "side 2".[4] The project was given reviews from music magazines of the era. Billboard found it the production to include country pop elements with a "varied collection" of songs along with "a few mavericks".[2] Cash Box believed the album to sell well in record stores, writing, "Could be a good chart future in the cards for this package. Watch it."[5]

Chart performance and singles

edit

Rock Me Back to Little Rock debuted on the US Billboard Top Country Albums chart on June 27, 1970. It did not rise higher than the number 42 position after three weeks on the chart. It was Howard's lowest charting album in her career and only album to peak outside the Billboard country top 40.[6] A total of two singles were included on the project. Its earliest single was "We Had All the Good Things Going", which was first issued by Decca in August 1969.[7] It later peaked at number 20 on the US country songs chart.[8] The project's title track was issued as the second single in February 1970 by Decca.[9] It rose to number 26 on the US country songs chart later that year.[8]

Track listing

edit
Side one[4]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Can You Feel It"Bobby Goldsboro2:35
2."You and Your Sweet Love"Bill Anderson2:45
3."We Had All the Good Things Going"
2:30
4."Hello Stranger"Jan Howard2:15
5."Journey Goin' Nowhere"Dee Moeller2:09
6."Let It Be"Lennon–McCartney2:37
Side two[4]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Rock Me Back to Little Rock"Lola Jean Dillon2:19
2."Love Is a Sometimes Thing"Jan Howard2:53
3."Try a Little Kindness"
2:12
4."I Never Once Stopped Loving You"
  • Bill Anderson
  • Jan Howard
2:54
5."Bridge Over Troubled Water"4:11

Chart performance

edit
Chart (1970) Peak
position
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[10] 42

Release history

edit
Region Date Format Label Ref.
North America June 1970
  • Vinyl LP
  • cassette
Decca Records [4]
United Kingdom 1972 Vinyl LP MCA Records [11]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Rock Me Back to Little Rock: Jan Howard: Songs, reviews, credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Billboard Album Reviews: Country". Billboard. June 20, 1970. p. 57. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  3. ^ Stambler, Irwin; Landon, Grelun (2000). Country Music: The Encyclopedia. St. Martin's Press. p. 210-211. ISBN 978-0312264871.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Howard, Jan (June 1970). "Rock Me Back to Little Rock (Liner Notes)". Decca Records. DL-75207 (LP Stereo); C73-5207 (Cassette).
  5. ^ "Country LP Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. June 13, 1970. p. 46. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  6. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Joel Whitburn Presents Hot Country Albums, 1964-2007. Record Research, Inc. ISBN 978-0898201734.
  7. ^ Howard, Jan (August 1969). ""We Had All the Good Things Going"/"I'll Go Where You Go" (7" vinyl single)". Decca Records. 732543.
  8. ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (2008). Joel Whitburn Presents Across the Charts, the 1960s. Record Research. p. 184. ISBN 978-0898201758.
  9. ^ Howard, Jean (February 1970). ""Rock Me Back to Little Rock"/"Hello Stranger" (7" vinyl single)". Decca Records. 732636.
  10. ^ "Jan Howard Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  11. ^ Howard, Jan (1972). "Rock Me Back to Little Rock [U.K. edition]". MCA Records. MUPS-444 (LP).