The Song We Fell in Love To is the twenty-seventh solo studio album by American country singer Connie Smith. It was released in March 1976 on Columbia Records. The album contained ten tracks of material crafted in a country pop style that featured overdubbed vocal harmonies by Smith herself. Two singles were included on the project: the title track and a cover of The Everly Brothers's "(Till) I Kissed You". The latter single became Smith's first top ten American single in several years. The album itself peaked in the top 40 of the American Country LP's chart in 1976.
| The Song We Fell in Love To | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 1976 | |||
| Recorded | June 11 – September 8, 1975 | |||
| Studio | Columbia Studio B | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Ray Baker | |||
| Connie Smith chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The Song We Fell in Love To | ||||
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Background
editAfter 18 top ten singles with the RCA Victor label, Connie Smith signed a new contract with Columbia Records in the early 1970s. She would continue to have commercial success, but most of her singles placed in the top 20. Her top ten and 20 singles at Columbia included "Ain't Love a Good Thing" (1973), "I Never Knew (What That Song Meant Before)" (1974), "I've Got My Baby on My Mind" (1975) and "Why Don't You Love Me" (1975).[3][4] In 1975, Smith began recording her next Columbia studio project, which would later be titled The Song We Fell in Love To. The album's name was derived from its title track, which was issued as a single. The single's country pop production style helped form the sound for the project.[2]
Recording and content
editSmith went into the studio in the summer of 1975 to make The Song We Fell in Love To. Specifically, the album was recorded over three studio sessions: June 11, August 14 and September 8, 1975. Two overdub sessions were also added that featured string instrumentation and vocal harmonies. The album was cut at Columbia Studio B, located in Nashville, Tennessee.[5] Ray Baker served as the project's producer and had been serving as Smith's producer since 1973.[6] Baker and Tupper Saussy collaborated to compose the project's title track. "We had an idea and sat down and wrote 'The Song We Fell in Love To,' and it came off really well, with a good melody; the words were good too," Baker remembered. Smith recalled liking the song after hearing it and agreed to record it.[2]
Along with the title track, the album consisted of ten songs.[1] Three songs on the album were penned by Dallas Frazier: "Because I Love You That's Why", "Ridin' on a Rainbow" and "Viva La Love".[7] On both "Ridin' on a Rainbow" and "Viva La Love", Smith harmonized with herself by overdubbing her vocals. Singer-songwriter Don Gibson penned the track "Nothing in This World".[2] Ray Baker had Smith re-record her 1964 number one debut single, "Once a Day".[4][2] "We got a good record on it, but, really, the one that she'd done with Bob Ferguson [her RCA producer] was magic – and her career maker," Baker recalled.[8] Smith also chose The Everly Brothers's pop single for the project, "(Till) I Kissed You". "It had been long enough that it just needed to be heard again," she commented. Per Smith's contract agreement, she was allowed to include two gospel songs onto her secular albums. For The Song We Fell in Love To, she included the songs "Jesus Hears, He Cares, He Can" and "When I Need Jesus, He's There".[2]
Release and singles
editThe Song We Fell in Love To was released by Columbia Records in March 1976. It was the twenty ninth studio album of Smith's career and her seventh with the Columbia label. The label distributed the album as a vinyl LP, with five songs on either side of the record.[7] The album debuted on the American Billboard Country LP's chart on March 27, 1976. It spent six weeks on the chart and peaked at number 34 on April 10, 1976.[9] Two singles were included on the project. Its first was the title track, which was released as a single by Columbia in September 1975.[10] It peaked in the top 40 of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in November 1975, climbing to the number 29 position.[11] Smith's cover of "(Till) I Kissed You" was issued as a single in January 1976.[12] By April 1976, the song became Smith's twentieth top ten single on the Billboard country chart, peaking at number 10. It was also her first Billboard top ten single since 1974.[11] In Canada, "(Till) I Kissed You" became her second single to reach number one on their RPM country chart.[13]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Song We Fell in Love To" | 2:23 | |
| 2. | "Because I Love You That's Why" | Dallas Frazier | 2:10 |
| 3. | "Jesus Hears, He Cares, He Can" | Ray Lewis | 3:14 |
| 4. | "Ridin' on a Rainbow" |
| 2:39 |
| 5. | "One Little Reason" |
| 2:25 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "(Till) I Kissed You" | Don Everly | 2:32 |
| 2. | "Once a Day" | Bill Anderson | 2:23 |
| 3. | "Viva La Love" | Frazier | 2:50 |
| 4. | "Nothing in This World" | Don Gibson | 2:30 |
| 5. | "When I Need Jesus He's There" | Lee Petrucci | 3:09 |
Personnel
editAll credits are adapted from the liner notes of The Song We Fell in Love To[7] and the biography booklet by Barry Mazor titled The Latest Shade of Blue.[5]
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Musical personnel
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Technical personnel
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Chart performance
edit| Chart (1976) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[14] | 34 |
Release history
edit| Region | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North America | March 1976 | Vinyl | Columbia Records | [7] |
| United Kingdom | CBS Records International | [15] |
References
editFootnotes
edit- ^ a b c "The Song We Fell in Love To: Connie Smith: Songs, reviews, credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f Mazor 2021, p. 46.
- ^ Bush, John. "Connie Smith: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
- ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
- ^ a b Mazor 2021, p. 59.
- ^ Mazor 2021, p. 55-59.
- ^ a b c d e f Smith, Connie (March 1976). "The Song We Fell in Love To (LP Liner Notes and Album Information)". Columbia Records. KC-33918.
- ^ Mazor 2021, p. 13.
- ^ "Connie Smith chart history (Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
- ^ Smith, Connie (September 1975). ""The Song We Fell in Love To"/"One Little Reason" (7" vinyl single)". Columbia Records. 3-10210.
- ^ a b "Connie Smith chart history (Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
- ^ Smith, Connie (January 1976). ""The Song We Fell in Love To"/"Ridin' ona Rainbow" (7" vinyl single)". Columbia Records. 3-10277.
- ^ "Search results for "Connie Smith"". RPM. Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2009-07-31.
- ^ "Connie Smith Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
- ^ Smith, Connie (March 1976). "The Song We Fell in Love To (LP Liner Notes and Album Information)". CBS Records International. 81212.
Books
edit- Mazor, Barry (November 5, 2021). The Latest Shade of Blue: The Columbia Recordings 1973 – 1976 (Box Set Biography). Bear Family Records. BCD-17609.