Clean Cut Explained

Clean Cut
Type:studio
Artist:Barbara Mandrell
Cover:Barbara Mandrell-Clean Cut.jpg
Released:March 27, 1984
Recorded:January 1984 (Nashville, TN)[1]
Genre:Country pop
Length:32:37
Label:MCA
Producer:Tom Collins
Prev Title:Spun Gold
Prev Year:1983
Next Title:Meant for Each Other
Next Year:1984

Clean Cut is the fourteenth solo studio album by American country music artist Barbara Mandrell. The album was released in March 1984 on MCA Records and was produced by Tom Collins. It was one of two studio albums Mandrell released in 1984.

Background and content

Clean Cut was recorded in January 1984 at the Woodland Sound Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, United States.[1] Like Mandrell's previous releases, the album contained 10 tracks. Most of the song's themes were built around the traditional working class country music perspective but had a country pop arrangement. Songs such as "Only a Lonely Heart Knows", "Happy Birthday Dear Heartache", and "I Can Depend on You" had a significant pop-sounding arrangement.[2] Like most of Barbara's MCA output, Clean Cut was only ever issued on a long-playing record, with five songs per side.[3]

Release

Unlike her previous releases, Clean Cut spawned three singles in 1984. "Happy Birthday Dear Heartache" was the first single from the album released in January 1984. The song peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Magazine Country Singles Chart and No. 18 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart. The second single, "Only a Lonely Heart Knows" was issued in May 1984 and reached No. 2 on the Billboard Country Singles Chart and became her final number one hit on the Canadian Country chart. "Crossword Puzzle" was the third and final single released from the album, reaching No. 11 on the Billboard Country chart, becoming her first single since 1981 to miss the Top 10 on the chart.[4] Clean Cut was also released in 1984 and peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Magazine Top Country Albums chart and peaked outside the Billboard 200 albums chart, reaching No. 204.[5]

Track listing

Side one

  1. "Happy Birthday Dear Heartache" (Mack David, Archie Jordan) – 2:34
  2. "If It's Not One Thing, It's Another" (Steve Dean, Frank J. Myers) – 3:48
  3. "I Can Depend on You" (Dennis Morgan, Stephen Allen Davis) – 3:54
  4. "I Wonder What the Rich Folk Are Doin' Tonight" (W. T. Davidson, Myers, Dean) – 2:49
  5. "Crossword Puzzle" (Dean, Myers) – 3:37

Side two

  1. "Only a Lonely Heart Knows" (Morgan, Davis) – 3:48
  2. "Just Like Old Times" (Rafe Van Hoy, Deborah Allen) – 2:58
  3. "Look What Love Has Done" (Morgan, Davis) – 3:21
  4. "Take Care of You" (Morgan, Davis) – 3:00
  5. "Sincerely, I'm Yours" (David, Jordan) – 2:48

Personnel

Pete Bordonali, Jimmy Capps, Dennis Morgan, Frank J. Myers

Fred Newell

David Hungate, Joe Osborn

Eddie Bayers, James Stroud

Pete Bordonali, Larry Byrom, Jon Goin

Hoot Hester

Terry McMillan

David Briggs, Bobby Ogdin

David Briggs, Bobby Ogdin

Larry Byrom

Sonny Garrish

The Nashville String Machine

Bobby Ogdin, Alan Steinberger

Tim Farmer, James Stroud

Charts

Singles

YearSongChart positions
US CountryCAN Country
1984"Happy Birthday Dear Heartache"318
"Only a Lonely Heart Knows"21
"Crossword Puzzle"1110

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Recording Sessions - Barbara Mandrell. Country Music.Blogspot. January 11, 2010.
  2. Web site: [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r243322|pure_url=yes}} ''Clean Cut'' > Overview]. Allmusic. January 11, 2010.
  3. Web site: Clean Cut by Barbara Mandrell. Rate Your Music. January 11, 2010.
  4. Web site: [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p1708/charts-awards/billboard-singles|pure_url=yes}} Billboard chart positions > singles]. Allmusic. January 11, 2010.
  5. Web site: [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r243322/charts-awards|pure_url=yes}} ''Clean Cut'' charts & awards]. Allmusic. January 11, 2010.
  6. 1985 Talent Almanat. Billboard. 96. 51. TA-24. December 22, 1984. July 18, 2021.