Don't Break the Heart That Loves You (album) explained

Don't Break the Heart That Loves You
Type:studio
Artist:Margo Smith
Cover:Margo Smith--Don't Break the Heart That Loves You.jpeg
Recorded:November 1977 – January 1978
Studio:Columbia Recording Studio
Label:Warner Bros.
Producer:Norro Wilson
Prev Title:Happiness
Prev Year:1977
Next Title:A Woman
Next Year:1979

Don't Break the Heart That Loves You is a studio album by American country music artist Margo Smith. It was released in May 1978 via Warner Bros. Records and contained ten tracks. The album included a mixture of new recordings and covers of original hits by other artists. It was the fifth studio release of Smith's career and spawned three major hits, including the number one country songs "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You" and "It Only Hurts for a Little While."

Background and content

Margo Smith had several years of country hits after signing with Warner Bros. Records in 1976 with such songs as "Take My Breath Away."[1] Between November 1977 and January 1978, Smith went into the studio to cut her third studio recording for Warner Bros. The sessions were produced by Norro Wilson, who had also worked with Smith on her two previous studio offerings. The sessions were held at the Columbia Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee.[2]

Don't Break the Heart That Loves You contained a total of ten tracks. It included a mixture of new recordings and cover versions of previously-released material. Of the new cuts were two songs penned by Smith herself titled "Make Love the Way We Used To" and "Ode to a Cheater." Of the covers were two songs first made pop hits by Connie Francis: the title track and "Breakin' in a Brand New Broken Heart." Other covers included "Just Out of Reach (Of My Two Open Arms)," "Memories Are Made of This" and the Ames Brothers' "It Only Hurts for a Little While."[2]

Release and reception

Don't Break the Heart That Loves You was released in May 1978 on Warner Bros. Records. It became the fifth studio album of Smith's career and her third for the Warner label.[2] It was originally offered as a vinyl LP containing five songs on each side of the record.[3] In similar format, it was issued via cassette.[4] The album peaked at number 27 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. It was Smith's highest-peaking LP on the chart.[5] Don't Break the Heart That Loves You received a three-star rating from AllMusic.

The project also spawned three singles. The first was the title track (issued as a single in December 1977), which became Smith's first number one hit on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Its second single was released in March 1978, which was a cover of "It Only Hurts for a Little While." It became Smith's second number hit on the Billboard country chart later that year. The third and final single issued from the LP was Smith's cover of Kitty Kallen's "Little Things Mean a Lot" (issued in August 1978). The song reached number three on the same chart.[6] In addition, two singles reached the top ten of the RPM country singles chart in Canada. "It Only Hurts for a Little While" reached the top spot of the chart.[7]

Track listing

Vinyl and cassette versions

Personnel

All credits are adapted from the original liner notes of Don't Break the Heart That Loves You.[2]

Musical personnel

Technical personnel

Release history

RegionDateFormatLabelRef.
United StatesMay 1978VinylWarner Bros. Records
Cassette

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Brennan . Sandra . Margo Smith: Biography & History . . 28 March 2021.
  2. Smith . Margo . Don't Break the Heart That Loves You (LP Liner Notes & Album Information) . . May 1978 . BSK 3173.
  3. Web site: Margo Smith -- Don't Break the Heart That Loves You (1978, LP) (US) . . 28 March 2021.
  4. Smith . Margo . Don't Break the Heart That Loves You (Cassette Liner Notes and Album Information) . . May 1978 . M5-3773.
  5. Book: Whitburn . Joel . Joel Whitburn's Top Country Albums: 1967-1997 . 1997 . Record Research Inc. . 0898201241.
  6. Book: Whitburn, Joel. Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc.. 2008. 0-89820-177-2.
  7. Search results for "Margo Smith" under Country Singles. RPM. 19 April 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20150927152356/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-110.01-e.php?PHPSESSID=j102brf1nshfamve7b80rg9cq2&q1=Margo+Smith&q2=Country+Singles&interval=20. 27 September 2015. dead.