Downtown Country

Downtown Country is the sixth studio album by American country artist, Connie Smith. The album was released in January 1967 on RCA Victor Records and was produced by Bob Ferguson. The album featured Smith's major hit singles from 1966, "The Hurtin's All Over," which peaked within the Top 5 on the Billboard Magazine Country chart.

Downtown Country
Studio album by
Connie Smith
ReleasedJanuary 1967
RecordedAugust 25, 1966 – October 27, 1966
GenreCountry
Length31:01
LabelRCA Victor
ProducerBob Ferguson
Connie Smith chronology
Born to Sing
(1966)		 Downtown Country
(1967)		 Connie in the Country
(1967)
Singles from Downtown Country
  1. "The Hurtin's All Over"
    Released: September 1966
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Background

Downtown Country was a departure from Smith's previous albums, as most of the material was more Pop-oriented and featured cover versions of Pop music material as well. Violins, violas, and other orchestral arrangements were incorporated into the album's material to add a more Pop-sounding style. The album consisted of twelve tracks, many of which were cover versions, including Petula Clark's "Downtown," Elvis Presley's "It's Now or Never," Sandy Posey's "Born a Woman," Lynn Anderson's "Ride, Ride, Ride," and Connie Francis's "My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own." The album was released on a 12-inch vinyl LP record with six songs on each side of the record, and was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee. Reviewed by Allmusic, Downtown Country was a given a rating of four out of five stars.[2]

Release and aftermath

Downtown Country spawned only one single, the Harlan Howard-penned, "The Hurtin's All Over." Released in September 1966, the song became a major country hit, peaking within the Top 5, reaching #3 on the Billboard Magazine Hot Country Songs chart in early 1967. In addition, the album itself also reached a peak position. Downtown Country reached a peak of #5 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart, becoming Smith's last Top 5 album.[3] It was Smith's first album to be released in 1967 as well.

Track listing
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Ride, Ride, Ride"Liz Anderson1:47
2."Downtown"Tony Hatch2:50
3."It's Now or Never"Wally Gold, Aaron Schroeder3:13
4."Born a Woman"Martha Sharp2:28
5."Everybody Loves Somebody"Ken Lane, Irving Taylor2:53
6."The Night Has a Thousand Eyes"Marilyn Garret, Dorothy Wayne, Ben Weisman2:27
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."It's Gonna Rain Today"Dallas Frazier2:32
2."My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own"Howard Greenfield, Jack Keller2:29
3."The Hurtin's All Over"Harlan Howard2:45
4."Your Mem'ry Comes Along"Paul Tannen, Johnny Tillotson2:08
5."It'll Be Easy"Jan Crutchfield2:35
6."My Own Peculiar Way"Willie Nelson2:54

Personnel

Sales chart positions
Albums
Chart (1967) Peak
position
U.S. Top Country Albums 5
Singles
Year Song Chart positions
US Country
1966 "The Hurtin's All Over" 3

References
  1. Allmusic review
  2. "Downtown Country > Overview". allmusic. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
  3. "Charts & Awards". allmusic. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
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