Just a Little Lovin'

The cover of Just a Little Lovin'' showed Lynne posing in a similar way to Springfield on the cover of Dusty in Memphis[10][17] (Lynne acknowledged the resemblance, saying that it was serendipitous),[18] and the album featured four remakes from the Springfield album while passing over its highest-profile cut: the 1969 Top Ten hit "Son of a Preacher Man" (Shelby Lynne quote:) "I would never ever ever attempt to cut 'Son of a Preacher Man.' [Dusty Springfield] owns that."[19] The title cut of Lynne's album: "Just a Little Lovin'", had been introduced on Dusty in Memphis, from which album Lynne also remade "Breakfast in Bed" and "I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore", the latter a Randy Newman composition which Lynne described as "the song that I [heard and] fell in love with Dusty":[20] Lynne also remade the shelved Dusty in Memphis track "Willie and Laura Mae Jones", a 1969 Dusty Springfield single release written by Lynne's friend Tony Joe White, known to Lynne via Waylon Jennings 1972 version.[21][20]

Although Lynne commented that the omission of a remake of Springfield's 1964 Top Ten hit "Wishin' and Hopin'" was due to (Shelby Lynne quote:) "[it] not [being] my favorite song" [21] a "Wishin' and Hopin'" remake was included on the UK release of Just a Little Lovin'. Lynne did record two other compositions by "Wishin' and Hopin'" writers Burt Bacharach and Hal David, one of them the 1967 Dusty Springfield hit "The Look of Love" and the other "Anyone Who Had a Heart" which had itself been a "cover" for Springfield, being one of a number of U.S. hits recorded for her 1964 debut album A Girl Called Dusty. (A U.S. hit for Dionne Warwick, "Anyone Who Had a Heart" would be a #1 hit in Springfield's native UK in February 1964 for Cilla Black.)[22] Critic Dave Madeloni opined: "Lynne takes 'The Look of Love' and 'Anyone Who Had a Heart' and boils them down to a hush, with understated arrangements that [showcase] her gorgeous voice".[23]

Two songs remade by Lynne she was familiar with but not as Dusty Springfield hits, one of them being "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me", Springfield's career record from 1965 which Lynne actually knew via the 1970 Elvis Presley recording:[20] (VVN Music:)"The fullness and beauty of Lynne's voice is shown wonderfully [on 'You Don't Have to Say...', whose] a capella intro [leads] into an emotional torch song."[24] The second: "How Can I Be Sure", a 1970 Top 40 UK hit for Springfield, Lynne knew from the original 1967 Young Rascals' version:[21] Lynne's version, eschewing the song's trademark 3/4 waltz time in favor of a 2/4 time signature arrangement featuring only a lone guitar,[24] "stripped [the song] of its Parisian street-song flavor [to end the album on] a [note of] naked need."[25] Just a Little Lovin' also featured Springfield's inaugural solo hit from 1963: the "bouncy pop confection"[26] "I Only Want to Be With You", from which Lynne "strains the sugar and bounce, leaving [it as] a bittersweet bossa nova",[27] and included one song not recorded by Springfield: "Pretend", which Lynne had written prior to her Dusty Springfield project but which struck Lynne as a song Springfield could have sung.[18]

Asked in 2012 of the possibility of her Dusty Springfield tribute serving as template for another album saluting a revered singer, Lynne replied: "Hell no. She was it. I think every [singer's] career [allows for] one cover album[: more and] you turn into a [bleep]ing jukebox. If you want to hear [another singer's song] go listen to the original."[28]

Lynne would recall: "We cut the [album] the week Capitol Records busted up. So we're downstairs wondering why upstairs isn't coming down to check us out. Turns out there was no upstairs there."[15] Lynne pitched her album to Lost Highway Records who released Just a Little Lovin' 29 January 2008 with a promotional EP recorded in conjunction with radio station KCRW released four days prior to the album. Outside the United States and Canada, the album was distributed by Mercury Records whose UK division had in 1999 given the I am Shelby Lynne album its first release.[1] The sole single from the album, "Anyone Who Had a Heart", was released through the U.S. edition of iTunes on December 18, 2007.

In its debut week of sales, the album garnered a career sales high for Lynne, according to Billboard. While this album entered the magazine's main album chart (the Billboard 200) within the 50 most popular albums of the week, Lynne's previous album (Suit Yourself) had failed to make the chart. As of August 20, 2008, the album has sold 81,000 copies in the US.