Only the Hits
Studio album by
Billie Jo Spears
ReleasedFebruary 1981 (1981-02)
RecordedJuly 1980 (1980-07)
StudioSound Emporium
Genre
LabelLiberty
ProducerLarry Butler
Billie Jo Spears chronology
Standing Tall
(1980)		 Only the Hits
(1981)		 Country Girl
(1981)
Singles from Only the Hits
  1. "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad"
    Released: November 1980
  2. "What the World Needs Now Is Love"
    Released: March 1981

Only the Hits is a studio album by American country artist Billie Jo Spears. It was released in February 1981 on Liberty Records and contained ten tracks. The project was a collection of cover tunes, which mixed both country and pop songs. Of its tracks were two singles: "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad" and "What the World Needs Now Is Love". Spears's version of "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad" reached the top 20 of the American country songs chart. Billboard magazine gave the album an unfavorable review following its release.

Background and recording

Billie Jo Spears had a series of top ten and top 20 songs on the North American country charts. This included the chart-topping "Blanket on the Ground", along with "What I've Got in Mind" and "If You Want Me". Her singles would find popularity in the United Kingdom, where Spears often devoted more of her career towards. Her final top 20 single was "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad",[3] which was included on Only the Hits. The album would be Spears's final with her long-time record label. The project was recorded at Sound Emporium, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Sessions were held in July 1980 and were produced by Larry Butler.[4]

Content

Only the Hits consisted of ten cover songs.[1] The album was named for the fact the original recordings had been hits for other music artists.[4] Seven of the project's songs had originally had been top ten or number one singles on the Billboard country chart: Anne Murray's "Snowbird", Don Williams's "Lay Down Beside Me", Larry Gatlin's "Broken Lady", Tammy Wynette's "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad", Patsy Cline's "I Fall to Pieces" and Lynn Anderson's "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden".[5] Also featured were songs that had originally been top ten Billboard pop singles: the Eagles's "Desperado", Ray Stevens's "Everything Is Beautiful", Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and Jackie DeShannon's "What the World Needs Now Is Love".[6]

Release, reception and singles

Only the Hits was released in February 1981 on Liberty Records. It would be Spears's final album with the label. It was distributed as a vinyl LP and a cassette.[4] In Europe, it was titled as Special Songs and included two additional songs previously released on Spears's earlier studio albums.[7][8] The album was given a negative review from Billboard magazine in 1981. "What a remarkable voice like Spears' is doing amid this garland of pop perennials is a mystery. It's like using a chainsaw to slice white bread," they remarked.[2] Two singles were included on the album. The first was Spears's cover of "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad", which was released as a single in November 1980.[9] It spent 13 weeks on the American Billboard Hot Country Songs, reaching number 13 in March 1981. It was Spears's final top 20 single there.[10] Spears's cover of "What the World Needs Now Is Love" was released as the second single in March 1981.[11] The song reached number 58 on the Billboard country chart later that year.[5]

Track listings

Only the Hits

Special Songs

Side one[8][7][5][6]
No.TitleWriter(s)Original artistLength
1."What the World Needs Now Is Love"
  • Burt Bacharach
  • Hal David
Jackie DeShannon3:00
2."Snowbird"Gene MacLellanAnne Murray2:16
3."Lay Down Beside Me"Don WilliamsDon Williams3:07
4."Broken Lady"Larry GatlinLarry Gatlin2:30
5."Everything Is Beautiful"Ray StevensRay Stevens4:13
6."Heartbreak Hotel"
Elvis Presley3:12
Side two[8][7][5][6]
No.TitleWriter(s)Original artistLength
1."Desperado"
  • Glenn Frey
  • Don Henley
Eagles3:06
2."Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad"
  • Billy Sherrill
  • Glenn Sutton
Tammy Wynette2:23
3."I Fall to Pieces"
  • Hank Cochran
  • Harlan Howard
Patsy Cline3:34
4."(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden"Joe SouthLynn Anderson2:52
5."Bridge Over Troubled Water"Paul SimonSimon and Garfunkel3:41
6."Lovin' Him Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)"Kris KristoffersonKris Kristofferson3:20

Personnel

All credits are adapted from the liner notes of Only the Hits.[4]

Release history

Region Date Format Label Ref.
Netherlands February 1981 Vinyl LP Liberty Records [7]
North America
  • Vinyl LP
  • cassette
 [4]
United Kingdom [8]

References

  1. 1 2 "Only the Hits: Billie Jo Spears: Songs, reviews, credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Billboard's Top Album Picks" (PDF). Billboard. February 21, 1981. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  3. ↑ Huey, Steve. "Billie Jo Spears Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Spears, Billie Jo (February 1981). "Only the Hits (Disc Information)". Liberty Records. LT-1074 (LP); 4LT-1074 (Cassette).
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. various.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Spears, Billie Jo (February 1981). "Special Songs (Netherlands)". Liberty Records. 1A-062-83052 (LP).
  8. 1 2 3 4 Spears, Billie Jo (February 1981). "Special Songs (United Kingdom)". Liberty Records. LBG-30333 (LP); OC-262-83 052 (Cassette).
  9. ↑ Spears, Billie Jo (November 1980). ""Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad"/"(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden" (Single)". Liberty Records. 1395.
  10. ↑ "Billie Jo Spears chart history (Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  11. ↑ Spears, Billie Jo (March 1981). ""Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad"/"Snowbird" (Single)". Liberty Records. 1409.
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