Color Me Country

Linda Martell was one of country music's first commercially successful black performers. She was also the first black female performer to sing at the Grand Ole Opry.{{cite web |last1=Brennan |first1=Sandra |title=Linda Martell: Biography & History |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/linda-martell-mn0000296811/biography |website=Allmusic |access-date=14 February 2021}} Originally, Martell made an unsuccessful attempt as an R&B performer in the early 1960s. In the latter half of the decade, she met William "Duke" Rayner, who believed in her potential for a career in country music. Through a meeting with producer Shelby Singleton, Martell signed a recording contract with Plantation Records in May 1969 and began recording her first album thereafter.{{cite magazine |last1=Browne |first1=David |title=Linda Martell: Country Music's Lost Pioneer |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/linda-martell-black-country-grand-ole-opry-pioneer-1050432/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=14 February 2021}} Under the production of Singleton, Color Me Country was recorded in 1969 at Singleton Sound Studios, located in Nashville, Tennessee. All of the album's tracks were cut in a single work day that altogether took 12 hours to complete.{{cite journal |last1=Martell |first1=Linda |title=Color Me Country (LP Liner Notes and Album Information) |journal=Plantation Records |date=August 1970 |id=PLP-9}}

The album contained a total of eleven tracks, with five songs on side one and six on side two. On the opening track, "Bad Case of the Blues", Martell can be heard yodeling. Meanwhile, other tracks, such as "I Almost Called Your Name", were cut in a ballad style. Its closing track, "Before the Next Teardrop Falls", was a cover that would later be made most commercially successful by Freddy Fender. According to Rolling Stone, Singleton told Martell what songs to record and how to record them. He had obtained a copy of the Winstons' pop hit, "Color Him Father", and told her to record it.

Color Me Country was released in August 1970 on Plantation Records. It was Martell's only major release in her career. Color Me Country spent two weeks on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, peaking at number 40 in October 1970.{{cite magazine |title=Color Me Country chart history |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/linda-martell/chart-history/clp/ |magazine=Billboard |access-date=14 February 2021}}

Three singles were spawned from the album; its first was Martell's cover of "Color Him Father", issued in July 1969.{{cite book|last=Whitburn|first=Joel|title=Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008|publisher=Record Research, Inc|page=257|year=2008|isbn=978-0-89820-177-2}} The single spent ten weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and peaked at number 22 on the list in September 1969.{{cite magazine |title="Color Him Father" chart history |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/linda-martell/chart-history/csi/ |magazine=Billboard |access-date=14 February 2021}} It was Martell's highest-charting single release on the country songs chart. In November 1969, Martell's cover of "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" was issued as the record's second single. The song spent eight weeks on the Billboard country chart and peaked at number 33 in January 1970.{{cite magazine |title="Before the Next Teardrop Falls" chart history |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/linda-martell/chart-history/csi/ |magazine=Billboard |access-date=14 February 2021}} "Bad Case of the Blues" was issued as the third single in February 1970. Spending six weeks on the country chart, it peaked at number 58 two months later.{{cite magazine |title="Bad Case of the Blues" chart history |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/linda-martell/chart-history/csi/ |magazine=Billboard |access-date=14 February 2021}} It was also Martell's last charting single. The final single was "You're Crying Boy, Crying"; issued in November 1970, it did not chart.

In 2014, the album was released on CD via Real Gone Music.{{cite journal |last1=Martell |first1=Linda |date=2014 |title=Color Me Country (CD Liner Notes and Album Information) |journal=Real Gone Music |id=RGM-0256}} It was later reissued to digital and streaming services in the 2010s, including Apple Music.{{cite web |title=Color Me Country by Linda Martell |url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/color-me-country/835938031 |access-date=14 February 2021 |website=Apple Music}}{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{rating|3.5|5}}

| rev2 = Pitchfork

| rev2score = 7.5/10{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/linda-martel-color-me-country/ |title=Linda Martell: Color Me Country Album Review |website=Pitchfork |last=Burney |first=Lawrence |date=September 10, 2023 |access-date=September 10, 2023}}

}}

Color Me Country received positive reviews from music critics and journalists following its release. It was first reviewed in September 1970 by Billboard magazine, who called Martell "the female Charley Pride". Writers also found that she had a musical style that fit country music and they highlighted the tracks "Color Him Father", "Bad Case of the Blues" and "The Wedding Cake".{{cite magazine |date=September 26, 1970 |title=Album Reviews |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nSkEAAAAMBAJ&q=linda+martell+color+me+country+album+review+1970&pg=PA62 |access-date=14 February 2021 |magazine=Billboard |page=63 |volume=82 |issue=39}}

Retrospectives were also positive. Mark Deming of AllMusic rated the album three and a half stars, finding her to be a country performer who seemed to have never reached her full potential: "Color Me Country makes it clear that wasn't because of a lack of talent, and this is a fascinating and entertaining curio from a forgotten country music pioneer," he concluded. David Browne of Rolling Stone called the album's production to be "lean and spunky, making her sound like the equal of Loretta Lynn or Tammy Wynette". A 2023 review from Lawrence Burney of Pitchfork described it as "a lovely but tragic record" on which "Martell's singing is sweet [and] mellifluous", although found that "the umph in her voice on songs with the Anglos" is not present.

All tracks written by Margaret Lewis and Myra Smith, except where noted.

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| title1 = Bad Case of the Blues

| writer1 =

| length1 = 2:28

| title2 = San Francisco Is a Lonely Town

| writer2 = Ben Peters

| length2 = 2:55

| title3 = The Wedding Cake

| writer3 =

| length3 = 2:20

| title4 = Tender Leaves of Love

| writer4 =

| length4 = 2:48

| title5 = I Almost Called Your Name

| writer5 =

| length5 = 2:06

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| title1 = Color Him Father

| writer1 = Richard Lewis Spencer

| length1 = 2:46

| title2 = There Never Was a Time

| writer2 =

| length2 = 2:50

| title3 = You're Crying Boy, Crying

| writer3 = Fred Burch

| length3 = 2:28

| title4 = Old Letter Song

| writer4 =

| length4 = 2:28

| title5 = Then I'll Be Over You

| writer5 = Peters

| length5 = 1:51

| title6 = Before the Next Teardrop Falls

| writer6 = {{hlist|Vivian Keith|Peters}}

| length6 = 2:05

}}

All credits are adapted from AllMusic and are from the 2014 version of Color Me Country.{{cite web |title=Color Me Country: Linda Martell: Credits |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/color-me-country-mw0000861908/credits |website=Allmusic |access-date=14 February 2021}}

Musical and technical personnel

• Gordon Anderson – reissue producer
• Bill Dahl – liner notes
• Tom Kline – reissue design
• Linda Martell – lead vocals
• Mike Milchner – remastering
• Shelby Singleton – producer
• Joe Venneri – engineer

{{reflist}}

• {{Discogs master|master=697068}}
• [https://store.sunrecords.com/product/X3LPSR36/linda-martell-color-me-country-orange-vinyl-lp Color Me Country] at Sun Records
• [https://lindamartell.bandcamp.com/album/color-me-country-sun-records-70th-remastered-2022 Color Me Country] at Bandcamp

{{Linda Martell}}

Category:1970 debut albums

Category:Albums produced by Shelby Singleton

Category:Plantation Records albums