Lighthearted and Blue

Jean Shepard had first broke through into mainstream country music with a pair of singles with Ferlin Husky in 1953. As a solo artist, she broke through in 1955 with a pair of top ten singles. As the decade progressed, Shepard's commercial success waned, partially due to influx of rock and roll and the Nashville Sound crossover country style. In 1963, Shepard also lost her husband Hawkshaw Hawkins in a plane crash.{{cite web |last1=Cooper |first1=Dan |title=Jean Shepard Biography |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jean-shepard-mn0000189701 |website=AllMusic |access-date=6 May 2024}} Shepard considered abandoning her career altogether following the accident. Ultimately, she chose to refocus her priorities and continue her music career.{{cite book |last1=Shepard |first1=Jean |title=Down Through the Years |date=2014 |publisher=Don Wise Productions |isbn=978-0944391068 |pages=110–114}} Lighthearted and Blue was Shepard's first studio album following the accident.

Lighthearted and Blue was recorded at the Bradley Film and Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee. Sessions for the project were held between August 1963 and January 1964. The project was produced by Marvin Hughes, Shepard's first album produced by him after ten years recording with Ken Nelson.{{cite journal |last1=Shepard |first1=Jean |title=Lighthearted and Blue (Liner Notes) |journal=Capitol Records |date=October 1964 |id=T-2187 (Mono); ST-2187 (Stereo)}} The album was a collection of 12 tracks. It was theorized that the album's conceptual focus on sad material was due to Shepard's grief following the death of Hawkins. The 12 songs were all covers tunes from the country music field. This included Roger Miller's "When Two Worlds Collide", Lefty Frizzell's "If You've Got the Money, I've Got the Time" and Freddie Hart's "Loose Talk".

{{Music ratings

|rev1 = Allmusic

|rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}

}}

Lighthearted and Blue was released by Capitol Records in October 1964. It was Shepard's fifth studio album in her career and her first since 1962's Heartaches and Tears. It was distributed as a vinyl LP offered in both mono and stereo formats. Six tracks were featured on either side of the record. Lighthearted and Blue was among 20 LP albums that Capitol issued in the fall of 1964.{{cite magazine |title=Capitol Issues 20 LP's for Nov. |magazine=Cashbox |date=November 7, 1964 |page=35 |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Cash-Box-IDX/60s/1964/CB-1964-11-07-OCR-Page-0035.pdf#search=%22jean%20shepard%20lighthearted%20and%20blue%22 |access-date=6 May 2024}} Billboard gave the album a positive reception, calling it "one of her finest". "Jean once again demonstrates in this album why is one of the best loved and most respected performers and consistent record sellers in the C&W field," they wrote.{{cite magazine |title=Album Reviews: C&W Spotlight |magazine=Billboard |date=November 21, 1964 |page=56 |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Billboard-Index/IDX/1964/Billboard%201964-11-21-OCR-Page-0056.pdf#search=%22jean%20shepard%20lighthearted%20and%20blue%22 |access-date=6 May 2024}} AllMusic rated the album three out of five stars, calling it her "comeback album". Lighthearted and Blue was Shepard's first album to make the US Billboard Top Country Albums chart. That year it reached the number 17 position and would be the start of a series of LP's to make the same chart.{{cite book |last1=Whitburn |first1=Joel |title=Joel Whitburn Presents Hot Country Albums, 1964-2007 |date=2008 |publisher=Record Research, Inc. |isbn=978-0898201734}}

{{track listing

|headline = Side one

|title1 = Loose Talk

|writer1 = {{hlist|Anne Lucas|Freddie Hart}}

|length1 = 2:21

|title2 = That's What It's Like to Be Lonesome

|writer2 = Bill Anderson

|length2 = 2:28

|title3 = I Can't Stop Loving You

|writer3 = Don Gibson

|length3 = 2:27

|title4 = The Violet and a Rose

|writer4 = {{hlist|Auge|Dickens|Reinfield|Tillis}}

|length4 = 2:24

|title5 = Just Call Me Lonesome

|writer5 = Rex Griffin

|length5 = 2:19

|title6 = Foggy River

|writer6 = Fred Rose

|length6 = 2:16

}}

{{track listing

|headline = Side two

|title1 = The Big Wheel

|writer1 = C. Chenier

|length1 = 2:17

|title2 = Born to Lose

|writer2 = Frankie Brown

|length2 = 2:32

|title3 = Half a Mind

|writer3 = {{hlist|Maurice Murray|Kenny Bowers}}

|length3 = 2:39

|title4 = When Two Worlds Collide

|writer4 = {{hlist|Roger Miller|Anderson}}

|length4 = 2:03

|title5 = Cigarettes and Coffee Blues

|writer5 = Marty Robbins

|length5 = 2:25

|title6 = If You've Got the Money, I've Got the Time

|writer6 = {{hlist|Lefty Frizzell|Jim Beck}}

|length6 = 2:00

}}

{{reflist}}

{{Jean Shepard}}

Category:1964 albums

Category:Capitol Records albums

Category:Jean Shepard albums