View source for Bless Her Heart...I Love Her

{{Infobox album
| name       = Bless Her Heart...I Love Her
| type       = studio
| artist     = [[Hank Locklin]]
| cover      = Hank Locklin--Bless Her Heart.jpg
| released   = {{start date|1970|08}}
| recorded   = May – June 1970
| studio     = RCA Victor Studio
| genre      = {{hlist|[[Country music|Country]]|[[Nashville Sound]]<ref name="Allmusic">{{cite web |title=''Bless Her Heart...I Love Her'': Hank Locklin: Songs, reviews, credits |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/bless-her-heart-i-love-her-mw0000953613 |website=[[Allmusic]] |access-date=15 March 2021}}</ref>}}
| label      = [[RCA Records|RCA Victor]]
| producer   = [[Danny Davis (country musician)|Danny Davis]]
| prev_title = [[Hank Locklin & Danny Davis & the Nashville Brass]]
| prev_year  = 1970
| next_title = [[The Mayor of McLellan, Florida]]
| next_year  = 1972
| misc       = {{Singles
| name        = Bless Her Heart...I Love Her
| type        = studio
| single1     = Bless Her Heart...I Love Her
| single1date = September 1970
}}
}}
'''''Bless Her Heart...I Love Her''''' is a [[studio album]] by American [[country music]] singer–songwriter [[Hank Locklin]]. It was released in August 1970 and was produced by [[Danny Davis (country musician)|Danny Davis]]. It was Locklin's twenty second studio release in his music career and contained a total of ten tracks.
The project was among Locklin's final LP's for long-time label, RCA Victor. The title track was issued as the album's only [[Single (music)|single]] and reached a charting position in 1970.
==Background and content==
Hank Locklin had major success in the early 1960s with the hits "[[Geisha Girl (song)|Geisha Girl]]," "[[Please Help Me, I'm Falling]]" and "[[Happy Birthday to Me (Hank Locklin song)|Happy Birthday to Me]]." His popularity on the radio began to wane in the late 1960s. In 1969, he had his final top 40 single, yet continued releasing studio albums on RCA's label through the early 1970s.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Erlewine |first1=Michael |title=Hank Locklin: Biography & History |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hank-locklin-mn0000666540/biography |website=[[Allmusic]] |access-date=28 January 2021}}</ref>
Among his final releases for RCA was ''Bless Her Heart...I Love Her.''<ref>{{cite web |title=Hank Locklin: Album discography |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hank-locklin-mn0000666540/discography |website=[[Allmusic]] |access-date=15 March 2021}}</ref> The project was produced by Danny Davis, whom had produced several of Locklin's previous LP's. It was recorded between May and June 1970 at the RCA Victor Studio located in [[Nashville, Tennessee]].<ref name="Liner Notes">{{cite journal |last1=Locklin |first1=Hank |title=''Bless Her Heart...I Love Her'' (LP Liner Notes and Album Information) |journal=[[RCA Records|RCA Victor Records]] |date=August 1970 |id=LSP 4392}}</ref>
The album contained ten tracks.<ref name="Allmusic" /> The title track was co-written by Locklin and Jack Smith. The project also included cover versions of two songs by [[Conway Twitty]]: "[[Hello Darlin' (song)|Hello Darlin']]" and "[[It's Only Make Believe]]."<ref name="Liner Notes" />
==Release and reception==
''Bless Her Heart...I Love Her'' was released in August 1970 via RCA Victor Records. It marked the twenty second studio album released in Locklin's music career.<ref name="Liner Notes"/>
The album was issued as a [[Gramophone record|vinyl LP]], containing five songs on each side of the record.<ref name="Discogs US">{{cite web |title=Hank Locklin -- ''Bless Her Heart...I Love Her'' (1970, LP) (US) |url=https://www.discogs.com/Hank-Locklin-Bless-Her-Heart-I-Love-Her/release/4881849 |website=[[Discogs]] |date=1970 |access-date=15 March 2021}}</ref> The project received a favorable response from ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' magazine who described its content to be "songs of love with a strong melodic line."
Writers also highlighted the title track, "Livin' Alone," "Morning" and "It's Only Make Believe."<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Billboard Album Reviews |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |date=August 22, 1970 |page=86 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lSkEAAAAMBAJ&dq=hank+locklin+bless+her+heart+i+love+her+august+1970+billboard&pg=RA1-PA86 |access-date=15 March 2021}}</ref> The record spawned its title track as the only single release. It was issued by RCA Victor in September 1970.<ref name="Billboard Singles">{{cite book|last=Whitburn|first=Joel|title=Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008|publisher=Record Research, Inc.|year=2008|isbn=978-0-89820-177-2}}</ref> The song spent four weeks on the ''Billboard'' [[Hot Country Songs]] chart and peaked at number 68 in October 1970.<ref>{{cite magazine |title="Bless Her Heart...I Love Her" [single] chart history |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/hank-locklin/chart-history/csi/ |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |access-date=15 March 2021}}</ref>
==Track listing==
{{tracklist
| headline        = Side one<ref name="Liner Notes"/>
| title1          = Bless Her Heart...I Love Her
| writer1         = {{hlist|Danny Davis|Hank Locklin}}
| length1         = 2:26
| title2          = [[All Kinds of Everything]]
| writer2         = {{hlist|Derry Lindsay|Jackie Smith}}
| length2         = 2:37
| title3          = It's Raining All Over the World
| writer3         = [[Harlan Howard]]
| length3         = 2:27
| title4          = [[Hello Darlin' (song)|Hello Darlin']]
| writer4         = [[Conway Twitty]]
| length4         = 2:20
| title5          = Morning
| writer5         = Bill Graham
| length5         = 3:00
}}
{{tracklist
| headline        = Side two<ref name="Liner Notes"/>
| title1          = [[It's Only Make Believe]]
| writer1         = {{hlist|Jack Nance|Twitty}}
| length1         = 2:08
| title2          = The One Girl for Me
| writer2         = {{hlist|Jim Morehead|George Nowlan}}
| length2         = 2:47
| title3          = [[If Not for You (George Jones song)|If Not for You]]
| writer3         = [[Jerry Chesnut]]
| length3         = 3:09
| title4          = Don't You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me
| writer4         = [[Hank Cochran]]
| length4         = 3:15
| title5          = Livin' Alone
| writer5         = Wayne Walker
| length5         = 2:40
}}
==Personnel==
All credits are adapted from the [[liner notes]] of ''Bless Her Heart...I Love Her.''<ref name="Liner Notes"/>
'''Musical and technical personnel'''
* [[Chet Atkins]] – Producer (track 10)
* Jesse Burt – Liner Notes
* Danny Davis – Producer
* Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass – Ensemble
* [[The Jordanaires]] – Background vocals
* Hank Locklin – Lead vocals
* Al Pachucki – Engineer
* Tom Pick – Engineer
==Release history==
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
!scope="col"| Region
!scope="col"| Date
!scope="col"| Format
!scope="col"| Label
!scope="col"| Ref.
|-
! scope="row"| United Kingdom
| rowspan="2"| August 1970
| rowspan="2"| Vinyl
| rowspan="2"| RCA Victor
| <ref>{{cite web |title=Hank Locklin -- ''Bless Her Heart...I Love Her'' (1970, LP) (UK) |url=https://www.discogs.com/Hank-Locklin-Bless-Her-HeartI-Love-Her/release/2888722 |website=[[Discogs]] |date=1971 |access-date=15 March 2021}}</ref>
|-
! scope="row"| United States
| <ref name="Liner Notes"/><ref name="Discogs US"/>
|-
|}
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Hank Locklin}}
[[Category:1970 albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Danny Davis (country musician)]]
[[Category:Hank Locklin albums]]
[[Category:RCA Victor albums]]