''Simple Little Words'' is a studio album by American

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

and

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whil ...

artist

Cristy Lane Cristy Lane (born Eleanor Johnston; January 8, 1940) is an American Christian and country music singer. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, she had a series of hits on the North American country charts with songs like " Let Me Down Easy", " I Just ...

. It was released in September 1979 via

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1959, ...

and LS Records. It contained ten tracks. It was the fourth studio effort of Lane's music career and her first with the United Artists label. ''Simple Little Words'' produced three singles that became hits on the North American country charts. The album received a positive review following its release.

Background and content

Cristy Lane had recently rose to commercial success prior to the release of ''Simple Little Words''. After her husband (Lee Stoller) established his own recording label, Lane began recording and releasing singles exclusively through the company. Her first several hits on the label brought her to the attention of United Artists Records, which Lane signed with in 1979. ''Simple Little Words'' was taken from songs Lane had previously issued on her previous LS album release titled '' Love Lies.'' This included the previous LP's title track, "Come to My Love", "He's Back in Town" and "I Just Can't Stay Married to You". The title track from ''Simple Little Words'', "Slippin' Up Slippin' Around" and "I'm Putting My Heart on the Line" were not previously released and were recorded exclusively for the project. The album contained ten tracks in total. It was recorded between 1978 and 1979 at the LSI Studio, located in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

. Sessions were produced by

Charlie Black Charles Frank Black (November 23, 1949 – April 23, 2021) was an American country music songwriter and record producer. Biography Black graduated from University of Maryland in 1970 and moved to Nashville, Tennessee the same year. His first c ...

, who had previously recorded Lane's last two LP's. In the album's liner notes, Lane dedicates ''Simple Little Words'' to her brother, who was killed following his discharge from the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

Release and reception

''Simple Little Words'' was released in September 1979 on LS Records and United Artists Records. It was Lane's first LP for the label and fourth studio album of her music career. It was originally distributed as a vinyl LP with five tracks on either side of the record. A cassette version was also released with a similar track listing. ''Simple Little Words'' was Lane's second album to reach a position on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' country albums chart, peaking at number 38 in 1979. It received a positive review from ''Billboard'' magazine, who named it among its "top album picks" in a 1979 issue. "Lane's first album endeavor for her new label finds her in shimmery form, bestowing her fragile lifting vocals on a lightly uptempo variety of tunes," they wrote. Three singles were released from ''Simple Little Words''. The title track was the first song release from the album and was originally issued on LS Records in March 1979. The song reached number ten on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart later that year, becoming her fifth top ten hit on the chart. "Slippin' Up Slippin' Around" was issued as the LP's second single via United Artists in July 1979. The song reached number 17 on the ''Billboard'' country singles survey in 1979. It was followed by the album's final spawned single. "Come to My Love" would be released in November 1979 on United Artists Records. It reached a peak of 16 on the ''Billboard'' country chart in early 1980. In addition, all three singles reached top 40 positions on Canada's '' RPM'' Country Songs survey.

Track listing

Personnel

All credits are adapted from the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the record sleeve, sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner n ...

of ''Simple Little Words''. Musical personnel * Charlie Black – Background vocals, guitar *

Harold Bradley Harold Ray Bradley (January 2, 1926 – January 31, 2019) was an American guitarist and entrepreneur, who played on many country, rock and pop recordings and produced numerous TV variety shows and movie soundtracks. Having started as a session ...

– Guitar,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

* Susie Callaway – Background vocals *

Jerry Carrigan Jerry Kirby Carrigan (September 13, 1943 – June 22, 2019) was an American drummer and record producer. Early in his career he was a member of the original Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and later worked as a session musician in Nashville for over ...

– Drums *

Johnny Christopher John (“Johnny”) Lee Christopher Jr. (born 1943 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American singer, guitarist, session musician and songwriter. Music career Christopher's singles included "(She's A) Girl Of Many Colors / The Teacher And The Pet" (19 ...

– Guitar * Rita Figlio – Background vocals * Don Gant – Background vocals * Gregg Galbraith – Guitar * Sonny Garrish –

Steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

Randy Goodrum Charles Randolph Goodrum (born July 7, 1947) is an American songwriter, pianist, and producer. Goodrum has written number one songs in each of the four decades since his first number one hit, 1978's " You Needed Me". Goodrum's songs have appear ...

– Piano * Jon Goin – Guitar * The Leah Jane Singers – Background vocals * Sherri Kramer – Background vocals * The Shelly Kurland Strings – Strings * Cristy Lane – Lead vocals * Mike Lawler – Synthesizer * Larry Londin – Drums * Craig Mirijanian – Drums *

Bob Moore Bob Loyce Moore (November 30, 1932 – September 22, 2021) was an American session musician, orchestra leader, and double bassist who was a member of the Nashville A-Team during the 1950s and 1960s. He performed on over 17,000 documented record ...

– Bass * Weldon Myrick – Steel guitar * Fred Newell – Guitar * Ron Oates – Piano *

Joe Osborn Joseph Osborn (August 28, 1937 – December 14, 2018Steve Schaeffer Steve Schaeffer is a Hollywood studio musician who has played on more than 1,000 feature films and original soundtracks. Partial filmography *''Inside Man'' (2006) *''Blade Runner'' (1982) *'' Bowfinger'' (1999) *'' The Big Kahuna'' (1999) *''The ...

– Bass * Lisa Silver – Background vocals * Diane Tidwell – Background vocals * Chip Young – Guitar Technical personnel * Charlie Black – Producer * Farrell Morris – Percussion * Lee Stoller – Manager * Bergen White – String arrangement

Charts

Release history

References

{{Cristy Lane 1979 albums Albums produced by Charlie Black Cristy Lane albums LS Records albums United Artists Records albums