"This Time I Almost Made It" is a song written by

Billy Sherrill Billy Norris Sherrill (November 5, 1936 – August 4, 2015) was an American record producer, songwriter, and arranger associated with country artists, notably Tammy Wynette and George Jones. Sherrill and business partner Glenn Sutton are regar ...

, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Barbara Mandrell Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American retired country music singer and musician. She is also credited as an actress and author. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was considered among country's most successful mus ...

. It was released in May 1974 as the first single and title track from the album ''

This Time I Almost Made It ''This Time I Almost Made It'' is the third solo studio album by American country music singer, Barbara Mandrell, released in 1974. This would be Mandrell's last album with record company Columbia before the label dropped her. She would later s ...

''. It was one of Mandrell's early single releases in her career and among her first to reached the top 20 on the American country songs chart.

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter, considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Lynn, Wynette helped bring a ...

also recorded a version on her 1974 Columbia release ''Woman to Woman''

Background and recording

Barbara Mandrell made her first major records for the Columbia label in the early 1970s. Her Columbia recordings cut with producer

combined country with

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...

together. Among these songs was Sherrill's self-penned "This Time I Almost Made It". Sherrill also served as the song's producer. It was recorded at the Columbia Recording Studio, located in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. The session took place on April 9, 1974. On the same recording session, Mandrell also cut "Son-of-a-Gun".

Release and chart performance

"This Time I Almost Made It" was released as a single on Columbia Records on May 13, 1974. It was backed on the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

by the song "Son-of-a-Gun". The track was issued by the label as a seven inch vinyl single. The single spent 12 weeks on America's ''

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 songs chart, peaking at number 12 by August 1974. It among Mandrell's final single releases for Columbia before moving to a different record label in 1975. The song was released on Mandrell's third studio LP, also titled ''

''. The album was released in September 1974.

Track listing

7" vinyl single * "This Time I Almost Made It" – 2:16 * "Son-of-a-Gun" – 2:22

Charts

References

{{Barbara Mandrell songs 1974 singles 1974 songs Columbia Records singles Barbara Mandrell songs Song recordings produced by Billy Sherrill Songs written by Billy Sherrill