Special Delivery (Dottie West album)

Special Delivery is the twenty second solo studio album by American country artist, Dottie West. The album was released in 1979 on Liberty Records and was produced by Randy Goodrum and Brent Maher. The album came on the heels of two chart-topping West duet albums with Kenny Rogers and reestablished West as a major solo artist, becoming West's most successful solo album since 1967 thanks in part to three top 15 country hits on the collection, including "A Lesson in Leavin'", the first solo number one record in West's 20-year career.

Background and critical reception

Special Delivery consisted of ten tracks of material and was her first release for Liberty Records (which was previously United Artists Records). The album's tenth track was a cover version of Bob Seger's "We've Got Tonight" that later became a Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton duet in 1983. Producers, Randy Goodrum and Brent Maher also co-wrote most of the album's tracks, including the singles, "A Lesson in Leavin'," "You Pick Me Up (And Put Me Down)," and "Leavin's for Unbelievers." The album was reviewed by Allmusic's Tom Roland, who gave the release three out of five stars. Roland also found that West's music style seemed to adapt to the new Urban Cowboy musical style, similar to that of Rogers, stating, "Her "Country Sunshine" is replaced with country-funk and a touch of melancholy."^[1] The album was released on a 12-inch LP album, containing five tracks on each side of the record.^[2]

Release

Special Delivery's lead single was the opening track, "You Pick Me Up and Put Me Down." The song was released in October 1979 and peaked at #12 on the Billboard Magazine Hot Country Songs chart and #50 on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart by the end of the year.^[3] Special Delivery was also released in 1979, peaking at #13 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.^[4] The album's second track, "A Lesson in Leavin'" was spawned as the second single in February 1980. The song became West's first number one single as a solo artist on the Hot Country Songs chart. In addition, it also peaked at #73 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #42 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart. The album spawned the final single, "Leavin's for Unbelievers" in June 1980, which peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart later in the year.^[3]

Track listing

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"You Pick Me Up (And Put Me Down)"	Randy Goodrum, Brent Maher
2.	"A Lesson in Leavin'"	Goodrum, Mahe
3.	"It's Too Late (To Love Me Now)"	Rory Michael Bourke, Gene Dobbins, Johnny Wilson
4.	"Up So High"
5.	"Leavin's for Unbelievers"	Goodrum, Maher

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Hey, Mr. Dreamaker"	Alan Tarney, Bruce Welch
2.	"Love's So Easy for Two"
3.	"Blue As I Want To"
4.	"All He Did Was Tell Me Lies"
5.	"We've Got Tonite"	Bob Seger

Personnel

Randy Goodrum — producer
Brent Maher — producer
Dottie West — lead vocals

Chart positions

Album

Chart (1979)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums	13

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions
Year	Single	US Country	US	US AC	CAN Country
1979	"You Pick Me Up (And Put Me Down)"	12	—	50	28
1980	"A Lesson in Leavin'"	1	73	42	23
1980	"Leavin's for Unbelievers"	13	—	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Dottie West

Studio albums	Here Comes My Baby The Country Girl Singing Sensation Dottie West Sings Suffer Time With All My Heart and Soul Dottie West Sings Sacred Ballads I'll Help You Forget Her What I'm Cut Out to Be The Sound of Country Music Country Girl Feminine Fancy Dottie Sings Eddy Makin' Memories Country and West Forever Yours Careless Hands Have You Heard ... Dottie West I'm Only a Woman If It's All Right With You/Just What I've Been Looking For Country Sunshine House of Love Carolina Cousins When It's Just You and Me Dottie Special Delivery Wild West High Times Full Circle New Horizons Just Dottie

Collaboration albums	Dottie and Don (with Don Gibson) Country Boy and Country Girl (with Jimmy Dean) Every Time Two Fools Collide (with Kenny Rogers) Classics (with Kenny Rogers)

Compilation albums	The Best of Dottie West I'd Be a Legend in My Time Would You Hold it Against Me Loving You Once You Were Mine Dottie West The Best of Dottie West Dottie West's Greatest Hits Are You Happy Baby: The Collection The Essential Dottie West Dottie West: RCA Country Legends

Notable singles	"My Big John" "Here Comes My Baby" "Would You Hold It Against Me" "What's Come Over My Baby" "Paper Mansions" "Like a Fool" "Country Girl" "Reno" "Careless Hands" "Country Sunshine" "Last Time I Saw Him" "When It's Just You and Me" "Tonight You Belong to Me" "Come See Me and Come Lonely" "You Pick Me Up (And Put Me Down)" "A Lesson in Leavin'" "Leavin's for Unbelievers" "Are You Happy Baby?" "What Are We Doin' in Love" (with Kenny Rogers) "(I'm Gonna) Put You Back on the Rack" "It's High Time"

Collaboration singles	"Love Is No Excuse" (with Jim Reeves) "Rings of Gold" (with Don Gibson) "Till I Can't Take It Anymore" (with Don Gibson) "Every Time Two Fools Collide" (with Kenny Rogers) "Anyone Who Isn't Me Tonight" (with Kenny Rogers) "All I Ever Need Is You" (with Kenny Rogers) "'Til I Can Make It on My Own" (with Kenny Rogers)

Guest singles	"There's a Story (Goin' 'Round)" (with Don Gibson) "Together Again" (with Kenny Rogers)

Related	Albums Singles Shelly West Chet Atkins RCA Victor Records

References

↑ Roland, Thom. "Special Delivery > Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved 24 December 2009.
↑ "Special Delivery by Dottie West". Rate Your Music. Retrieved 24 December 2009.
1 2 "Dottie West > Singles chart positions". Allmusic. Retrieved 24 December 2009.
↑ "Special Delivery > album chart positions". Allmusic. Retrieved 24 December 2009.

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