Heartbreak Express is the twenty-fourth solo studio album by American entertainer Dolly Parton. It was released on March 29, 1982, by RCA Records. The album returned Parton to a more fully realized country sound (a process she had begun on the previous year's 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs), after her late 1970s pop recordings. The album's first single, "Single Women", a slow-tempo honkytonk ballad about a singles bar, was written by Saturday Night Live writer Michael O'Donoghue, and had previously appeared in an SNL skit in late 1980. The single provided a top ten single for Parton. The title cut also was a top ten hit for her. "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind" (a song Parton had written in the early 1970s but had never officially recorded) appeared as a double-A-sided single (along with Parton's rerecording of "I Will Always Love You" from the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas), and reached No. 1 on the country charts in August 1982.
"Hollywood Potters", Parton has explained to interviewers, came out of her experience filming the movie 9 to 5, as Parton watched many of the film's extras and bit players, who had worked very hard at acting through the years, but with very little success. Heartbreak Express was re-released in digital format in 2013.
Track listing
Personnel Dolly Parton – vocals Albert Lee, Fred Tackett, Jeff Baxter, Mike Severs, Steve Cropper – guitar Abraham Laboriel, Leland Sklar, Nathan East – bass Joe McGuffee – steel guitar Buddy Spicher – fiddle Gregg Perry – dulcimer, backing vocals Red Young, Ron Oates – keyboards Eddy Anderson – drums Lenny Castro – congas Terry McMillan – harmonica Alex Brown, Anita Ball, Denise Maynelli, Gene Morford, Jim Salestrom, Richard Dennison, Roy Galloway, Stephanie Spruill, Willie Greene Jr. – backing vocals Chuck Findley, Gary Grant, Gary Herbig, George Bohanon, Jim Horn, Slyde Hyde, Tom Saviano, Tom Scott – horns Herb Ritts – Photography
Major releases Format Imprint Catalogue No. Territory Year Promo RCA RCALP 3076 United Kingdom 1982 LP RCA RCALP 3076 United Kingdom 1982 LP RCA AHL1-14289 United States 1982 LP RCA HL 14289 France 1982 LP RCA Italiana S.p.A. PL 14389 Italy 1982 CD Reissue RCA 54289-2 Europe 2010
Chart performance Album Chart (1982) PeakpositionUS Cashbox Country Albums7US Cash Box Top Albums127
Album (Year-End) Chart (1982)PeakPositionUS Top Country Albums (Billboard)32
References
External links Heartbreak Express at Dolly Parton On-Line