No Way to Treat a Lady (album)

No Way to Treat a Lady
Studio album by Helen Reddy
Released	1975
Recorded	1975
Genre	Vocal Pop/Rock[1]
Length	31:04
Label	Capitol
Producer	Joe Wissert
Helen Reddy chronology
Free and Easy (1974) No Way to Treat a Lady (1975) Helen Reddy's Greatest Hits (1975)

Professional ratings
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Allmusic	[1]

No Way to Treat a Lady is an album by Australian-American pop singer Helen Reddy that was released in the summer of 1975 by Capitol Records and found Reddy tackling country pop ("You Don't Need a Reason"), bossa nova ("Ten to Eight") and blues ("Long Time Looking"). The album debuted on Billboard's Top LP's & Tapes chart in the issue dated July 12, 1975, and peaked at number 11 over the course of 34 weeks,^[2] and on the album chart in Canada's RPM magazine it got as high as number 13.^[3] On January 19, 1976, the Recording Industry Association of America awarded the album with Gold certification for sales of 500,000 copies in the United States,^[4] and on August 23, 2005, it was released for the first time on compact disc as one of two albums on one CD, the other album being her 1976 release, Music, Music.^[5]

Singles

"Bluebird", the first of three singles from the album, was released on June 23, 1975,^[6] debuted on Billboard's Hot 100 in the issue of the magazine dated July 5, and reached number 35 over the course of six weeks there.^[7] That same issue also marked its debut on the magazine's Easy Listening chart, where it spent eight weeks and peaked at number five,^[8] and on the RPM singles chart it got as high as number 51.^[9] Reddy comments on the tune, "I love Leon Russell's writing and I love this song. It was an integral part of my repertoire for nearly 30 years, and I never tired of singing it."^[6]

The second single, "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady", made its debut on the pop chart in the August 9 issue and went to number eight during its 16 weeks there.^[7] Its first appearance on the Easy Listening chart came two weeks later, in the August 23 issue, and it remained there for 11 weeks, one of which was at number one,^[8] and on the Canadian singles chart it enjoyed two weeks at number two.^[10] Reddy recalls this about the ballad: "Written by the talented Harriet Schock, a fine singer in her own right, this song really struck a nerve with many listeners."^[6] The song also earned her a Grammy nomination in the category of Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, but the award went to Janis Ian for "At Seventeen".^[11]

"Somewhere in the Night", the album's third single, came out on November 17 of that year^[6] and had its debut in the November 29 issue on the Easy Listening chart, where it made it as high as number two during its 14-week run.^[8] The following issue, on December 6, saw its first appearance on the pop chart, where it also stayed for 14 weeks but had a peak position at number 19,^[7] and in RPM it was a number 27 pop hit.^[12] Reddy: "Barry Manilow also recorded this song but graciously conceded that he thought my version was better. I don't think it possible for anyone to make a bad recording of such a great tune."^[6]

Track listing

Side 1

1. "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady" (Harriet Schock) – 3:26
2. "Bluebird" (Leon Russell) – 2:46
3. "Don't Let It Mess Your Mind" (Phil Cody, Neil Sedaka) – 2:42
4. "Somewhere in the Night" (Will Jennings, Richard Kerr) – 3:31
5. "You Don't Need a Reason" (Alex Harvey) – 2:59

Side 2

1. "Ten to Eight" (David Castle) – 3:39
2. "Birthday Song" (Don McLean) – 3:16
3. "You Know Me" (Kenny Ascher, Paul Williams) – 2:44
4. "Nothing Good Comes Easy" (Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil) – 3:15
5. "Long Time Looking" (Peter Allen, Carole Bayer Sager) – 2:46

Personnel

• Helen Reddy – vocals
• Joe Wissert – producer
• Nick DeCaro – arranger and conductor
• Tom Perry – recording engineer
• Doug Sax – mastering engineer
• Mike Reese – mastering engineer
• Jeff Wald – management
• Francesco Scavullo – photography
• Roy Kohara – art direction

Notes

References