Believe Me Now or Believe Me Later is a studio album by Australian singer Diana Trask. It was released in May 1976 by ABC Records and consisted of 12 tracks. The album was recorded in California in an effort for Trask to develop a new musical sound alongside producer Joe Porter. It was given a positive review by Cash Box and resulted in one single titled "Let's Get Down to Business".
Background, recording and content
Australian-born Diana Trask went to the United States in 1958 and launched her career as a pop singer. After making two albums for Columbia Records and appearing on Sing Along with Mitch, she reinvented herself as a country recording artist beginning with her first singles for the genre in 1968. She reached her peak commercial success in the seventies with several US top 20 country songs such as "Say When" and "Lean It All on Me".[2] Trask recalled in her memoir that she attempted to find a new record producer in an effort to have a new musical sound.[3]
This resulted in Trask meeting with ABC Records' California headquarter where she began collaborating with producer Joe Porter.[4] Her album was recorded at Davlen Sound Recorders in Hollywood, California.[5]Believe Me Now or Believe Me Later consisted of 12 tracks. Included were four songs penned by Linda Hargrove: "All Alone in Austin", "New York City Song", "Sing Feelin' Sing" and "Fallen Angel". "Rock Me Sweet" was written by Waylon Jennings while "Little Joe" was written by Trask herself.[6]
Release, critical reception and singles
Believe Me Now or Believe Me Later was released by ABC Records in May 1976 and was Trask's eleventh studio album in her career. It was distributed as a vinyl LP with six songs on each side of the disc.[6] The album received a positive review from Cash Box which called it "a winning combination" of upbeat and ballad songs. In addition, the publication wrote, "It is one of those albums that can be classified as containing nothing but Diana Trask magic from beginning to end. Diana proves her versatility as a singer, and she is well on her way to superstardom."[1] Trask wrote in her memoir that despite working alongside Porter for the project, "things didn't work out" in terms of commercial success. She was later dropped from the ABC label.[3] Nonetheless, one single was spawned from the album: "Let's Get Down to Business" (1976).[7]
