3 Country Albums That Flopped but Then Became Legendary

Putting out a successful, mainstream-ready country album is no easy feat. Even the biggest artists of the last century have put out a “flop” or two. When it comes to these three country stars, three of their albums actually flopped before becoming legendary works years later. Let’s take a quick stroll through country music history, shall we?

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1. ‘Sweetheart Of The Rodeo’ by The Byrds

Out of all the country albums that initially flopped on this list, this release from The Byrds is the most surprising. The Byrds had already established themselves in the rock genre in the US, so maybe their attempt at country rock was seen as pandering to diehard fans and casual listeners. It was more or less a flop.

Sweetheart Of The Rodeo didn’t do particularly well when it was first released; Nashville traditionalists thought The Byrds were just a bunch of hippies attempting to take over their genre. It only made it to no. 77 on the Top LPs chart when it was released in 1968, and it barely charted internationally. Today, this country-rock Americana gem is considered one of the band’s greatest works.

2. ‘Grievous Angel’ by Gram Parsons

Gram Parsons joined The Byrds for the above-mentioned album, and he also had some bad luck with this particular flop. Grievous Angel was released in 1974 with low sales and a not-so-great chart presence. It was (unfortunately) Gram Parsons’ final album and was released four months after his death.

Despite doing poorly upon its release, this album has since become one of the greatest and most revered albums of all time. It’s one of the most well-written and successful attempts at merging country and rock music together, and it’s a shame it didn’t get much critical acclaim when it first came out.

3. ‘Phases And Stages’ by Willie Nelson

When you’re a country music powerhouse like Willie Nelson, with over 100 albums under your belt, there’s bound to be a booger or two in the bunch. However, Phases And Stages is genuinely a good album. It was released in 1974 as a follow-up to the successful Shotgun Willie. Unfortunately, the label it was released under wasn’t pleased with it.

This is a great album, and it even charted pretty well. “Blood Mary Morning” hit no. 17 on the Country Singles chart. Unfortunately, though, Atlantic Records didn’t think it was good enough and were unhappy with Nelson’s particular style. The label shut down its Country division just a few months after Phases And Stages came out. Despite the label treating this album like a flop, Columbia Records picked up Nelson shortly after; and they even gave him total creative control of his work going forward.

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