3 Country Songs From 1970 That Sound Even Better Today

The year 1970 was the start of not only a new decade, but also a year of some of country music’s biggest hits. Although the artists likely didn’t realize it at the time, in 1970, some of the songs that were successful on the charts are still revered, 55 years later. We found three country songs from 1970 that sound even better today.

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“Hello Darlin’” by Conway Twitty

“Hello Darlin’” is one of Conway Twitty’s biggest songs, and with good reason. The song, written by Twitty, is the title track of his album. The song was also certified platinum, an impressive feat more than five decades ago. It also spent four weeks at the top of the charts.

“Hello Darlin’” begins with, “Hello, darlin’, nice to see you / It’s been a long time / You’re just as lovely as you used to be / How’s your new love? Are you happy? / Hope you’re doin’ fine.” The first line is spoken, a suggestion by Twitty’s producer, Owen Bradley.

After Twitty released “Hello Darlin’”, numerous other artists released cover versions, including George Jones, Bobby Bare, Charley Pride, and more.

“Joshua” by Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton wrote “Joshua” by herself, as the title track of her seventh studio album. Although no one, except maybe Parton, knew at the time how lengthy her career would go, “Joshua” proves Parton’s ability to be one step ahead of the genre of country music.

Parton’s rural East Tennessee roots served as the inspiration for “Joshua.” The song begins with, “Well, a good ways down the railroad track / There was this little old rundown shack / And in it lived a man I’d never seen / Folks said he was a mean and a vicious man / And you better not set foot on his land / But I didn’t think nobody could be that mean.”

It’s not just the lyrics that still work today, but Parton’s instrumentation. The song is cutting-edge for that era of music, an interesting combination since Parton also yodels in the song.

“I based the character on two or three mountain men I knew as a kid, reclusive people who lived alone way back in the mountains,” Parton says in her Songteller book. “I just kind of built the story around them.”

“Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” by Johnny Cash

Let’s be honest, “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” would sound good in any decade. Written by Kris Kristofferson, Ray Stevens first recorded it in 1969, before Johnny Cash released it one year later. Cash includes it on his live album, The Johnny Cash Show.

The tongue-in-cheek song says, “On the Sunday morning sidewalks / Wishing, Lord, that I was stoned / Cause there’s something in a Sunday / That makes a body feel alone / And there’s nothin’ short of dyin’ / Half as lonesome as the sound / On the sleepin’ city sidewalks Sunday mornin’ comin’ down.”

Kristofferson loved Stevens’ version of the song. But he had Cash in mind from the beginning, which is why he famously landed a helicopter in Cash’s yard to hand-deliver the song.

“I knew John before then,” Kristofferson says (via Songfacts). “I’d been his janitor at the recording studio, and I’d pitched him every song I ever wrote, so he knew who I was. But it was still kind of an invasion of privacy that I wouldn’t recommend.”

Photo by David Redfern/Redferns