1973 saw some of the biggest and most revered songs in country music being released. But the true test of a great song is how it sounds decades later.
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We picked three country songs from 1973 that, perhaps surprisingly, sound even better today.
“Paper Roses”
Before Marie Osmond released “Paper Roses” in 1973, it was already a hit for Anita Bryan in 1960. But it’s Osmond who took it to the top of the country charts, when she had just turned 14 years old.
Osmond was encouraged to try her hand at singing, after seeing the success of her brothers as The Osmonds. But she admits being in the studio to record “Paper Roses” was a challenge for the teenager.
“I remember walking in the studio and thinking, ‘Good grief!’” she recalls (via Songfacts). “I’d seen my brothers do all this stuff, but it’s really different when all of a sudden everybody’s waiting for you to sing it right.”
Although Osmond continued to release music, it would be 12 years before she had another No. 1 hit, which was “Meet Me In Montana” with Dan Seals.
“Satin Sheets” by Jeanne Pruett
Like Osmond, “Satin Sheets” was also first recorded by someone else, namely Bill Anderson and Jan Howard, on their 1972 Bill & Jan duets album. One year later, Pruett recorded the song, taking it to the top of the charts.
“Satin Sheets” is revoluationary for the era it was releaed in. The song says in part, “I’ve found another man who can give more than you can / Though you’ve given me everything money can buy / But your money can’t hold me tight like he does on a long, long night / No, you didn’t keep me satisfied.”
“Satin Sheets” is such a revered song, it’s been recorded by several other artists since then, including Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, Martina McBride and more. Although Pruett had other hits at radio after “satin Sheets,” the song remains her only No. 1 hit.
“Jolene” by Dolly Parton
Only Dolly Parton could write a song as legendary as “Jolene,” and have people still singing it, 52 years later. In a now well-known story, Parton wrote “Jolene” about a bank teller, who was flirting with Parton’s husband, Carl Dean.
Although Parton could have never predicted that “Jolene” would still be a country music mainstay, 52 years later, she does know why the song is so successful.
“People thought it was a very honest, open, and humble kind of song about the subject,” Parton tells Vulture. “Nobody had been writing about affairs from that side of it—to go to the person who was trying to steal your man,”
Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
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