Country music in the 1970s was pretty remarkable. By the end of the decade, some of the best country songs were released, including these three. All out in 1979, they are so good that it’s almost certain that every 70s kid still knows them by heart today.
“Happy Birthday Darlin’” by Conway Twitty
One of Conway Twitty’s biggest hits, “Happy Birthday Darlin’” is on Cross Winds, Twitty’s 40th studio album. Chuck Howard wrote the song, which became a three-week No. 1 single for Twitty.
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“Happy Birthday Darlin’” is really a song about deciding to be committed to a relationship. It begins with, “Hello darlin’ happy birthday / I’ve decided not to give you a present this year / In fact I think it’s about time I took some things away / I’d like to take away the suspicion that I know clouds your world at times / By giving you some faith to hold onto honey whenever your hand is not in mine.”
Interestingly, the beginning line in “Happy Birthday Darlin’” is a nod to Twitty’s iconic 1970 single, “Hello Darlin’”.
“If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me” by The Bellamy Brothers
The Bellamy Brothers might be best known for “Let Your Love Flow”, their debut single, out in 1976, which is also their first No. 1 hit. But the duo, made up of siblings Howard Bellamy and David Bellamy, had several other hits, including “If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me?”. The song is The Bellamy Brothers’ first country song to reach the top of the charts.
Written by David Bellamy, the tongue-in-cheek lyric says in part, “If I said you have a beautiful body / Would you hold it against me? / If I swore you were an angel / Would you treat me like the devil tonight?”
The idea for the song came from a phrase Groucho Marx used on his You Bet Your Life TV show.
“All The Gold In California” by Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers
On Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers’ Straight Ahead album is “All The Gold in California”. Larry Gatlin is the only writer of the song.
“All The Gold In California” says, “And all the gold in California is in a bank in the middle of Beverly Hills / In somebody else’s name, so if you’re dreaming about California / It don’t matter at all where you’ve played before / California’s a brand new game.”
Gatlin was sitting in a traffic jam in Los Angeles when he was inspired to write this song.
Photo by © Wally McNamee/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
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