Few would argue that country music released in the 1990s is among the best country music ever. These three country songs, all out in 1995, might be 30 years old, but they still belong on every country music fan’s playlist.
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“Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident)” by John Michael Montgomery
John Michael Montgomery was having a string of hits when he released “Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident)“. On his self-titled third studio album, the wordy song is written by Rich Fagan and Robb Royer.
“Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident)” says, “And I said, ‘ Hey, pretty lady, won’t you give me a sign? / I’d give anything to make you mine all mine / I’ll do your biddin’ and be at your beck and call / Yeah, I’ve never seen anyone lookin’ so fine / Man, I gotta have her, she’s a one of a kind / I’m goin’ once, goin’ twice, I’m sold.“
The song is unique, but Fagan had a feeling it would be a No. 1 single for Montgomery, even before it was released.
“The first time I did it at the Boardwalk Cafe, I got a standing ovation in the middle of the song,” Fagan tells The Tennessean. “It’s not a listening room, and man, I quieted the room. I said, ‘I know this is a hit.’”
“The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter” by Reba McEntire
1995 was a busy year for Reba McEntire. In 1995, McEntire released four singles, including “The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter“. Written by Mark D. Sanders, Kim Williams, and Ed Hill, the song is on McEntire’s Read My Mind album.
The mid-tempo song says, “Oh, the heart is a lonely hunter / With only one desire / To find some lasting comfort in the arms of a lover’s fire / Driven by a desperate hunger / To the dark of the neon light / Oh, the heart is a lonely hunter / When there’s no sign of a love in sight.“
“I Like It, I Love It” by Tim McGraw
Tim McGraw was still fairly new to country music when “I Like It, I Love It” was released. From his third All I Want album, “I Like It, I Love It” is also McGraw’s third No. 1 single.
Written by Jeb Stuart Anderson, Steve Dukes, and Mark Hall, the song says, “But I like it, I love it, I want some more of it / I try so hard, I can’t rise above it / Don’t know what it is about that little girl’s lovin’ / But I like it, I love it, I want some more of it.“
Three decades after it was released, McGraw still performs “I Like It, I Love It” during his live shows.
Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images
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