Remember listening to small-town AM radio in the 1970s when you were just a youngin’? Small-town radio, in my opinion, is still massively underrated. Tons of great local music and international hits made it to AM radio rotation in small towns across the US. And if you were around in the 1970s, you probably heard the following three songs on your town’s local radio station. Let’s get nostalgic, shall we?
“Rose Garden” by Lynn Anderson from ‘Rose Garden’ (1970)
Lynn Anderson’s countrypolitan hit, “Rose Garden”, was quite popular on AM and FM radio alike back in 1970. This song is actually a cover of a Billy Joe Royal song from 1967. Anderson’s version was a noteworthy smash hit on the radio and the charts, where it peaked at No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart and No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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“Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain” by Willie Nelson from ‘Red Headed Stranger’ (1975)
I don’t know about you, but when I’m feeling down in the dumps, I tend to make it worse by listening to Willie Nelson’s saddest career works. It’s a bad habit, one that I won’t give up anytime soon. One song that makes it to my rotation, and also made it to small-town radio rotations in the 1970s, is “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain” from 1975. The entirety of Nelson’s legendary concept album, Red Headed Stranger, is worthy of a thorough spin. But if you want to relive the moodiness of hearing a sad song on AM radio at night in your small town, give the single “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain” a listen.
“Time In A Bottle” by Jim Croce from ‘You Don’t Mess Around With Jim’ (1973)
We lost Jim Croce far too soon. But, fortunately, he left behind some really amazing songs that resonated with city slicker listeners and small-town AM radio fans alike in the 1970s. One song that I just couldn’t leave off this list is “Time In A Bottle”, from Croce’s legendary album You Don’t Mess Around With Jim. This 1973 psychedelic folk song just sounds like the 70s, and it’s a pleasant, slightly trippy ballad from start to finish. “Time In A Bottle” peaked at No. 1 on the Hot 100 chart.
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