4 Country Songs That Quietly Pushed the Genre Forward

Every genre has its pillars. Those pillars can be artists, albums, or singular songs, and they can also be overt or subtle. Rock ‘n’ Roll has Rocket ’88′” by Jackie Brenston, pop has Charles Harris’s “After The Ball”, and rap has The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight”. Needless to say, every genre has a handful of songs that have quietly pushed it forward. For country music, here are four that have done just that.

Videos by American Songwriter

“Gone” by Ferlin Husky

While there is no true No. 1 example of the “Nashville Sound,” people often consider this to be one, given that it predates Jim Reeves and Chet Atkins’ 1957 hit “Four Walls”. Released in 1956, Ferlin Husky‘s “Gone” is one of, if not the earliest example of the “Nashville Sound”, a stylistic practice that dominated country music in the late 1950s and 1960s.

Produced by Ken Nelson, Husky’s single peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Country charts and at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Despite its chart success, Nelson and Husky aren’t remembered as the premier architects of the “Nashville Sound”. Nevertheless, they certainly got the ball rolling.

“Can The Circle Be Unbroken (By and By)” by The Carter Family

Don’t get us wrong, The Carter Family is a lauded country music group whose presence in country music has never gone away. Furthermore, their 1935 recorded single, “Can The Circle Be Unbroken (By and By)”, has received a vast amount of credit and praise, but there is certainly another lens to look through when paying homage to this song.

Folks considered the Carters as one of the first major country music bands, and this song helped them achieve that. Although this song also instilled the general culture that has been present in country music for nearly a century. Also, it gave The Grand Ole Opry its motto, ” May the circle be unbroken”.

“Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” by Bob Dylan

When Bob Dylan released “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” he wasn’t a country singer. Frankly, he was hardly even adjacent to country music, as folk was so much its own entity back in those days. Regardless, this song, as well as several others, caught the attention of country music’s biggest star, Johnny Cash.

When Johnny Cash endorsed Dylan as a masterful songwriter, fellow musicians and fans seemingly started to see how rich a literary landscape country music was. While Dylan certainly isn’t the only songwriter who helped birth some of the finest country music poetry, he and Cash got definetly inspired a good deal of artists in the genre.

“Harper Valley PTA” by Jeannie C. Reilly

Folks, including us, often view Jeannie C. Reilly as a one-hit wonder. That is true to some extent, but it does not take away from the impact of her hit single. Released in 1968, “Harper Valley PTA” peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Country charts and on the Billboard Hot 100. As a result, Reilly was one of the first female artists to be a major crossover success.

If not for Reilly, the lanes for acts such as Glenn Campbell, John Denver, Dolly Parton, heck, even Ella Langley and Morgan Wallen might have been obstructed. However, thanks to this single, Reilly showed that country music could resonate with the less steadfast country music fanbase.

Photo by Donaldson Collection/Getty Images