Of all the different eras of country music we’ve witnessed, whether in real time or retrospect, the 1970s seem to take the cake in terms of overall grooves, musical and lyrical experimentation, and general attitude. (In this writer’s humble opinion, anyway.) Some of the greatest country hits of all time came out of this decade, with even more lesser-known tracks that can shimmy even the most stubborn of shoulders.
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Now, this writer is not so naive as to think that there aren’t arguments one could make for other decades. But for argument’s sake, here are seven tracks that are evidence of just how great 1970s country music really was and is.
“Shotgun Willie” by Willie Nelson
The title track to the 16th studio album by Willie Nelson is his 1970s country music career at its finest. Shotgun Willie marked a change in Nelson’s style toward the long-haired, half-jazz-cat country star we know and love him as today. The 1973 album’s title track is the definition of a laid-back groove, complete with Nelson’s strong twang on words like wear, hair, and there.
“Jolene” by Dolly Parton
“Jolene” is one of Dolly Parton’s most recognizable songs and for good reason. The pleading track about a wife begging another woman to please not take her man served as the title track to Parton’s 13th studio album from 1974. (She released “Jolene” as a single in October of the previous year.) If you really want your mind blown, check out this uncanny version of “Jolene.”
“Waymore’s Blues” by Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings’ classic 1970s country shuffle, “Waymore’s Blues,” is the kind of song that will lodge itself into your brain before you even realize what’s happening. It’s not the most complex or lyrically challenging song on this list by any means, but the track grooves from start to finish thanks to spelled-out lyrics, tasty solos, and Jennings’ signature Southern bravado.
“Sundown” by Gordon Lightfoot
If you’re going to write a song about the possibility of your girlfriend cheating on you, then you might as well make it a bop. Gordon Lightfoot did just that with his 1974 track, “Sundown,” from the album of the same name. The song’s harmony-filled chorus is another great earworm on this list of 1970s country cuts, so you know. Be ready for that to be stuck in your head.
“Tulsa Time” by Don Williams
Don Williams’ 1978 track “Tulsa Time” was so good that when Eric Clapton heard it for the first time, the British rock ‘n’ roller insisted that he record it. Williams pushed back, saying that he would be the first artist to put out a record of the song. Sure, it only has two chords and an easily memorizable chorus. But that’s part of the song’s enduring appeal.
“Six White Horses” by Tommy Cash
One need not even see the record sleeve to know that Tommy Cash is somehow connected to Johnny Cash. (He’s his little brother, in fact.) The younger Cash brother earned a Top 20 hit with his 1970 album Six White Horses, which has all the makings for an iconic Cash cut: driving rhythm, foreboding lyrics, and an equally moody baritone singer.
“Long Haired Country Boy” by Charlie Daniels
To be fair, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” from 1979 deserves just as much of a spot on this list of great 1970s country songs as “Long Haired Country Boy” from 1974. But there is something about the attitude of Daniels’ latter track that sums up the merging cultures of the 1970s in a catchy way. If you don’t like the way I’m livin’, you just leave this long-haired country boy alone.
Photo by Tom Hill/Getty Images)
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