4 Country Songs From 1982 That Will Always Be Classics

A true test of a great country song is one that sounds great years, and even decades after they were first released. These four country songs were released in 1982, but are still classics, 43 years later.

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“Always On My Mind” by Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson is a prolific songwriter, but he didn’t write “Always On My Mind“. The song, written instead by Wayne Carson, Mark James, and Johnny Christopher, is the title track of an album Nelson released in 1982.

“Always On My Mind” is one of Nelson’s biggest hits of his career. The song not only became a No. 1 hit at country radio, but it was also a Top 5 hit on the pop charts.

“‘Always On My Mind’ bowled me over the moment I heard it, which is one of the ways I pick songs to record,” Nelson says (via Songfacts). “There are beautifully sad songs that bowl me over… haunting melodies you can’t get out of your mind, with lines that really stick.”

“I Will Always Love You” by Dolly Parton

There may not be a more classic Dolly Parton song than “I Will Always Love You“. In a now often-told story, Parton wrote “I Will Always Love You” not as a love song, but as a goodbye to Porter Wagoner, when she was leaving his hit TV show to pursue a solo career. The song was first released in 1974. But in 1982, Parton released it again as a single, this time for the movie, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. It became a No. 1 single for Parton both times.

“The biggest song so far in my career,” Parton said during a 2011 interview. “I’m famous for several, but that one has been recorded by more people and made me more money, I think, than all of them. But that song did come from a true and deep place in my heart.”

“You And I” by Eddie Rabbit and Crystal Gayle

Eddie Rabbit and Crystal Gayle had a No. 1 hit with “You And I” when it was released. Written by Frank Myers, the romantic song is on Rabbit’s Radio Romance album, also out in 1982.

“Just you and I / Sharing our love together,” the song begins. “And I know in time / We’ll build the dreams we treasure / And we’ll be alright / Just you and I.”

“You And I” also became a Top 5 hit on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart as well.

“Slow Hand” by Conway Twitty

Michael Clark and John Bettis are the writers of “Slow Hand”, which is one of Conway Twitty’s biggest hits. But before Twitty released it, The Pointer Sisters had a Top 5 hit with it in 1981.

Still, it’s Twitty’s version that most people remember. The iconic song became a platinum-selling hit for Twitty. The song is on his 1982 Southern Comfort album.

Interestingly, before Twitty made it a No. 1 hit, Del Reeves also released a version of the song, although it failed to chart on the radio.

Photo by Clayton Call/Redferns