On This Day in 1984, Willie Nelson Was at No. 1 with One of the Most Successful Albums of His Long Career

On this day (October 24) in 1984, Willie Nelson was in the middle of a three-month run at No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart with City of New Orleans. The LP reached No. 1 on September 29 and remained there for 12 consecutive weeks, Nelson’s second-longest run at the top of the tally. It was the No. 1 album in the United States until mid-December.

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Nelson only released the title track from City of New Orleans as a single. It topped the country chart and reached No. 30 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The success of this album stands in stark contrast to Angel Eyes, which he released two months earlier, in May 1984. He didn’t release a single from the LP, and it failed to chart. On the other hand, City of New Orleans stayed at No. 1 longer than all but one of Nelson’s albums. Always on My Mind dominated the chart for 22 nonconsecutive weeks in 1982.

[RELATED: On This Day in 1982, Willie Nelson Was at No. 1 With an Award-Winning Album He Recorded After Merle Haggard Passed on the Title Track]

While Nelson established himself as an expert songwriter early in his career, he only wrote one song, “Why Are You Pickin’ on Me,” for the LP. Instead, he chose to interpret the work of other songwriters. Some entries, including the title track, were covers of hits from other artists. That list includes Dave Loggins’ “Please Come to Boston” and “Wind Beneath My Wings,” which was a hit for Lou Rawls in 1983. In 1988, Bette Midler took the song to No. 1.

Willie Nelson Tops the Chart with a Cover of an Arlo Guthrie Hit

Steve Goodman wrote “City of New Orleans” and released the song as a single in 1972. Later that year, Arlo Guthrie popularized the song when he took it to No. 1. More than a decade later, Willie Nelson proved the universal appeal of the song when he took it back to No. 1.

According to Songfacts, Goodman wrote the song while riding the Illinois Central train from Chicago to New Orleans with his wife. She fell asleep, and he wrote the song about their trip, turning a true story into a future enduring hit for a pair of prolific songwriters.

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