In country music, there are good albums, and then there are ones that are crucial to the genre. These are four country albums from the 1980s, which are so influential that they should be required listening for every country music fan.
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‘9 To 5 And Odd Jobs’ by Dolly Parton
Among Dolly Parton’s many important albums is 9 to 5 And Odd Jobs. Out in 1980, the record includes “9 To 5”, the title track of the 9 To 5 film, starring Parton. In addition to “9 To 5”, 9 To 5 And Odd Jobs also includes her take on the songs “The House Of The Rising Sun”, “Detroit City”, “But You Know I Love You”, and more.
1980 was a prolific year for Parton. She also released her Dolly, Dolly, Dolly album in 1980.
‘Always On My Mind’ by Willie Nelson
When Willie Nelson released Always On My Mind in 1982, he was 20 years into his massively successful country music career. But Always On My Mind remains among his best. All three of the singles from Always On My Mind, including the title track, were hit singles for Nelson.
Always On My Mind includes both originals and covers. Other tracks include “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man”, “Let It Be Me”, “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, and others.
Always On My Mind spent a total of 22 weeks at the top of the country albums chart in 1982.
‘Storms Of Life’ by Randy Travis
Not every artist has a debut album that remains one of their best, but Randy Travis isn’t most artists. Storms Of Life is Travis’s first record. Out in 1986, the multi-platinum project includes “Diggin’ Up Bones”, “1982”, and “On The Other Hand“, a song Travis released twice as a single.
In 2021, a remastered version of Storms Of Life was released. The new version includes three new songs: “Ain’t No Use”, “The Wall”, and “Carryin’ Fire”.
‘Strait From The Heart’ by George Strait
Strait From The Heart is George Strait’s sophomore album. Out in 1982, the project includes three No. 1 singles, “Fool-Hearted Memory”, “A Fire I Can’t Put Out”, and “Amarillo By Morning“, the latter Strait’s first multi-platinum single.
Interestingly, with 60 No. 1 hits, it’s “Fool-Hearted Memory” that became Strait’s first single to land at the top of the charts. Written by Byron Hill and Blake Mavis, Strait also sings the song in the film, The Soldier. Strait makes a cameo in the film.
“The studio wanted a major label artist to record the song and perform it in the movie,” Hill recalls (via Songfacts). “And they would only commit to the song if it was released as a single.”
Photo by George Rose/Getty Images
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