Country music had a lot of great songs in the 90s. In fact, there are plenty of songs that fans still sing today, even though they never made it to the top of the charts. These four country songs from the 90s didn’t hit No. 1, but they definitely should have.
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“That’s What I Like About You” by Trisha Yearwood
Trisha Yearwood released “That’s What I Like About You” in 1991 as the third single from her self-titled freshman album. The song, written by Kevin Welch, Wally Wilson, and John Hadley, is an uptempo, feel-good track that fans still sing along to today.
“That’s What I Like About You” follows “She’s In Love With The Boy“, Yearwood’s debut single and first No. 1 hit, and “Like We Never Had A Broken Heart”, which peaked in the Top 5. “That’s What I Like About You” became a Top 10 hit, but didn’t hit the top of the charts, unfortunately.
“Missing You” by Brooks & Dunn
Before Brooks & Dunn released “Missing You” in 1999, John Waite had a hit with it in 1984. Written by Waite, along with Mark Leonard and Charles Sandford, “Missing You” also became a hit for Tina Turner in 1996.
Perhaps that’s why Brooks & Dunn barely cracked the Top 20 with “Missing You”. The duo includes the song on their Tight Rope record, with the song landing in the Top 15. The tongue-in-cheek lyric says, “I ain’t missing you at all / Since you’ve been gone away / I ain’t missing you / No matter what I might say.”
The song is likely so popular because it is so personal. Waite reveals “Missing You” came from a challenging time in his life, when he was married, but gone because of his busy career.
“When I sang the song, I stopped,” Waite recalls to People. “I stepped back from the mic. I couldn’t speak. I choked. It was so emotional. I knew what it was. I knew it was No. 1. It was that good, and it had come out of left field. It was a magical experience.”
“Everything I Love” by Alan Jackson
“Everything I Love” is on Alan Jackson’s eponymous sixth studio album. Written by hit songwriters Harley Allen and Carson Chamberlain, the song has all the makings of a big hit, even though it barely cracked the Top 10.
Jackson didn’t need to worry that “Everything I Love” didn’t become a No. 1 hit. He had two other singles that did reach the top of the chart on that record, both “Little Bitty” and “There Goes”, plus “Who’ Cheatin’ Who” and “Between The Devil And Me”, which hit the Top 5.
“Six Days On The Road” by Sawyer Brown
Sawyer Brown had a Top 20 hit in 1997 with “Six Days On The Road”. The song is written by Earl Green and Carl Montgomery, and was first recorded by Dave Dudley in 1963. But it’s Sawyer Brown who made it a popular country song.
“Six Days On The Road” is the title track of the group’s studio album, also out in 1997. An anthem for truck drivers everywhere, “Six Days On The Road” remains one of the group’s more popular singles.
“Six Days On The Road” begins with, “Well, I pulled out of Pittsburgh, rolling down the eastern seaboard / I’ve got my diesel wound up and she’s running like a-never before / There’s a speed zone ahead but all right, I don’t see a cop in sight / Six days on the road and I’m gonna make it home tonight.”
Photo by Stuart Mostyn/Redferns
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