70s Country Songs: Play 60 Hits, See Who Ruled #1
70s country songs lived on two charts at once, and the two rarely matched.
Billboard's country chart crowned 317 different number ones in the decade.
Only 28 of the 60 country-tagged songs on this site's pop year-end lists were among them.
Most of the acts who ruled the country chart never touched the pop one.
This page plays all 60 songs, then shows who really led the country chart.
Dolly Parton, publicity photo, March 1977.
Image credit: Publicity photo by RCA Records, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
70s Country Songs: Play the Songs
Here are 60 70s country songs from this site's Year-End Hot 100 data, from 1970 to 1979.
Each is tagged country. Press Play on any row to watch it here, and tap a heading to sort.
| Play | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Something's Burning | Kenny Rogers & The First Edition | 1970 | 38 | |||
| Snowbird | Anne Murray | 1970 | 42 | |||
| Walk A Mile In My Shoes | Joe South | 1970 | 97 | |||
| It's Only Make Believe | Glen Campbell | 1970 | 99 | |||
| Take Me Home, Country Roads | John Denver | 1971 | 8 | |||
| Amos Moses | Jerry Reed | 1971 | 28 | |||
| Help Me Make It Through the Night | Sammi Smith | 1971 | 37 | Yes | ||
| Rose Garden | Lynn Anderson | 1971 | 41 | Yes | ||
| Mr. Bojangles | Nitty Gritty Dirt Band | 1971 | 44 | |||
| Easy Loving | Freddie Hart | 1971 | 68 | Yes | ||
| When You're Hot, You're Hot | Jerry Reed | 1971 | 74 | Yes | ||
| Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me | Mac Davis | 1972 | 8 | Yes | ||
| Garden Party | Ricky Nelson | 1972 | 46 | |||
| The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A. | Donna Fargo | 1972 | 55 | Yes | ||
| Hot Rod Lincoln | Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen | 1972 | 69 | |||
| Kiss an Angel Good Mornin' | Charley Pride | 1972 | 74 | Yes | ||
| Why Me | Kris Kristofferson | 1973 | 6 | Yes | ||
| The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia | Vicki Lawrence | 1973 | 11 | Yes | ||
| Rocky Mountain High | John Denver | 1973 | 29 | |||
| Danny's Song | Anne Murray | 1973 | 36 | |||
| Behind Closed Doors | Charlie Rich | 1973 | 52 | Yes | ||
| Dueling Banjos | Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell | 1973 | 61 | |||
| Funny Face | Donna Fargo | 1973 | 83 | Yes | ||
| Jambalaya (On the Bayou) | Blue Ridge Rangers | 1973 | 86 | |||
| Daisy a Day | Jud Strunk | 1973 | 89 | |||
| One Hell of a Woman | Mac Davis | 1974 | 10 | |||
| The Most Beautiful Girl | Charlie Rich | 1974 | 23 | Yes | Yes | |
| Let Me Be There | Olivia Newton-John | 1974 | 26 | |||
| If You Love Me (Let Me Know) | Olivia Newton-John | 1974 | 32 | |||
| I Love | Tom T. Hall | 1974 | 83 | Yes | ||
| A Very Special Love Song | Charlie Rich | 1974 | 89 | Yes | ||
| Rhinestone Cowboy | Glen Campbell | 1975 | 2 | Yes | Yes | |
| Before the Next Teardrop Falls | Freddy Fender | 1975 | 4 | Yes | Yes | |
| Thank God I'm a Country Boy | John Denver | 1975 | 11 | Yes | Yes | |
| (Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song | B.J. Thomas | 1975 | 18 | Yes | Yes | |
| Wasted Days and Wasted Nights | Freddy Fender | 1975 | 27 | Yes | ||
| Wildfire | Michael Martin Murphey | 1975 | 40 | |||
| I'm Not Lisa | Jessi Colter | 1975 | 41 | Yes | ||
| Please Mr. Please | Olivia Newton-John | 1975 | 50 | |||
| Misty | Ray Stevens | 1975 | 91 | |||
| Third Rate Romance | Amazing Rhythm Aces | 1975 | 97 | |||
| Let Your Love Flow | The Bellamy Brothers | 1976 | 36 | Yes | ||
| Convoy | C. W. McCall | 1976 | 57 | Yes | Yes | |
| Junk Food Junkie | Larry Groce | 1976 | 94 | |||
| Country Boy (You Got Your Feet in L.A.) | Glen Campbell | 1976 | 100 | |||
| Southern Nights | Glen Campbell | 1977 | 22 | Yes | Yes | |
| Lucille | Kenny Rogers | 1977 | 43 | Yes | ||
| Heard It in a Love Song | The Marshall Tucker Band | 1977 | 57 | |||
| Way Down | Elvis Presley | 1977 | 64 | |||
| It Was Almost Like a Song | Ronnie Milsap | 1977 | 66 | Yes | ||
| It's a Heartache | Bonnie Tyler | 1978 | 24 | |||
| Here You Come Again | Dolly Parton | 1978 | 60 | Yes | ||
| Blue Bayou | Linda Ronstadt | 1978 | 61 | |||
| You Needed Me | Anne Murray | 1978 | 63 | Yes | ||
| Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue | Crystal Gayle | 1978 | 71 | Yes | ||
| The Gambler | Kenny Rogers | 1979 | 40 | Yes | ||
| She Believes in Me | Kenny Rogers | 1979 | 47 | Yes | ||
| The Devil Went Down to Georgia | The Charlie Daniels Band | 1979 | 50 | |||
| I Just Fall in Love Again | Anne Murray | 1979 | 72 | Yes | ||
| Suspicions | Eddie Rabbitt | 1979 | 85 | Yes |
Year-End Rank is the song's spot on that year's Billboard Year-End Hot 100.
That list keeps only the top 100 songs of each year.
The #1 Hit column marks songs that also reached number one on the weekly Hot 100.
The Country #1 column marks songs that reached number one on the weekly Hot Country Singles chart.
What Counts as 70s Country Music
70s country music was never one sound.
The best 70s country songs came from three overlapping styles pulling in different directions.
The table below sets them side by side, with a song from the playable list for each.
| Style | What defined it | Acts named by Wikipedia | Example on the list |
|---|---|---|---|
| Countrypolitan | Smooth Nashville Sound offshoot with real orchestral strings | Tammy Wynette, Charlie Rich, Charley Pride, Lynn Anderson, Glen Campbell | Behind Closed Doors by Charlie Rich (1973) |
| Outlaw country | A 1970s reaction to Nashville's slick production | Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, Kris Kristofferson | I'm Not Lisa by Jessi Colter (1975) |
| Country pop crossover | Country singers and pop singers meeting on both charts | Glen Campbell, John Denver, Olivia Newton-John, Anne Murray, Linda Ronstadt | Rhinestone Cowboy by Glen Campbell (1975) |
Countrypolitan: The Smooth Side
Countrypolitan grew out of the Nashville Sound.
Wikipedia describes it as a smoother sound with lush string arrangements played by a real orchestra.
It sold best from the later 1960s into the mid-1970s.
Producers Billy Sherrill and Glenn Sutton are tied to it there.
Charlie Rich's Behind Closed Doors and Lynn Anderson's Rose Garden both sit on the list above.
Outlaw Country: The Rough Side
Outlaw country pushed back against that polish.
Wikipedia dates its heyday to the mid-to-late 1970s, with signs of decline by 1978.
The 1976 compilation Wanted! The Outlaws collected Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser.
Wikipedia calls it the first country album certified platinum.
Waylon and Willie on the Country Chart
In this site's weekly data, Waylon Jennings reached number one 8 times, for 19 weeks in all.
His Luckenbach, Texas held the top spot for 6 weeks starting May 21, 1977.
Their duet Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys added 4 more weeks in 1978.
Willie Nelson reached number one 4 times under his own name.
The first was Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain on Oct 4, 1975.
Willie Nelson, Atlantic Records publicity photo, circa 1973.
Image credit: Atlantic Records, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
The full story of that song is in Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.
Country Pop and Country Rock: The Crossover Side
Country pop first emerged in the 1970s, according to Wikipedia.
Glen Campbell, John Denver, Olivia Newton-John, Anne Murray, and Linda Ronstadt all had hits on the country charts.
Dolly Parton's Here You Come Again topped the country chart.
Wikipedia says it also reached No. 3 on the pop chart.
Among the 70s country songs on this site's list, Rhinestone Cowboy by Glen Campbell ranks highest, at #2 for 1975.
The rock-leaning end of the crossover has its own page, 70s country rock.
Want a country act picked for you? The Random Artist Picker can do it.
Who Really Ruled the Country Chart
Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart tells a different story about 70s country songs than the pop year-end lists do.
This site's weekly country data covers 522 charts, from Jan 3, 1970 through Jan 4, 1980.
317 different songs reached number one in that stretch.
The Acts With the Most Country Number Ones
This table ranks the acts by number of country number ones.
The last column counts how many songs each act placed on any 1970s Year-End Hot 100 list.
Duets are credited separately, so they are left out here.
| Artist | Country #1 songs | Weeks at #1 | Songs on the Year-End Hot 100 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charley Pride | 20 | 37 | 1 |
| Conway Twitty | 20 | 30 | 0 |
| Merle Haggard | 16 | 27 | 0 |
| Ronnie Milsap | 12 | 19 | 1 |
| Sonny James | 10 | 23 | 0 |
| Dolly Parton | 10 | 18 | 1 |
| Tammy Wynette | 10 | 16 | 0 |
| Don Williams | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| Waylon Jennings | 8 | 19 | 0 |
| Charlie Rich | 8 | 15 | 3 |
| Loretta Lynn | 8 | 12 | 0 |
| Tom T. Hall | 7 | 10 | 1 |
7 of these 12 acts never placed a single song on any 1970s Year-End Hot 100 list.
Charley Pride and Conway Twitty each led with 20 number ones.
The country chart and the pop chart were close to separate worlds.
Many of the biggest 70s country songs never crossed over at all.
The Longest Runs at the Top
Most country number ones lasted one or two weeks.
Only 7 songs held the top spot for five weeks or longer.
| Song | Artist | Weeks at #1 | Run began |
|---|---|---|---|
| My Hang-Up Is You | Freddie Hart | 6 | Mar 11, 1972 |
| Convoy | C. W. McCall | 6 | Dec 20, 1975 |
| Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love) | Waylon Jennings | 6 | May 21, 1977 |
| Rose Garden | Lynn Anderson | 5 | Dec 26, 1970 |
| When You're Hot, You're Hot | Jerry Reed | 5 | Jun 19, 1971 |
| Kiss an Angel Good Mornin' | Charley Pride | 5 | Dec 4, 1971 |
| Here You Come Again | Dolly Parton | 5 | Dec 3, 1977 |
Three songs tied at six weeks.
Convoy by C. W. McCall began its run in December 1975 and finished in 1976.
Dolly Parton's Here You Come Again spent 5 weeks at number one.
That run began Dec 3, 1977.
To hear something from anywhere in the decade, spin the Random 70s Song Generator.
When the Country and Pop Charts Agreed
Of the 60 70s country songs on the playable list, 28 also reached number one on the country chart.
11 reached number one on the weekly Hot 100.
Only 7 did both.
These are the true double number ones in this site's data:
- The Most Beautiful Girl by Charlie Rich (1974)
- Rhinestone Cowboy by Glen Campbell (1975)
- Before the Next Teardrop Falls by Freddy Fender (1975)
- Thank God I'm a Country Boy by John Denver (1975)
- (Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song by B.J. Thomas (1975)
- Convoy by C. W. McCall (1976)
- Southern Nights by Glen Campbell (1977)
Every other country number one stayed on the country side of the radio dial.
Most 70s country songs followed that same path.
That is why a country chart list and a pop year-end list look so different.
The pop side of the story is covered in 70s number one hits.
The Women Who Ran the Country Chart
These seven women alone account for 51 of the decade's 317 country number ones.
Each reached number one at least six times:
- Dolly Parton: 10 number ones, 18 weeks at the top.
- Tammy Wynette: 10 number ones, 16 weeks at the top.
- Loretta Lynn: 8 number ones, 12 weeks at the top.
- Crystal Gayle: 6 number ones, 11 weeks at the top.
- Donna Fargo: 6 number ones, 10 weeks at the top.
- Tanya Tucker: 6 number ones, 6 weeks at the top.
- Lynn Anderson: 5 number ones, 12 weeks at the top.
Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton, publicity photo, 1969.
Image credit: Moeller Talent, Inc. Nashville, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Dolly Parton's run is the clearest example.
Jolene first hit number one on Feb 2, 1974.
I Will Always Love You followed on Jun 8, 1974.
The story of the first song is in Jolene.
That was the year she recorded I Will Always Love You as her farewell to Porter Wagoner's show.
Sources
The year-end ranks and Hot 100 number ones come from this site's own Billboard data, described on the methodology page.
Every list on Music of the 70s plays inside the page.
The weekly country chart data follows Wikipedia's year-by-year lists of Hot Country Singles number ones.
Background on the genre can be checked against these outside sources:
- Wikipedia: Country music for the 1970s crossover and outlaw movements.
- Wikipedia: Outlaw country for the movement and Wanted! The Outlaws.
- Wikipedia: Countrypolitan for the smooth Nashville Sound offshoot.
- Wikipedia: Hot Country Songs for the chart's history and names.
Frequently Asked Questions
What were the most popular 70s country songs?
The most popular 70s country songs on the pop year-end lists included Rhinestone Cowboy by Glen Campbell (1975), Before the Next Teardrop Falls by Freddy Fender (1975), Why Me by Kris Kristofferson (1973).
Those ranks measure pop-chart success, not the country chart.
On Billboard's country chart, Charley Pride and Conway Twitty logged the most number ones.
Who had the most number one country songs in the 1970s?
Charley Pride and Conway Twitty each reached number one on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart 20 times in the 1970s.
Pride spent 37 weeks on top and Twitty spent 30 weeks.
Merle Haggard followed with 16 number ones, based on this site's weekly country chart data.
What was the longest-running number one country song of the 70s?
Three songs tied for the longest country chart runs of the 1970s, at six weeks each.
They were My Hang-Up Is You by Freddie Hart (1972); Convoy by C. W. McCall (1975); Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love) by Waylon Jennings (1977).
These counts come from this site's weekly Hot Country Singles data, which follows Wikipedia's year-by-year number one lists.
What is outlaw country?
Outlaw country is a 1970s country subgenre that grew as a reaction to the polished Nashville sound.
Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser appeared on the 1976 compilation Wanted! The Outlaws.
Wikipedia says it was the first country album certified platinum.
How many 70s country songs also reached number one on the pop chart?
Of 60 country-tagged songs in this site's Year-End Hot 100 data, 11 reached number one on the weekly Hot 100.
7 of those 11 topped the country chart as well, so true double number ones were rare.
Most country number ones never appeared on a pop year-end list at all.
