1977 in country music

See also: 1976 in country music, 1977 in music, other events of 1977, 1978 in country music, and the List of years in Country Music

Events

• June 25 – Waylon Jennings smash, "Lukenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)" spends its sixth week at No. 1 on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart. It is just the third (and as it turned out, final) six-week No. 1 song of the 1970s, and will be the last song to spend as long atop the charts for 20 years (until 1997's "It's Your Love" by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill).
• June 26 – Elvis Presley performs his final concert at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana.
• December 31 – Dolly Parton's "Here You Come Again" spends its fifth week at No. 1 on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart. It will be the last song to spend that long atop the chart until 1990's "Love Without End, Amen" by George Strait.

Top hits of the year

Number one hits

(As certified by Billboard magazine)

• January 8 - "Broken Down in Tiny Pieces" - Billy "Crash" Craddock
• January 15 - "You Never Miss a Real Good Thing (Till He Says Goodbye)" - Crystal Gayle
• January 22 - "I Can't Believe She Gives it All to Me" - Conway Twitty
• January 29 - "Let My Love Be Your Pillow" - Ronnie Milsap
• February 5 - "Near You" - George Jones and Tammy Wynette
• February 19 - "Moody Blue"/"She Thinks I Still Care" - Elvis Presley
• February 26 - "Say You'll Stay Until Tomorrow" - Tom Jones
• March 5 - "Heart Healer" - Mel Tillis
• March 12 - "She's Just an Old Love Turned Memory" - Charley Pride
• March 19 - "Southern Nights" - Glen Campbell
• April 2 - "Lucille" - Kenny Rogers
• April 16 - "It Couldn't Have Been Any Better" - Johnny Duncan
• April 23 - "She's Got You" - Loretta Lynn
• April 30 - "She's Pulling Me Back Again" - Mickey Gilley
• May 7 - "Play, Guitar Play" - Conway Twitty
• May 14 - "Some Broken Hearts Never Mend" - Don Williams
• May 21 - "Lukenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)" - Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson
• July 2 - "That Was Yesterday" - Donna Fargo
• July 9 - "I'll Be Leaving Alone" - Charley Pride
• July 16 - "It Was Almost Like a Song" - Ronnie Milsap
• August 6 - "Rollin' With the Flow" - Charlie Rich
• August 20 - "Way Down" - Elvis Presley
• August 27 - "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" - Crystal Gayle
• September 24 - "I've Already Loved You in My Mind" - Conway Twitty
• October 1 - "Daytime Friends" - Kenny Rogers
• October 8 - "Heaven's Just a Sin Away" - The Kendalls
• November 5 - "I'm Just a Country Boy" - Don Williams
• November 12 - "More to Me" - Charley Pride
• November 19 - "The Wurlitzer Prize (I Don't Want to Get Over You)" - Waylon Jennings
• December 3 - "Here You Come Again" - Dolly Parton

Other major hits

• "Adios Amigo" - Marty Robbins
• "(After Sweet Memories) Play Born to Lose Again" – Dottsy
• "Are You Ready for the Country" - Waylon Jennings
• "Blue Bayou" - Linda Ronstadt
• "Bluest Heartache of the Year" - Kenny Dale
• "Born Believer" - Jim Ed Brown and Helen Cornelius
• "Burning Memories" - Mel Tillis
• "Chains of Love" - Mickey Gilley
• "Cheap Perfume and Candlelight" - Bobby Borchers
• "Country Party" - Johnny Lee
• "Crazy" - Linda Ronstadt
• "Desperado" - Johnny Rodriguez
• "Don't Be Angry" - Donna Fargo
• "Don't Let Me Touch You" - Marty Robbins
• "Don't Go City Girl on Me" - Tommy Overstreet
• "Don't Throw it All Away" - Dave & Sugar
• "East Bound and Down" - Jerry Reed
• "Fools Fall in Love" - Jacky Ward
• "From Graceland to the Promiseland" - Merle Haggard
• "Georgia Keeps Pulling On My Ring" - Conway Twitty
• "Hangin' On" - Vern Gosdin
• "Head to Toe" - Bill Anderson
• "Heard it in a Love Song" – Marshall Tucker Band
• "Hold Me" - Barbara Mandrell
• "Honky Tonk Memories" - Mickey Gilley
• "I Can't Help Myself (Here Comes That Feeling)" - Eddie Rabbitt
• "I Can't Love You Enough" - Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn
• "I Don't Know Why (I Just Do)" - Marty Robbins
• "I Don't Wanna Cry" - Larry Gatlin with Family & Friends
• "I Got the Hoss" - Mel Tillis
• "I Love You a Thousand Ways" - Willie Nelson
• "I'll Do it All Over Again" - Crystal Gayle
• "I'm Getting Good at Missing You (Solitaire)" - Rex Allen Jr.
• "I'm Sorry for You My Friend" — Moe Bandy
• "I'm the Only Hell (Mama Ever Raised)" - Johnny PayCheck
• "If It Ain't Love By Now" - Jim Ed Brown and Helen Cornelius
• "If Love Was a Bottle of Wine" - Tommy Overstreet
• "If Practice Makes Perfect" - Johnny Rodriguez
• "If We're Not Back in Love by Monday" - Merle Haggard
• "The King is Gone" - Ronnie McDowell
• "Knee Deep in Loving You" - Dave & Sugar
• "Let Me Down Easy" - Cristy Lane
• "(Let's Get Together) One Last Time" - Tammy Wynette
• "Liars One, Believers Zero" - Bill Anderson
• "Light Of A Clear Blue Morning" - Dolly Parton
• "Love is Just a Game" - Larry Gatlin with Family & Friends
• "Making Believe" - Emmylou Harris
• "Margaritaville" – Jimmy Buffett
• "Married But Not to Each Other" - Barbara Mandrell
• "Midnight Angel" - Barbara Mandrell
• "Mockingbird Hill" - Donna Fargo
• "The Movies" - Statler Brothers
• "One of a Kind" - Tammy Wynette
• "Paper Rosie" - Gene Watson
• "The Rains Came" - Freddy Fender
• "Ramblin' Fever" - Merle Haggard
• "Roses for Mama" - C.W. McCall
• "Saying Hello, Saying I Love You, Saying Goodbye" - Jim Ed Brown and Helen Cornelius
• "Shame On Me" - Donna Fargo
• "Slide Off Of Your Satin Sheets" - Johnny PayCheck
• "A Song in the Night" - Johnny Duncan
• "Southern California" - George Jones and Tammy Wynette
• "Statues Without Hearts" - Larry Gatlin with Family & Friends
• "Still the One" - Bill Anderson
• "Sunflower" - Glen Campbell
• "A Tear Fell" - Billy "Crash" Craddock
• "That's the Way Love Should Be" - Dave & Sugar
• "'Til the End" - Vern Gosdin
• "Torn Between Two Lovers" - Mary MacGregor
• "Two Dollars in the Jukebox" - Eddie Rabbitt
• "Two Less Lonely People" - Rex Allen Jr.
• "Uncloudy Day" - Willie Nelson
• "We Can't Go On Living Like This" - Eddie Rabbitt
• "When It's Just You and Me" - Dottie West
• "Why Can't He Be You" - Loretta Lynn
• "Why Lovers Turn to Strangers" - Freddie Hart
• "Wrap Your Love All Around Your Man" - Lynn Anderson
• "Y'all Come Back Saloon" - Oak Ridge Boys
• "Yesterday's Gone" - Vern Gosdin
• "You Light Up My Life" - Debby Boone
• "(You Never Can Tell) C'est La Vie" - Emmylou Harris
• "You're Free to Go" - Sonny James
• "Your Man Loves You Honey" - Tom T. Hall

Top new album releases

• Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes — Jimmy Buffett (MCA)
• Fargo Country — Donna Fargo (Warner Bros.)
• Here You Come Again — Dolly Parton (RCA)
• Ol' Waylon — Waylon Jennings (RCA)

Other new albums

• Daytime Friends - Kenny Rogers (United Artists)
• I Remember Patsy - Loretta Lynn (MCA)
• It Was Almost Like a Song - Ronnie Milsap (RCA)
• Kenny Rogers - Kenny Rogers (United Artists)
• Southern Nights - Glen Campbell (Capitol)
• To Lefty From Willie – Willie Nelson (Columbia)
• Y'all Come Back Saloon - Oak Ridge Boys

Births

• November 20 — Josh Turner, deep bass-voiced singer of the 2000s, styled in bluegrass and other traditional country styles.

Deaths

• August 16 - Elvis Presley, 42, "The King" (heart failure).
• October 14 – Bing Crosby, 74, one of popular music's all-time leading performers; several of his 1930s and 1940s hits became hugely popular with country fans (including "Pistol Packin' Mama," the first-ever Billboard magazine country No. 1 song). (heart attack)

Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

• Merle Travis (1917-1983)

Major Awards

Grammy awards

• Best Country Vocal Performance, Female -- "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" - Crystal Gayle
• Best Country Vocal Performance, Male -- "Lucille" - Kenny Rogers
• Best Country Vocal Performance By A Duo Or Group -- "Heaven's Just A Sin Away" - Kendalls (Jeannie Kendall, Royce Kendall)
• Best Country Instrumental Performance -- "Country Instrumentalist Of The Year" - Hargus "Pig" Robbins
• Best Country Song -- "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" - Richard Leigh

Academy of Country Music

• Entertainer Of The Year -- Dolly Parton
• Song Of The Year -- "Lucille" - Kenny Rogers - Roger Bowling, Hal Bynum
• Single Of The Year -- "Lucille" - Kenny Rogers
• Album Of The Year -- Kenny Rogers - Kenny Rogers
• Top Male Vocalist -- Kenny Rogers
• Top Female Vocalist -- Crystal Gayle
• Top Vocal Group -- Statler Brothers
• Top New Male Vocalist -- Eddie Rabbitt
• Top New Female Vocalist -- Debby Boone

Country Music Association

• Entertainer of the Year -- Ronnie Milsap
• Male Vocalist of the Year -- Ronnie Milsap
• Female Vocalist of the Year -- Crystal Gayle
• Instrumental Group of the Year –- Original Texas Playboys
• Vocal Group of the Year -- Statler Brothers
• Vocal Duo of the Year -- Jim Ed Brown and Helen Cornelius
• Single of the Year -- "Lucille," Kenny Rogers
• Song of the Year -- "Lucille," Roger Bowling and Hal Bynum
• Album of the Year -- Ronnie Milsap Live, Ronnie Milsap
• Instrumentalist of the Year -- Roy Clark

Further reading

• Kingsbury, Paul, "The Grand Ole Opry: History of Country Music. 70 Years of the Songs, the Stars and the Stories," Villard Books, Random House; Opryland USA, 1995
• Kingsbury, Paul, "Vinyl Hayride: Country Music Album Covers 1947-1989," Country Music Foundation, 2003 (ISBN 0-8118-3572-3)
• Millard, Bob, "Country Music: 70 Years of America's Favorite Music," HarperCollins, New York, 1993 (ISBN 0-06-273244-7)
• Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs 1944-2005 - 6th Edition." 2005.

Other links

• Country Music Association
• Inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame

External links

• Country Music Hall of Fame