Country Music 1973

Top hits of the year

Number 1 hits

January 20th - "Soul Song" - Joe Stampley
January 27 - "(Old Dogs, Children and) Watermelon Wine" - Tom T. Hall
February 3rd - "She Needs Someone to Hold Her When She Cries" - Conway Twitty
February 17th - "I Wonder if They Ever Think of Me" - Merle Haggard and the Strangers
February 24th - "Rated 'X'" - Loretta Lynn
March 3rd - "The Lord Knows I'm Drinkin '" - Cal Smith
March 10th - "'Til I Get it Right" - Tammy Wynette
March 17th - "The Teddy Bear Song" - Barbara Fairchild
March 31st - "Keep Me in Mind" - Lynn Anderson
April 7th - "Super Kind of Woman" - Freddie Hart
April 14th - "A Shoulder to Cry On" - Charley Pride
April 21 - "Superman" - Donna Fargo
April 28th - "Behind Closed Doors" - Charlie Rich
May 12th - "Come Live With Me" - Roy Clark
May 19th - "What's Your Mama's Name" - Tanya Tucker
May 26th - "Satin Sheets" - Jeanne Pruett
June 9th - "You Always Come Back to Hurtin 'Me" - Johnny Rodriguez
June 16 - "Kids Say the Darndest Things" - Tammy Wynette
May 23rd - "Satin Sheets" - Jeanne Pruett
June 30th - "Don't Fight the Feelings of Love" - Charley Pride
July 7th - "Why Me" - Kris Kristofferson
July 14th - "Love is the Foundation" - Loretta Lynn
July 28th - "You Were Always There" - Donna Fargo
August 4th - "Lord, Mr. Ford" - Jerry Reed
August 11th - "Trip to Heaven" - Freddie Hart
Aug 18 - "Louisiana Woman, Mississisippi Man" - Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn
August 25 - "Everybody's Had the Blues" - Merle Haggard and the Strangers
September 8th - "You've Never Been This Far Before" - Conway Twitty
September 29 - "Blood Red and Goin 'Down" - Tanya Tucker
October 6th - "You're the Best Thing That's Ever Happened to Me" - Ray Price
October 13 - "Ridin 'My Thumb to Mexico" - Johnny Rodriguez
October 27 - "We're Gonna Hold On" - George Jones and Tammy Wynette
November 10th - "Paper Roses" - Marie Osmond
November 24th - "The Most Beautiful Girl" - Charlie Rich
December 15th - "Amazing Love" - Charley Pride
December 22nd - "If We Make it Through December" - Merle Haggard and the Strangers

More hits

"Amanda" - Don Williams
"Any Old Wind That Blows" - Johnny Cash
"Baby's Gone" - Conway Twitty
"Bring it On Home to Your Woman" - Joe Stampley
"Can I Sleep in Your Arms" - Jeannie Seely
"Come Early Morning" - Don Williams
"The Corner of My Life" - Bill Anderson
"Country Sunshine" - Dottie West
"Danny's Song" - Anne Murray
"Don't Give Up On Me" - Jerry Wallace
"Dreaming My Dreams With You" - Waylon Jennings
"Drift Away" - Narvel Felts
"The Emptiest Arms in the World" - Merle Haggard and the Strangers
"Good Times" - David Houston
"I Hate You" - Ronnie Milsap
"I Love You More and More Every Day" - Sonny James
"I'm Your Woman" - Jeanne Pruett
"If Teardrops Were Pennies" - Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton
"If You Can Live With It (I Can Live Without It)" - Bill Anderson
"If You Can't Feel It (It Ain't There)" - Freddie Hart
"Jamestown Ferry" - Tanya Tucker
"Just What I Had in Mind" - Faron Young
"Kid Stuff" - Barbara Fairchild
"The Last Love Song" - Hank Williams Jr.
"Let Me Be There" - Olivia Newton-John
"Little Girl Gone" - Donna Fargo
"Love Me" - Marty Robbins
"Love's the Answer" - Tanya Tucker
"Lovin 'on Back Streets" - Mel Street
"The Midnight Oil" - Barbara Mandrell
"Mr. Lovemaker" - Johnny PayCheck
"My Tennessee Mountain Home" - Dolly Parton
"Neon Rosie" - Mel Tillis and the Statesiders
"Nobody Wins" - Brenda Lee
"Nothing Ever Hurt Me (Half as Bad As Losing You)" - George Jones
"Pass Me By" - Johnny Rodriguez
"Ravishing Ruby" - Tom T. Hall
"Red Necks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer" - Johnny Russell
"Rocky Mountain High" - John Denver
"Sawmill" - Mel Tillis and the Statesiders
"Send Me No Roses" - Tommy Overstreet
"The Shelter of Your Eyes" - Don Williams
"Sing About Love" - Lynn Anderson
"Slippin 'and Slidin'" - Billy "Crash" Craddock
"Slippin 'Away" - Jean Shepard
"Southern Loving" - Jim Ed Brown
"Stay All Night (Stay a Little Longer)" - Willie Nelson
"Sunday Sunrise" - Brenda Lee
"Sweet Country Woman" - Johnny Duncan
"'Til the Water Stops Runnin'" - Billy "Crash" Craddock
"Top of the World" - Lynn Anderson
"Touch the Morning" - Don Gibson
"Uneasy Rider" - Charlie Daniel's band
"Walking Piece of Heaven" - Marty Robbins
"What My Woman Can't Do" - George Jones
"Yellow Ribbon" - Johnny Carver
"You Ask Me To" - Waylon Jennings
"You Can Have Her" - Waylon Jennings
"You Lay So Easy on My Mind" - Bobby G. Rice

Albums (selection)

Honky Tonk Heroes - Waylon Jennings (RCA)
The Midnight Oil - Barbara Mandrell (Columbia)
Shotgun Willie - Willie Nelson (Atlantic)

Born

June 26 - Gretchen Wilson

Died

November 10 - Stringbean , 58, banjo player and comedian on the TV series Hee Haw

New members of the Country Music Hall of Fame

Chet Atkins (1924-2001)
Patsy Cline (1932-1963)

The most important awards

Grammys

Best Female Country Vocal Performance - Olivia Newton-John - Let Me Be There
Best Male Country Vocal Performance - Charlie Rich - Behind Closed Doors
Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group - Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge - From The Bottle To The Bottom
Best Country Instrumental Performance - Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell - Dueling Banjos
Best Country Song - Kenny O'Dell - Behind Closed Doors

Academy of Country Music

Entertainer Of The Year - Roy Clark
Song Of The Year - "Behind Closed Doors" - Charlie Rich - Kenny O'Dell
Single Of The Year - "Behind Closed Doors" - Charlie Rich
Album Of The Year - Behind Closed Doors - Charlie Rich
Top Male Vocalist - Charlie Rich
Top Female Vocalist - Loretta Lynn
Top Vocal Group - Brush Arbor
Top New Male Vocalist - Dorsey Burnette
Top New Female Vocalist - Olivia Newton-John

Country Music Association

Entertainer of the Year - Roy Clark
Male Vocalist of the Year - Charlie Rich
Female Vocalist of the Year - Loretta Lynn
Instrumental Group of the Year - Danny Davis & the Nashville Brass
Vocal Group of the Year - Statler Brothers
Vocal Duo of the Year - Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn
Single of the Year - "Behind Closed Doors," Charlie Rich
Song of the Year - "Behind Closed Doors," Kenny O'Dell
Album of the Year - Behind Closed Doors , Charlie Rich
Instrumentalist of the Year - Charlie McCoy