Country Music 1974

Events

A group of traditional country musicians founded the Association of Country Entertainers under the leadership of George Jones and Tammy Wynette to defend themselves against the increasing pop influences.

Top hits of the year

Number 1 hits

January 19 - "I Love" - Tom T. Hall
February 2nd - " Jolene " - Dolly Parton
February 9 - "World of Make Believe" - Bill Anderson
February 16 - "That's the Way Love Goes" - Johnny Rodriguez
February 23 - "Another Lonely Song" - Tammy Wynette
March 9th - "There Won't Be Anymore" - Charlie Rich
March 23rd - "There's a Honky Tonk Angel (Who'll Take Me Back In)" - Conway Twitty
March 30th - "Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)" - Tanya Tucker
April 6th - "A Very Special Love Song" - Charlie Rich
April 27th - "Hello Love" - Hank Snow
May 4th - "Things Aren't Funny Anymore" - Merle Haggard and the Strangers
May 11th - "Is it Wrong (For Loving You)" - Sonny James
May 18 - "Country Bumpkin" - Cal Smith
May 25th - "No Charge" - Melba Montgomery
June 1st - "Pure Love" - Ronnie Milsap
June 8th - "I Will Always Love You" - Dolly Parton
June 15th - "I Don't See Me in Your Eyes Anymore" - Charlie Rich
June 22nd - "This Time" - Waylon Jennings
June 29th - "Room Full of Roses" - Mickey Gilley
July 6 - "He Thinks I Still Care" - Anne Murray
July 20th - "Marie Laveux" - Bobby Bare
July 27th - "You Can't Be a Beacon if Your Light Don't Shine" - Donna Fargo
August 3rd - "Rub it In" - Billy "Crash" Craddock
August 17th - "As Soon as I Hang Up the Phone" - Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn
August 24th - "The Old Man From the Mountain" - Merle Haggard and the Strangers
August 31st - "The Grand Tour" - George Jones
September 7th - "Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends" - Ronnie Milsap
September 21 - "I Wouldn't Want to Live If You Didn't Love Me" - Don Williams
September 28th - "I'm a Rambin 'Man" - Waylon Jennings
October 5th - "I Love My Friend" - Charlie Rich
October 12th - "Please Don't Stop Lovin 'Me" - Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton
October 19 - "I See the 'Want-To' In Your Eyes" - Conway Twitty
November 2nd - "I Overlooked an Orchid" - Mickey Gilley
November 9th - "Love is Like a Butterfly" - Dolly Parton
November 16 - "Country Is" - Tom T. Hall
November 23rd - "Trouble in Paradise" - Loretta Lynn
November 30th - "Back Home Again" - John Denver
December 7th - "She Called Me Baby" - Charlie Rich
December 14th - "I Can Help" - Billy Swan
December 28th - "What a Man My Man Is" - Lynn Anderson

More hits

"A Mi Esposa Con Amor (To My Wife With Love)" - Sonny James
"After the Fire is Gone" - Willie Nelson and Tracy Nelson
"Annie's Song" - John Denver
"Big Four Poster Bed" - Brenda Lee
"Bloody Mary Mornin '" - Willie Nelson
"Bonaparte's Retreat" - Glen Campbell
"Boney Fingers" - Hoyt Axton
"Bring Back Your Love to Me" - Don Gibson
"Can't You Feel It" - David Houston
"Come Monday" - Jimmy Buffett
"Daddy, What If?" - Bobby Bare with Bobby Bare Jr.
"Dance With Me (Just One More Time)" - Johnny Rodriguez
"Hey Loretta" - Loretta Lynn
"Honeymoon Feelin '" - Roy Clark
"I Honestly Love You" - Olivia Newton-John
"I Never Go Around Mirrors" - Lefty Frizzell
"I Love You, I Love You" - David Houston and Barbara Mandrell
"I'll Think of Something" - Hank Williams Jr.
"I'll Try a Little Bit Harder" - Donna Fargo
"I'm Not Through Loving You Yet" - Conway Twitty
"If You Love Me (Let Me Know)" - Olivia Newton-John
"It'll Come Back" - Red Sovine
"(It's a) Monster's Holiday" - Buck Owens
"It's That Time of the Night" - Jim Ed Brown
"Last Time I Saw Him" - Dottie West
"A Love Song" - Anne Murray
"The Man That Turned My Mama On" - Tanya Tucker
"Memory Maker" - Mel Tillis and the Statesiders
"Midnight, Me and the Blues" - Mel Tillis and the Statesiders
"Mississippi Cotton-Pickin 'Delta Town" - Charley Pride
"The Older the Violin the Sweeter the Music" - Hank Thompson
"Old Home Fill-er Up An 'Keep On A-Truckin' Café" - CW McCall
"Once You've Had the Best" - George Jones
"One Day at a Time" - Don Gibson
"Ragged Old Flag" - Johnny Cash
"Some Kind of Woman" - Faron Young
"Something" - Johnny Rodriguez
"Sometime Sunshine" - Jim Ed Brown
"Somewhere Between Love and Tomorrow" - Roy Clark
"The South's Gonna Do it Again" - Charlie Daniel's band
"Song and Dance Man" - Johnny PayCheck
"Stomp Them Grapes" - Mel Tillis and the Statesiders
"The Streak" - Ray Stevens
"Sundown" - Gordon Lightfoot
"Sweet Magnolia Blossom" - Billy "Crash" Craddock
"That Girl Who Waits on Tables" - Ronnie Milsap
"That Song is Driving Me Crazy" - Tom T. Hall
"They Don't Make 'Em Like My Daddy" - Loretta Lynn
"We Could" - Charley Pride
"We Should Be Together" - Don Williams
"(We're Not) the Jet Set" - George Jones and Tammy Wynette
"We're Over" - Johnny Rodriguez
"When the Morning Comes" - Hoyt Axton
"Who Left the Door to Heaven Open" - Hank Thompson
"Wrong Ideas" - Brenda Lee

Albums (selection)

Back Home Again - John Denver (RCA)
Honky Tonk Amnesia - Moe Bandy
Phases and Stages - Willie Nelson (Atlantic)
Sundown - Gordon Lightfoot
This Time - Waylon Jennings (RCA)

Born

February 17 - Bryan White , singer-songwriter of the 1990s.
October 14th - Natalie Maines , lead singer for the Dixie Chicks .

Died

January 2nd - Tex Ritter , 68, singing cowboy
July 17 - Don Rich , 32, member of the Buckaroos (backing band of Buck Owens ).

New members of the Country Music Hall of Fame

Owen Bradley (1915-1998)
Pee Wee King (1914-2000)

The most important awards

Grammys

Best Female Country Vocal Performance - Anne Murray - Love Song
Best Male Country Vocal Performance - Ronnie Milsap - Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends
Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group - Pointer Sisters - Fairytale
Best Country Instrumental Performance - Chet Atkins & Merle Travis - The Atkins-Travis Traveling Show
Best Country Song - Billy Sherrill & Norris Wilson - A Very Special Love Song

Academy of Country Music

Entertainer Of The Year - Mac Davis
Song Of The Year - "Country Bumpkin" - Cal Smith - Don Wayne
Single Of The Year - "Country Bumpkin" - Cal Smith
Album Of The Year - Back Home Again - John Denver
Top Male Vocalist - Merle Haggard
Top Female Vocalist - Loretta Lynn
Top vocal duo - Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn
Top New Male Vocalist - Mickey Gilley
Top New Female Vocalist - Linda Ronstadt

Country Music Association

Entertainer of the Year - Charlie Rich
Male Vocalist of the Year - Ronnie Milsap
Female Vocalist of the Year - Olivia Newton-John
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 - "Country Bumpkin," Cal Smith
Song of the Year - "Country Bumpkin," Don Wayne
Album of the Year - A Very Special Love Song , Charlie Rich
Instrumentalist of the Year - Don Rich