My Seventies Music

Category: Country Music

  • Anne Murray – “Snowbird” And “You Needed Me”

    Anne Murray album “This Is My Way”

    When Anne Murray reached No. 1 on the U.S. charts with her single “You Needed Me” in 1978, she was the first Canadian female solo singer to ever achieve that honour. Previously she had hit No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970 with “Snowbird”, which got to No. 2 on the pop charts in Canada and 1 on both the adult contemporary and country charts.

    “This Way Is My Way”, the album from which “Snowbird” was taken, charted at No. 1 on both the U.S. and Canadian album charts.
    “You Needed Me” was Number 1 on both the U.S. and Canadian pop charts, the Canadian album charts and the Canadian country charts, while reaching No. 4 on the U.S. country and 3 on the U.S. album charts.

    It made it to No. 2 in Australia and 22 in the UK.

    Here now first is Anne Murray singing “Snowbird”:

    And “You Needed me”:

    I’ve been writing this on a tiny netbook with a miniscule screen on a mobile connection, and the first draft didn’t quite look the way I was expecting so I may have to come back to this…

    Meanwhile, enjoy the music!

    Paul

  • Dolly Parton – “Jolene” And “I Will Always Love You”

    Album cover of "Jolene" by Dolly Parton (1974), also featuring "I Will Always Love You"

    Released in late 1973, “Jolene” by Dolly Parton became a No. 1 country hit for her in February 1974, reached Number 60 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 7 on the UK charts.

    Dolly Parton also wrote and released a song later made popular by Whitney Houston, namely “I Will Always Love You”.

    Dolly Parton’s own version, written and recorded in 1973, came out in 1974 and also went to the top of the country charts.

    It did so again when she re-released it eight years later, this time also doing quite well on the pop charts.

    Here is Dolly Parton singing “Jolene” live:

    This is Dolly Parton’s rendition of “I Will Always Love You”:

    I heard Whitney Houston’s version of this again recently while watching the film “The Bodyguard”, by coincidence she was in the country and in fact passed by quite closely after cancelled flights from Northern Ireland meant she had to take the ferry.

    It’s one of my favourite songs, and I hadn’t realised Dolly Parton had written and sung it back when Whitney Houston was about ten.

    Both versions have their own magic.

    Which one do you like best?

    Paul

  • Lynn Anderson – “(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden”

    In addition to topping the U.S. country chart, in late 1970 country singer Lynn Anderson scored a Number 3 Billboard Hot 100 pop chart hit with “(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden”.

    The following year the song, written by Joe South, also hit No. 3 in the United Kingdom and became one of the most successful crossover hits ever in Europe, not just in the Seventies.

    On 16 March 1971 Lynn Anderson received a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for her singing of “(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden”.

    I must confess I thought Lynn Anderson was Canadian and also sang “Snowbird” – turns out I was confusing her with Anne Murray…

    Anyway, here’s “(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden” (by American, not Canadian, country singer Lynn Anderson):

    Not a snowbird in sight…

    Paul

  • Jim Stafford – “Spiders And Snakes”, “Swamp Witch”, “Wildwood Weed” And “I Got Stoned And I Missed It”

    For some reason I just recalled “Spiders And Snakes” by comedian and musician Jim Stafford, which reached Number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1974.

    Not that I remembered that, but a little research goes a long way….

    In fact at first I just remembered the line “I don’t like spiders and snakes but that ain’t what it takes to love me like I wanna be loved by you”.

    Some things just stick in your mind :-).

    Then I found that it was sung by Jim Stafford, and the name was instantly familiar.

    So here’s “Spiders And Snakes”:

    The previous year, i.e. 1973, he had a chart hit with “Swamp Witch”, another familiar title, which was produced by his friend Kent LaVoie, otherwise known as Lobo:

    And in 1975 “Wildwood Weed” peaked at Number 7:

    A year later Jim Stafford reached the Top 40 with a song in a similar vein, “I Got Stoned And I Missed It”:

    Y’all come back now.

    Paul

  • Crystal Gayle – “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue”

    I only really know one song by American country singer Crystal Gayle, but I really like it, especially the piano accompaniment: “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue”.

    The song was a hit worldwide in 1977, reaching Number 1 on the U.S. Country charts and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album it was taken from , “We Must Believe In Magic”, went platinum.

    This performance of “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” by Crystal Gayle appears to have been in Australia, judging by the accent of the announcer (or is it South Africa?):

    Apparently Crystal Gayle, who is the younger sister of Loretta Lyn (never knew that till now), has blue eyes.

    Fancy that.

    Paul

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