"Delta Dawn" is a song written by musician Larry Collins and country songwriter Alex Harvey. The first notable recording of the song was in 1971 by American singer and actress Bette Midler for her debut album The Divine Miss M. However it is best known as a 1972 top ten country hit for Tanya Tucker and a 1973 US number one hit for Helen Reddy.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1974.
"I Don't See Me in Your Eyes Anymore" is a popular song, written by Bennie Benjamin and George David Weiss and published in 1949. The song was popularized that year by Gordon Jenkins and His Orchestra and by Perry Como.
"(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right" is a song written by Stax Records songwriters Homer Banks, Carl Hampton, and Raymond Jackson. Originally written for The Emotions, it has been performed by many singers, most notably by Luther Ingram, whose original recording topped the R&B chart for four weeks and rose to number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972. Billboard ranked it as the No. 16 song for 1972.
Billy Norris Sherrill was an American record producer, songwriter, and arranger associated with country artists, notably Tammy Wynette and George Jones. Sherrill and business partner Glenn Sutton are regarded as the defining influences of the countrypolitan sound, a smooth amalgamation of pop and country music that was popular during the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Sherrill also co-wrote many hit songs, including "Stand by Your Man" and "The Most Beautiful Girl".
"Sundown" is a song by Canadian folk artist Gordon Lightfoot, from the titular album, released as a single in March 1974.
"Tell Me a Lie" is a song composed by Mickey Buckins and Barbara Wyrick. Originally recorded by Lynn Anderson for her 1974 What a Man My Man Is album, it was released later that same year as a single by Sami Jo Cole, who took it to number 21 on both of the major U.S. pop charts. It also charted in Canada (#17). Cole's version was also an Adult Contemporary hit, reaching number 14 in the U.S. and number 27 in Canada.
"Tin Man" is a 1974 song by the pop rock band America. It was written by band member Dewey Bunnell and produced by George Martin, who also plays the piano part on the recorded version. The song was included on the band's album Holiday, also from 1974.
"The Grand Tour" is a song made famous by country music singer George Jones. Originally released in 1974, the song was the title track to his album released that year. The song became Jones' sixth No. 1 song on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart in August 1974, and was the fourth-biggest hit of the year. In 2014, Rolling Stone named the song number 38 on its "40 Saddest Country Songs of All Time".
Norris Denton "Norro" Wilson was an American country music singer-songwriter, producer, and member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
"The Most Beautiful Girl" is a song recorded by Charlie Rich and written by Billy Sherrill, Norro Wilson, and Rory Bourke. The countrypolitan ballad reached No. 1 in the United States in 1973 on three Billboard music charts: the pop chart, the country chart, and the adult contemporary chart, as well as in Canada on three RPM charts: the RPM 100 Top Singles chart, the Country Tracks chart, and the Adult Contemporary chart. Billboard ranked it as the No. 23 song for 1974.
"Any Day Now" is a popular song written by Burt Bacharach and Bob Hilliard in 1962. It has been recorded by numerous artists over the years, including notable versions by Chuck Jackson in 1962, Alan Price in 1965, Elvis Presley in 1969, Scott Walker in 1973 and Ronnie Milsap in 1982. In the lyrics, the singer predicts the imminent demise of a romantic relationship and describes the sadness this will leave.
"Only Love Can Break a Heart" is a popular song from 1962, performed by the American singer-songwriter Gene Pitney. The song was written by Hal David (words) and Burt Bacharach (music) and appears on Pitney's second album Only Love Can Break a Heart.
"My Melody of Love" is the title of a popular song from 1974 by the American singer Bobby Vinton. Vinton adapted his song from a German schlager song composed by Henry Mayer, and it appears on Vinton's album Melodies of Love. The song was also recorded by Spanish pop singer Karina as "Palabras de Cristal".
"My Elusive Dreams" is a country music song written by Billy Sherrill and Curly Putman. Putman recorded his song in March 1967 and released it on ABC Records in June 1967, peaking at #41 on the Hot Country Singles charts and #34 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100. The song was later recorded by several artists. The best-known version was recorded as a duet by David Houston and Tammy Wynette, and was a No. 1 country hit in October 1967; the song also peaked at No. 89 on the Billboard Hot 100. Wynette recorded a second duet version of My Elusive Dreams in 1973 with George Jones; this version was included on the Let's Build a World Together album.
"The Door" is a song written by Billy Sherrill and Norro Wilson, and recorded by American country music artist George Jones. It was released in October 1974 as the first single from the album The Best of George Jones. "The Door" was George Jones' sixth number one on the country chart as a solo artist. The single stayed a single week at number one and would spend a total of ten weeks on the country chart.
"I Love My Friend" is a 1974 single written by Billy Sherrill and Norro Wilson and recorded by Charlie Rich. "I Love My Friend" was Rich's sixth number one on the country chart. The single remained at number one for one week and spent a total of ten weeks on the chart. "I Love My Friend" peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number one on the Easy Listening chart.
"I Love You Because" is a song written and recorded by country music singer-songwriter Leon Payne in 1949. The song has been covered by several artists throughout the years, including hit cover versions by Al Martino in 1963 and Jim Reeves in 1964.
The Way We Were is the thirty-second studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in the spring of 1974 by Columbia Records and was a return to singing songs that his audience was already familiar with after Solitaire, his previous LP that was less reliant on covers of recent pop hits, did not perform well.
You Lay So Easy on My Mind is the thirty-fourth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in November 1974 by Columbia Records. The idea for this LP was mentioned in an interview with Williams in the November 3, 1973, issue of Billboard magazine that emphasized his desire to move away from recording albums of Easy Listening covers of hits by other artists, noting that he was "planning an album to be cut in Nashville with Columbia's high-flying country-pop producer, Billy Sherrill." The article coincided with the release of his first attempt to shift directions, Solitaire, which performed poorly. A return to the Easy Listening hits formula, The Way We Were, followed in the spring of 1974 but failed to even chart, so this next attempt to eschew soft rock songs leaned heavily on Country hits.
