Contemporary Country is a 22-volume series issued by Time-Life during the early 1990s, spotlighting country music of the 1970s through mid 1990s.
Each volume in the series chronicled a specific time period – the early-1970s, the mid-1970s, the late-1970s, the early-1980s, the mid-1980s, the late-1980s, the early-1990s and the mid-1990s. Each volume was issued on a compact disc or cassette. Individual volumes contained 22 tracks, and represented the highlighted time period's most popular and noteworthy tracks. Also included was a booklet, containing liner notes written by some of the most respected historians of the genre, photographs of the artists, and information on the songs (writers, performers and peak position on Billboard magazine's country charts).
All told, the entire series contains 484 tracks.
"Contemporary Country" was first issued during the summer of 1991, and essentially picked up where Time-Life Music left off with its Country USA series; the earlier series covered country music from the 1950s through early 1970s. This series continued Time-Life's attempt at chronicling country music's post-1950 history.
During its peak, the "Contemporary Country" series was advertised in television and magazine advertisements. The series was available by subscription (by calling a 1-800 number); those who purchased the series in that fashion received a new volume roughly every other month (on the format of their choice), and had the option of keeping the volumes they wanted. Each volume was also offered for individual sale.
New volumes continued to be issued through 1993, the final one being a volume covering country music from the early 1990s. Another volume – "The Mid-1990s," with 20 tracks from 1991-1998 – was released as part of the series in 2000, seven years after the last disc was issued.
Time-Life continued to offer "Contemporary Country" through the early 2000s (decade). The series has essentially been replaced four series:
As with many of Time-Life Records' multi-volume releases, the volumes were not issued in a logical, sequential order by date or era of the subject; that is, issuing volumes covering the early 1970s before progressing to the mid-1970s. In the track information section, the volumes will be listed sequentially by era; the following list is the order in which the volumes were released.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1974.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1975.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1976.
Reggie Grimes Young Jr. was an American musician who was lead guitarist in the American Sound Studio house band, The Memphis Boys, and was a leading session musician.
Country USA was a 23-volume series issued by Time-Life Music during the late 1980s and early 1990s, spotlighting country music of the 1950s through early 1970s.
America's Music: The Roots of Country is a 1996 three-part, six episode documentary about the history of American country music directed by Tom Neff and Jerry Aronson and written by Neff and Robert K. Oermann. The film touches on many of the styles of music that make up country music, including: Old-time music, Cajun music, Folk music, Rockabilly, Western music, Western swing, the Bakersfield sound, Honky-tonk and the Nashville sound. Country music artist and actor Kris Kristofferson narrates the three-part series.
Claude "Curly" Putman Jr. was an American songwriter.
Willie's Roadhouse is a channel on the Sirius XM Radio that specializes in playing traditional country music, as well as some older country hit songs. It is available on channel 61 and Dish Network 6061, until No Shoes Radio took Willie's Roadhouse's former spot.
Murrey Mizell "Buddy" Harman, Jr. was an American country music session musician.
The Legend and the Legacy is a compilation album by American country singer Ernest Tubb, released in 1979. The initial release was issued on LP as The Legend and the Legacy Volume 1. It was released on First Generation Records, but due to legal issues, was withdrawn and released on Cachet Records.
"How to Be a Country Star" is a song recorded by American country music group The Statler Brothers, written by group members Harold Reid and Don Reid. The song – a humorous, tongue-in-cheek advice song that names many of the top country music recording artists of the time, along with a number of classic country artists – was released in March 1979 as the first single from the album The Originals. The song eventually climbed to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart that May, and also No. 18 on the Canadian RPM country singles chart.
The Country Music Association Awards is a major awards show in country music, with the highest honor being the award for Entertainer of the Year. It is the final award presented at the ceremony and recognizes the artist "displaying the greatest competence in all aspects of the entertainment field", with consideration to not only recorded performance but also "in-person performance, public acceptance, leadership, and overall contribution to country music" they have exhibited throughout the eligibility period. It is generally considered the highest competitive honor presented at the CMA Awards.
Just Between the Two of Us is a duet album by country singers Bonnie Owens and Merle Haggard with the Strangers. It was released in 1966 by Capitol Records.
The following list shows the recipients for the Country Music Association Award for Male Vocalist of the Year. This Award goes to the artist. The Award is based on individual musical performance on a solo Country single or album release, as well as the overall contribution to Country Music. This award was one of the original awards given at the first ceremony in 1967.
The following list shows the recipients for the Country Music Association Award for Album of the Year.
Bobby Thompson was an American banjoist and guitarist. He worked as a session musician from the 1960s through 1980s. He recorded with Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Neil Young, Perry Como, among others.
The following list shows the recipients for the Country Music Association Award for Vocal Duo of the Year. The award is based on the musical performance of the duo on solo country single or album release, as well as their overall contribution to country music during the eligibility period. For the purposes of the award, a duo is defined as "as an act composed of two people, both of whom normally perform together and neither of whom is known primarily as an individual performing artist", though this was not always the case.
The following list shows the recipients for the Country Music Association Award for Single of the Year. While its sister category, Song of the Year recognizes the songwriters, Single of the Year is awarded to the artist. Starting in 1989 and 2016 respectively, the producer and mix engineer of the track also received an award. Rules state the track must have reached the Top 10 of Billboard’s Country Airplay Chart, Billboard’s Hot Country Songs Chart, or Country Aircheck Chart for the first time during the eligibility period. If the single charted in the Top 10 on the above charts and was released prior to the eligibility period but achieved its highest chart position during the eligibility period, it is eligible.
