List of Top Country LP's number ones of 1978

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Dolly Parton had two chart-topping albums in 1978. Young-Dolly-Parton.jpg
Dolly Parton had two chart-topping albums in 1978.

Top Country Albums is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music albums in the United States, published by Billboard . In 1978, eight different albums topped the chart, which was at the time published under the title Top Country LP's, based on sales reports submitted by a representative sample of stores nationwide. [1]

In the issue of Billboard dated January 7, Dolly Parton was at number one with her album Here You Come Again , its third week in the top spot. [2] The album remained at number one through the issue dated February 18 for a final total of nine weeks atop the chart. Parton would return to the top of the listing in September with Heartbreaker , which also spent nine consecutive weeks at number one. At the time, Parton's music was increasingly being targeted at the pop music market; Heartbreaker in particular was more pop-focused than her previous recordings and two of its tracks even received disco remixes which were popular in nightclubs. [3] Dottie West was the only other female artist to reach number one during the year, when she collaborated with Kenny Rogers on Every Time Two Fools Collide , which topped the listing in May. West had first entered the country albums chart in 1965 but had never previously reached number one, and indeed had not entered the top ten for over a decade, [4] but her collaboration with the popular Rogers gave her her first chart-topping album as well as her first number one on the country singles chart. [5]

In March, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson topped the chart with their collaborative album Waylon & Willie , which spent 11 non-consecutive weeks at number one. The two artists were among the most prominent members of the outlaw country movement, which rejected the slick production values evident in popular country music of the early 1970s and added a rock music influence and a counterculture attitude. [6] Both singers also had solo number ones during the year. In June, Nelson displaced the joint album from the top spot with his solo release Stardust . The album was an unexpected departure for Nelson, as it consisted entirely of pop standards and incorporated pop and jazz styles, in contrast to his outlaw country recordings. [7] Executives at his record label were convinced that making the album was a bad decision on the part of Nelson, [8] but it went on to become a multi-million seller and remain on the country albums chart for more than ten years. [9] It would ultimately be certified quintuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. [10] Nelson's fellow outlaw artist Jennings had the final chart-topper of 1978 with I've Always Been Crazy , which spent the last eight weeks of the year at number one.

Chart history

Dottie West collaborated with Kenny Rogers on the album Every Time Two Fools Collide. Dottie West--1977 Cropped.jpg
Dottie West collaborated with Kenny Rogers on the album Every Time Two Fools Collide .
Willie Nelson topped the chart with the album Stardust. Although atypical of his usual style, it was a huge success and remained on the chart for more than ten years. Willie Nelson Atlantic Records 1974 - Cropped.jpg
Willie Nelson topped the chart with the album Stardust . Although atypical of his usual style, it was a huge success and remained on the chart for more than ten years.
Waylon Jennings collaborated with Nelson on the album Waylon & Willie, which spent 11 weeks at number one, and also topped the chart with his solo album I've Always Been Crazy. Waylon Jennings RCA cropped.jpg
Waylon Jennings collaborated with Nelson on the album Waylon & Willie , which spent 11 weeks at number one, and also topped the chart with his solo album I've Always Been Crazy .
Issue dateTitleArtist(s)Ref.
January 7 Here You Come Again Dolly Parton [2]
January 14 [11]
January 21 [12]
January 28 [13]
February 4 [14]
February 11 [15]
February 18 [16]
February 25 Waylon & Willie Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson [17]
March 4 [18]
March 11 [19]
March 18 [20]
March 25 [21]
April 1 [22]
April 8 [23]
April 15 Ten Years of Gold Kenny Rogers [24]
April 22 [25]
April 29 Waylon & Willie Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson [26]
May 6 [27]
May 13 [28]
May 20 Every Time Two Fools Collide Kenny Rogers and Dottie West [29]
May 27 [30]
June 3 Waylon & Willie Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson [31]
June 10 Stardust Willie Nelson [32]
June 17 [33]
June 24 [34]
July 1 [35]
July 8 [36]
July 15 [37]
July 22 [38]
July 29 [39]
August 5 [40]
August 12 [41]
August 19 [42]
August 26 Love or Something Like It Kenny Rogers [43]
September 2 [44]
September 9 Heartbreaker Dolly Parton [45]
September 16 [46]
September 23 [47]
September 30 [48]
October 7 [49]
October 14 [50]
October 21 [51]
October 28 [52]
November 4 [53]
November 11 I've Always Been Crazy Waylon Jennings [54]
November 18 [55]
November 25 [56]
December 2 [57]
December 9 [58]
December 16 [59]
December 23 [60]
December 30 [61]

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<i>Stardust</i> (Willie Nelson album) 1978 studio album by Willie Nelson

Stardust is the 22nd studio album by Willie Nelson, released in April 1978. Its ten songs consist entirely of pop standards that Nelson picked from among his favorites. Nelson asked Booker T. Jones, who was his neighbor in Malibu at the time, to arrange a version of "Moonlight in Vermont". Impressed with Jones's work, Nelson asked him to produce the entire album. Nelson's decision to record such well-known tracks was controversial among Columbia executives because he had distinguished himself in the outlaw country genre. Recording of the album took only ten days.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Top Country Albums</span> Weekly country music rankings published by Billboard magazine in the United States

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References

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