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This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1973.

List of years in country music (Table)
… 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 •   
1970 • 1971 • 1972 – 1973 – 1974 • 1975 • 1976 •
   1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 …
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Contents

Events

  • July — The Dean Martin Show becomes known as Dean Martin Presents Music Country for the longtime variety show's summer broadcasts. Country music becomes a staple of Martin's show for the 1973-1974 season — its last on the air, as it turns out.
  • July 4 — Willie Nelson hosts his first Fourth of July picnic.
  • July 14 — Billboard increases the number of positions for its Hot Country Singles chart to 100 (up from 75), which it would keep until January 1990. The expansion comes at a time when the number of No. 1 songs in a given year continues to increase; for the first time in history, there are at least 35 No. 1 songs in one year.
  • September — Jimmy Dean's third country music TV series, The Jimmy Dean Show, premieres in syndication for what will be a two-season run.
  • October 6 — Country music's most successful syndicated radio countdown program to date, "American Country Countdown," makes its debut. The three-hour program is created by Casey Kasem and Don Bustany, and is modeled after American Top 40 (which Kasem also hosted). Comedian Don Bowman is the original host, but by 1978, he would be replaced by Bob Kingsley.
  • October — The new Radio & Records magazine includes a 50-position country singles chart.
  • November 10 — One of Nashville's most notorious murders makes national headlines when David Akeman (aka Stringbean) and his wife, Estelle, are killed when they interrupt a burglary after returning home. Their bodies are found the next day. Their assailants -- brothers John and Marvin Douglas -- are later captured, convicted and sentenced to prison. Stringbean, who was 58, was best known to his audiences for his role on the syndicated series "Hee Haw."

No dates

  • A reported 51 percent of new single records are country.

Top hits of the year

Number one hits

United States

(as certified by Billboard)

Date Single Name Artist Wks. No.1 Spec. Note
January 20 Soul Song Joe Stampley 1 [A]
January 27 (Old Dogs, Children And) Watermelon Wine Tom T. Hall 1
February 3 She Needs Someone to Hold Her (When She Cries) Conway Twitty 2
February 17 I Wonder If They Ever Think of Me Merle Haggard 1
February 24 Rated X Loretta Lynn 1
March 3 The Lord Knows I'm Drinking Cal Smith 1 [A]
March 10 'Til I Get it Right Tammy Wynette 1
March 17 The Teddy Bear Song Barbara Fairchild 2 [C]
March 31 Keep Me in Mind Lynn Anderson 1
April 7 Super Kind of Woman Freddie Hart 1
April 14 A Shoulder to Cry On Charley Pride 1
April 21 Superman Donna Fargo 1
April 28 Behind Closed Doors Charlie Rich 2 [A]
May 12 Come Live with Me Roy Clark 1 [C]
May 19 What's Your Mama's Name Tanya Tucker 1 [A]
May 26 Satin Sheets Jeanne Pruett 3 [2], [C]
  • Returned to Number One on June 23.
June 9 You Always Come Back to Hurting Me Johnny Rodriguez 1 [A]
June 16 Kids Say the Darndest Things Tammy Wynette 1
June 30 Don't Fight the Feelings of Love Charley Pride 1
July 7 Why Me Kris Kristofferson 1 [A]
July 14 Love Is the Foundation Loretta Lynn 2
July 28 You Were Always There Donna Fargo 1
August 4 Lord, Mr. Ford Jerry Reed 1
August 11 Trip to Heaven Freddie Hart 1 [B]
August 18 Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man Conway Twitty
and Loretta Lynn		 1
August 25 Everybody's Had the Blues Merle Haggard 2
September 8 You've Never Been This Far Before Conway Twitty 3 [1]
September 29 Blood Red and Goin' Down Tanya Tucker 1
October 6 You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me Ray Price 1 [B]
October 13 Ridin' My Thumb to Mexico Johnny Rodriguez 2
October 27 We're Gonna Hold On George Jones
and Tammy Wynette		 2
November 10 Paper Roses Marie Osmond 2 [A]
November 24 The Most Beautiful Girl Charlie Rich 3
December 15 Amazing Love Charley Pride 1
December 22 If We Make It Through December Merle Haggard 4
Notes
  • 1^ No. 1 song of the year, as determined by Billboard.
  • 2^ Song dropped from No. 1 and later returned to top spot.
  • A^ First Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist.
  • B^ Last Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist.
  • C^ Only Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist to date.

Canada

(as certified by RPM)

Date Single Name Artist Wks. No.1 Spec. Note
January 13 Love's the Answer Tanya Tucker 1 [A]
January 20 (Old Dogs, Children And) Watermelon Wine Tom T. Hall 1 [A]
January 27 Danny's Song Anne Murray 1
February 3 I Wonder If They Ever Think of Me Merle Haggard 1
February 10 Rated X Loretta Lynn 2
February 24 'Til I Get it Right Tammy Wynette 1
March 3 Any Old Wind That Blows Johnny Cash 2
March 17 The Teddy Bear Song Barbara Fairchild 2 [A]
March 31 Keep Me in Mind Lynn Anderson 2
April 14 Super Kind of Woman Freddie Hart 1
April 21 A Shoulder to Cry On Charley Pride 1
April 28 Superman Donna Fargo 1
May 5 Behind Closed Doors Charlie Rich 1 [A]
May 12 Nobody Wins Brenda Lee 1 [C]
May 19 Come Live with Me Roy Clark 1 [A]
May 26 What's Yuor Mama's Name Tanya Tucker 1
June 2 Dirty Old Man George Hamilton IV 2 [B]
June 16 Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree Johnny Carver 1 [C]
June 23 You Always Come Back to Hurting Me Johnny Rodriguez 1 [A]
June 30 Don't Fight the Feelings of Love Charley Pride 3 [2]
  • Fell to #3 on the week of July 7.
July 7 Ravishing Ruby Tom T. Hall 1
July 14 Why Me Kris Kristofferson 1 [A]
July 21 Love Is the Foundation Loretta Lynn 1
August 11 You Were Always There Donna Fargo 1
August 18 Top of the World Lynn Anderson 2
September 1 Trip to Heaven Freddie Hart 1
September 8 Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man Conway Twitty and
Loretta Lynn		 2
September 22 Everybody's Had the Blues Merle Haggard 1
September 29 The Corner of My Life Bill Anderson 1
October 6 You've Never Been This Far Before Conway Twitty 2
October 20 Blood Red and Goin' Down Tanya Tucker 1
October 27 Kid Stuff Barbara Fairchild 1 [B]
November 3 Rednecks, White Sox and Blue Ribbon Beer Johnny Russell 2 [C]
November 17 Ridin' My Thumb to Mexico Johnny Rodriguez 1
November 24 Paper Roses Marie Osmond 2 [A]
December 8 The Most Beautiful Girl Charlie Rich 4
Notes
  • 2^ Song dropped from No. 1 and later returned to top spot.
  • A^ First RPM No. 1 hit for that artist.
  • B^ Last RPM No. 1 hit for that artist.
  • C^ Only RPM No. 1 hit for that artist.

Other major hits

Singles released by American artists

Singles released by Canadian artists

US CAN Single Artist
20 All Them Irons in the Fire Carroll Baker
12 Blind Jonathon/Make It Over the Hill Dianne Leigh
18 But Tomorrow There's Another Day Hank Smith
5 Carpenter of Wood Cliff Edwards
18 Champlain and St. Lawrence Line Orval Prophet
8 The Farmer's Song Murray McLauchlan
16 The Feeling's Too Strong Family Brown
13 Flying East Sharon Lowness
19 Going Home to the Country Dick Damron
19 Highway Driving Alabama
4 It's So Easy to Please Me Mercey Brothers
12 It's Worth Believin' Gordon Lightfoot
15 Judgment Day Express Orval Prophet
19 Meant to Be with Me Mercey Brothers
15 Old Ira Gray Dallas Harms
14 Pictou County Jail Jim and Don Haggart
20 The Prisoner Shannon Two Feathers
79 10 Send a Little Love My Way Anne Murray
20 2 What About Me Anne Murray
46 5 What Got to You (Before It Got to Me) Ray Griff
16 The World I Know Is Now Carroll Baker

Top new album releases

Other top new albums

Births

  • March 6 — Trent Willmon, rising country music star of the early- to mid-2000s.
  • June 26 — Gretchen Wilson, singer-songwriter and key member of the MuzikMafia of the 2000s.
  • July 29 — James Otto, rising male vocalist of the 2000s.
  • August 8 — Mark Wills, country star of the mid- to late-1990s and early-2000s ("19-Something," "Wish You Were Here").
  • August 13 — Andy Griggs, country music star of late-1990s and early-2000s.
  • November 19 — Billy Currington, rising star of the mid-2000s.

Deaths

  • September 19 — Gram Parsons, 26, influential country rock and alt-country singer-songwriter-guitarist who was a member of such bands as The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, and also recorded a critically acclaimed body of solo recordings (drug overdose).
  • November 10 — Stringbean, 58, banjo player and comedian on the TV series Hee Haw (homicide).

Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

Major awards

Grammy Awards

Juno Awards

Academy of Country Music

Country Music Association

Further reading

  • Kingsbury, Paul, The Grand Ole Opry: History of Country Music. 70 Years of the Songs, the Stars and the Stories, Villard Books, Random House; Opryland USA, 1995
  • Kingsbury, Paul, Vinyl Hayride: Country Music Album Covers 1947-1989, Country Music Foundation, 2003 (ISBN 0-8118-3572-3)
  • Millard, Bob, Country Music: 70 Years of America's Favorite Music, HarperCollins, New York, 1993 (ISBN 0-06-273244-7)
  • Whitburn, Joel, Top Country Songs 1944-2005 (6th Edition). 2005.

References

  • Brooks, Tim and Earl Marsh. The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows Eighth Ed., Ballantine Books, 2003. ISBN 0-345-45542-8
  • Erickson, Hal. Syndicated Television: The First Forty Years, 1947-1987. McFarland & Co. Inc. Publishers, Jefferson, North Carolina, 1989. ISBN 0-89950-410-8.
  • Hendler, Herb, Year by Year in the Rock Era: Events and Conditions Shaping the Rock Generations That Reshaped America, Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, 1983. ISBN 0-313-23456-6

Other links

External links








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