1972 in country music

Events

March — For the first time since 1967, Sonny James fails to hit the No. 1 spot on Billboard magazine's Hot Country Singles Chart with a single release. His hit, "Only Love (Can Break a Heart)" stops at No. 2. James' record streak would hold for more than 14 years, until Alabama scored its 17th-straight with "40 Hour Week (For a Livin')" in August 1985. "The Southern Gentleman" will return to the No. 1 spot twice more during 1972: "That's Why I Love You Like I Do" (a retitled remake of his 1957 hit, "You're the Reason I'm In Love," the way was the lesser-known flip side of "Young Love," and also his last major hit with Capitol Records); and "When the Snow is On the Roses."

During 1972, James inks a recording deal with Columbia Records; "When the Snow..." is his first hit with his new label.

June — The first Fan Fair is held in Nashville, Tennessee.
June 3 - The Opryland USA country music theme park opens in Nashville.
October — Loretta Lynn becomes the first woman to win the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year award.

No dates

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band releases their landmark Will the Circle Be Unbroken, an album of folk and country standards recorded in Nashville alongside traditional country artists. Two additional volumes would be released in 1989 and 2002.

Top hits of the year

Number one hits

(As certified by Billboard magazine)

January 8 - “Would You Take Another Chance on Me” — Jerry Lee Lewis
January 15 - “Carolyn” — Merle Haggard and the Strangers
February 5 - “One’s on the Way” — Loretta Lynn
February 19 - “Four in the Morning” — Faron Young
March 4 - “Bedtime Story” — Tammy Wynette
March 11 - “My Hang Up Is You” — Freddie Hart
April 22 - “Chantilly Lace”/”Think About it Darlin’” — Jerry Lee Lewis
May 13 - “Grandma Harp” — Merle Haggard and the Strangers
May 27 - “(Lost Her Love) On Our Last Date” — Conway Twitty
June 3 - “The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A.” — Donna Fargo
June 24 - “That’s Why I Love You Like I Do” — Sonny James
July 1 - “Eleven Roses” — Hank Williams Jr.
July 15 - “Made in Japan” — Buck Owens and the Buckaroos
July 22 - “It’s Gonna Take a Little Bit Longer” — Charley Pride
August 12 - “Bless Your Heart” — Freddie Hart
August 26 - “If You Leave Me Tonight I’ll Cry” — Jerry Wallace
September 2 - “Woman (Sensuous Woman)” — Don Gibson

(“If You Leave Me Tonight I’ll Cry” by Jerry Wallace returns to No. 1 on September 9)

September 16 - “When the Snow is on the Roses” — Sonny James
September 23 - “I Can’t Stop Loving You” — Conway Twitty
September 30 - “I Ain’t Never” — Mel Tillis
October 14 - “Funny Face” — Donna Fargo
November 4 - “It’s Not Love (But It’s Not Bad)” — Merle Haggard and the Strangers
November 11 - “My Man (Understands)” — Tammy Wynette
November 18 - “She’s Too Good to be True” — Charley Pride
December 9 - “Got the All Overs for You (All Over Me)” — Freddie Hart
December 30 - “She’s Got to be a Saint” — Ray Price

Other major hits

“Ain’t Nothin’ Shakin’ But the Leaves on the Trees” — Billy “Crash” Craddock
"Ain't That a Shame" – Hank Williams Jr. with The Mike Curb Congregation
“All His Children” — Charley Pride
“All the Lonely Women in the World” — Bill Anderson
“Ann (Don’t Go Runnin’)” — Tommy Overstreet
“Baby Don’t Get Hooked on Me” — Mac Davis
“The Best Part of Livin’” — Marty Robbins
“Borrowed Angel” — Mel Street
"Burning the Midnight Oil" - Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton
“The Ceremony” — George Jones and Tammy Wynette
“Class of ’57" — Statler Brothers
“Cotton Jenny” — Anne Murray
“Cry” — Lynn Anderson
“Delta Dawn” — Tanya Tucker
“Do You Remember These” — Statler Brothers
“Fool Me” — Lynn Anderson
“Good Hearted Woman” — Waylon Jennings
“Heaven is My Woman’s Love” — Tommy Overstreet
“Here I Am Again” — Loretta Lynn
“I Can’t See Me Without You” — Conway Twitty
“I’m a Truck” — Red Simpson
“I’m Gonna Knock at Your Door” — Billy “Crash” Craddock
“I’ve Found Someone of My Own” — Cal Smith
“I’ve Got to Have You” — Sammi Smith
“If It Ain’t Love Let’s Leave it Alone” — Connie Smith
“If You Touch Me (You’ve Got to Feel Me)” — Joe Stampley
“Just for What I Am” — Connie Smith
"The Lawrence Welk-Hee Haw Counter-Revolution Polka" — Roy Clark
“Listen to a Country Song” — Lynn Anderson
“Lonely Women Make Good Lovers” — Bob Luman
“Lonesomest Lonesome” — Ray Price
“Lovin’ You Could Never Be Better” — George Jones
“Manhattan, Kansas” — Glen Campbell
"Me and Jesus" — Tom T. Hall (featuring the Mt. Pisgah United Methodist Church Choir)
“Missing You” — Jim Reeves
“Oney” — Johnny Cash
“Only Love (Can Break a Heart)” — Sonny James
“A Picture of Me (Without You)” — George Jones
“Pretend I Never Happened” — Waylon Jennings
“Reach Out Your Hand” — Tammy Wynette
"Red Red Wine" – Roy Drusky
"Sweet Dream Woman" — Waylon Jennings
“There’s a Party Going On” — Jody Miller
“A Thing Called Love” — Johnny Cash
“This Little Girl of Mine” — Faron Young
“To Get to You” — Jerry Wallace
"Tonight My Baby's Comin' Home" – Barbara Mandrell
“Touch Your Woman” — Dolly Parton
“We Can Make It” — Johnny Cash
“When You Say Love” — Bob Luman
“Whiskey River” — Johnny Bush
"White Silver Sands" – Sonny James

Top new album releases

Cry - Lynn Anderson (Columbia)
The Eagles — The Eagles (Asylum)
Garden Party — Rick Nelson (MCA)
Good Hearted Woman – Waylon Jennings (RCA)
The Happiest Girl in the Whole USA — Donna Fargo (Dot)
Heartaches By The Numbers – Waylon Jennings (RCA)
The Hillbilly Singer - Skeeter Davis (RCA)
If It Ain't Love and Other Dallas Frazier Songs - Connie Smith (RCA)
Ladies Love Outlaws – Waylon Jennings (RCA)
The Right Combination / Burning the Midnight Oil – Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton (RCA)
Touch Your Woman - Dolly Parton (RCA)
Wheel of Fortune - Susan Raye (Capitol)
Will the Circle Be Unbroken? — Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (United Artists)

Births

February 23 – Steve Holy, 2000s country singer best known for his No. 1 hit "Good Morning Beautiful."
July 17 – Paul Brandt, Canadian country singer who began enjoying U.S. success in the late 1990s.
August 16 – Emily Robison, member of the Dixie Chicks (she plays the guitar, banjo and dobro).
October 28 – Brad Paisley, new traditionalist of the early 2000s.

Deaths

January 28 – T. Texas Tyler, 55, 1940s country star best known for "The Deck of Cards."
June 23 - Elton Britt, 59, 1940s country star best known for "There's a Star-Spangled Banner Flying Somewhere."

Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

Jimmie Davis (1899-2000)

Major Awards

Grammy awards

Best Female Country Vocal Performance -- "Help Me Make it Through the Night," Sammi Smith.
Best Male Country Vocal Performance -- "When You're Hot, You're Hot," Jerry Reed.
Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal -- "After the Fire is Gone," Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn.
Best Country Instrumental Performance -- "Snowbird," Chet Atkins.
Best Country Song -- "Help Me Make it Through the Night," Kris Kristofferson

Academy of Country Music

Entertainer Of The Year -- Roy Clark
Song Of The Year -- "The Happiest Girl In The Whole U.S.A." - Donna Fargo - Yvonne Silver
Single Of The Year -- "Happiest Girl" - Donna Fargo
Album Of The Year -- Happiest Girl - Donna Fargo
Top Male Vocalist -- Merle Haggard
Top Female Vocalist -- Donna Fargo
Top Vocal Group -- Statler Brothers
Top New Male Vocalist -- Johnny Rodriguez
Top New Female Vocalist -- Tanya Tucker

Country Music Association

Entertainer of the Year -- Loretta Lynn
Male Vocalist of the Year -- Charley Pride
Female Vocalist of the Year -- Loretta Lynn
Instrumental Group of the Year –- Danny Davis & the Nashville Brass
Vocal Group of the Year -- Statler Brothers
Vocal Duo of the Year -- Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn
Single of the Year -- "The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A.," Donna Fargo
Song of the Year -- "Easy Lovin'," Freddie Hart
Album of the Year -- Let Me Tell You About a Song, Merle Haggard
Instrumentalist of the Year -- Charlie McCoy

External links

Country Music Hall of Fame