See also: 1968 in country music, 1969 in music, other events of 1969, 1970 in country music and the List of years in Country Music

Events

• January 29 — The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour premieres on CBS, for what will be a three-year run.
• February 24 — Johnny Cash records his second live album behind prison walls in as many years at San Quentin State Prison. The resulting album is At San Quentin, and contains his hit "A Boy Named Sue." The concert is also taped for television broadcast.
• June 7 — The Johnny Cash Show premieres on ABC; the series will run through 1971.
• June 15 — The summer replacement series Hee Haw airs for the first time on CBS. The first guests to Kornfield Kounty — for what will be a 23-year run, the bulk of which will be in syndication — are Charley Pride and Tammy Wynette.
• October - The Country Music Association airs its awards program live for the first time. The annual awards show - at the time airing in October on NBC - quickly becomes one of country music's most eagerly anticipated events of the year.

No dates

• Dolly Parton joins the Grand Ole Opry.
• Tammy Wynette becomes the first female country artist to sell over one million copies of a single recording with her Tammy's Greatest Hits collection.

Top hits of the year

Number one hits

(As certified by Billboard magazine)

• January 4 – "Daddy Sang Bass" – Johnny Cash
• February 15 – "Until My Dreams Come True" – Jack Greene
• March 1 – "To Make Love Sweeter For You" – Jerry Lee Lewis
• March 8 – "Only the Lonely" – Sonny James
• March 29 – "Who's Gonna Mow Your Grass" – Buck Owens and the Buckaroos
• April 12 – "Woman of the World (Leave My World Alone)" – Loretta Lynn
• April 19 – "Galveston" – Glen Campbell
• May 10 – "Hungry Eyes" – Merle Haggard and the Strangers
• May 17 – "My Life (Throw it Away If I Want To)" – Bill Anderson
• May 31 – "Singing My Song" – Tammy Wynette
• June 14 – "Running Bear" – Sonny James
• July 5 – "Statue of a Fool" – Jack Greene
• July 19 – "I Love You More Today" – Conway Twitty
• July 26 – "Johnny B. Goode" – Buck Owens and the Buckaroos
• August 9 – "All I Have to Offer You Is Me" – Charley Pride
• August 16 – "Workin' Man's Blues" – Merle Haggard and the Strangers
• August 23 – "A Boy Named Sue" – Johnny Cash
• September 27 – "Tall Dark Stranger" – Buck Owens and the Buckaroos
• October 4 – "Since I Met You Baby" – Sonny James
• October 25 – "The Ways to Love a Man" – Tammy Wynette
• November 8 – "To See My Angel Cry" – Conway Twitty
• November 15 – "Okie From Muskogee" – Merle Haggard and the Strangers
• December 13 – "I'm So Afraid of Losing You Again" – Charley Pride

Other major hits

• "All For the Love of a Girl" - Claude King
• "April's Fool" - Ray Price
• "Are You From Dixie ('Cause I'm From Dixie Too)" - Jerry Reed
• "Back in the Arms of Love" - Jack Greene
• "Ballad of Forty Dollars" – Tom T. Hall
• "Be Glad" - Del Reeves
• "Big in Vegas" – Buck Owens
• "Big Wind" - Porter Wagoner
• "Blistered" - Johnny Cash
• "But You Know I Love You" – Bill Anderson
• "Cajun Baby" – Hank Williams Jr.
• "The Carroll County Accident" – Porter Wagoner
• "Darling You Know I Wouldn't Lie" – Conway Twitty
• "Don't Let Me Cross Over" - Jerry Lee Lewis and Linda Gail Lewis
• "Games People Play" – Freddy Weller
• "George and the North Woods" - Dave Dudley
• "The Girl Most Likely" - Jeannie C. Riley
• "God Bless America Again" - Bobby Bare
• "Good Time Charlies" - Del Reeves
• "Homecoming" – Tom T. Hall
• "I Can't Say Goodbye" - Marty Robbins
• "I Love You Because" - Carl Smith
• "I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am" - Merle Haggard and the Strangers
• "I'd Rather Be Gone" – Hank Williams Jr.
• "I'll Share My World With You" – George Jones
• "I'm Down to My Last 'I Love You'" - David Houston
• "If Not For You" - George Jones
• "It's a Sin" - Marty Robbins
• "In the Ghetto" - Elvis Presley
• "Invitation to Your Party" - Jerry Lee Lewis
• "Just Someone I Used to Know" - Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton
• "Kaw-Liga" - Charley Pride
• "Kay" - John Wesley Ryles
• "Let it Be Me" - Glen Campbell and Bobbie Gentry
• "MacArthur Park" - Waylon Jennings with the Kimberlys
• "(Margie's at) The Lincoln Park Inn" – Bobby Bare
• "Me and Bobby McGee" - Roger Miller
• "Mr. Walker, It's All Over" - Billie Jo Spears
• "My Woman's Good to Me" - David Houston
• "The Name of the Game Was Love" — Hank Snow
• "One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart)" - Jerry Lee Lewis
• "One Minute Past Eternity" - Jerry Lee Lewis
• "Please Don't Go" - Eddy Arnold
• "Please Let Me Prove My Love For You" - Dave Dudley
• "Raining in My Heart" - Ray Price
• "Ribbon of Darkness" - Connie Smith
• "Rings of Gold" – Don Gibson and Dottie West
• "Ruby (Don't Take Your Love to Town)" – Kenny Rogers and the First Edition
• "Rueben James" - Kenny Rogers and the First Edition
• "She Even Woke Me Up to Say Goodbye" - Jerry Lee Lewis
• "Smoky the Bar" - Hank Thompson
• "Such a Fool" - Roy Drusky
• "Suspicious Minds" - Elvis Presley
• "Sweet Thang and Cisco" - Nat Stuckey
• "Sweetheart of the Year" - Ray Price
• "That's a No-No" - Lynn Anderson
• "There Never Was a Time" – Jeannie C. Riley
• "There Won't Be a Lonely Heart in Town" - Del Reeves
• "These are Not My People" - Freddy Weller
• "These Lonely Hands of Mine" - Mel Tillis
• "They Don't Make Love Like They Used To" - Eddy Arnold
• "Thirsty Boots" - Anne Murray
• "This Thing" - Webb Pierce
• "To Make a Man (Feel Like a Man)" - Loretta Lynn
• "True Grit" - Glen Campbell
• "Try a Little Kindness" - Glen Campbell
• "When the Grass Grows Over Me" - George Jones
• "When Two Worlds Collide" - Jim Reeves
• "Where the Blue and Lonely Go" - Roy Drusky
• "Who's Gonna Take the Garbage Out" - Ernest Tubb and Loretta Lynn
• "Who's Julie" - Mel Tillis
• "Wine Me Up" - Faron Young
• "Yesterday When I Was Young" – Roy Clark
• "You and Your Sweet Love" - Connie Smith
• "You Gave Me a Mountain" – Johnny Bush
• "Young Love" - Connie Smith and Nat Stuckey
• "Your Time's Comin'" - Faron Young
• "Yours Love" - Waylon Jennings
• "Yours Love" - Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton

Top new album releases

• The Carroll County Accident – Porter Wagoner (RCA)
• It's A Sin - Marty Robbins (Columbia)
• My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy - Dolly Parton (RCA)
• Songs That Made Country Girls Famous - Lynn Anderson (Chart)
• Yearbooks and Yesterdays - Jeannie C. Riley (Plantation)

Births

• October 12 — Martie Maguire, member of the Dixie Chicks (she plays the fiddle, mandolin and viola).

Deaths

• September 11 — Leon Payne, 52, singer and prolific songwriter ("I Love You Because," "You've Still Got a Place in My Heart" and many others).
• November 23 — Spade Cooley, 59, singer/songwriter/fiddler of the 1940s; best known for "Detour" and "Shame on You." (heart attack)

Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

• Gene Autry (1907-1998)
• Bill Monroe (1911-1996)

Major Awards

Grammy awards

Academy of Country Music

• Single Of The Year -- "Okie From Muskogee" - Merle Haggard
• Album Of The Year -- Okie From Muskogee - Merle Haggard
• Top Male Vocalist -- Merle Haggard
• Top Female Vocalist -- Tammy Wynette
• Top Vocal Duo -- Merle Haggard and Bonnie Owens
• Top Vocal Group -- Kimberleys
• Top New Male Vocalist -- Freddy Weller
• Top New Female Vocalist -- Donna Fargo

Country Music Association

• Entertainer of the Year --
• Male Vocalist of the Year --
• Female Vocalist of the Year --
• Instrumental Group of the Year –-
• Comedian of the Year –-
• Vocal Group of the Year --
• Vocal Duo of the Year --
• Single of the Year --
• Song of the Year --
• Album of the Year --
• Instrumentalist of the Year --

Further reading

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.

Other links

• Country Music Association
• Inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame

External links

• Country Music Hall of Fame