This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1974. [edit] Events - March 16 — The Grand Ole Opry moves from the Ryman Auditorium, its home of the past 41 years, to the newly constructed 4,400 Grand Ole Opry House, on the Opryland complex. President Richard Nixon is a guest at the Ryman's last show. The Ryman would essentially sit vacant for the next two decades before being renovated in the early 1990s as a historical landmark and concert hall.
- July 17 — Don Rich, a key member of Buck Owens' backing band, The Buckaroos, is killed in a motorcycle crash on State Route 99 north of Bakersfield, California; he was 32. Owens is deeply saddened by Rich's death, and it will gravely affect his career for many years.[1]
[edit] No dates - Country purists - long troubled by a growing trend of pop music-influenced country - have an ACE up their sleeves, when they form the Association of Country Entertainers. The group forms as a result of an outcry over the 1974 Country Music Association awards program, where pop diva Olivia Newton-John won Female Vocalist of the Year, and Danny Davis & the Nashville Brass was awarded another Instrumental Group of the Year.
- The proliferation of No. 1 hits, as certified by Billboard, extends into 1974, when 40 songs reach the top of the Hot Country Singles chart. In fact, just nine songs - 10, if one counts Merle Haggard's "If We Make It Through December," which spent two of its four weeks at No. 1 in January - remain at the top spot for more than one week.
[edit] Top hits of the year [edit] Number one hits [edit] United States (as certified by Billboard) - Notes
- 1^ No. 1 song of the year, as determined by Billboard.
- 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.
[edit] Canada (as certified by RPM) - Notes
- 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.
[edit] Other major hits [edit] Singles released by American artists [edit] Singles released by Canadian artists [edit] Top new album releases [edit] Other top albums [edit] Births [edit] Deaths - January 2 — Tex Ritter, 68, silver screen cowboy and western artist (heart attack).
- July 17 — Don Rich, 32, right-hand man of Buck Owens and key member of the Buckaroos (motorcycle crash).
[edit] Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees [edit] Major awards [edit] Grammy Awards [edit] Juno Awards [edit] Academy of Country Music [edit] Country Music Association [edit] 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.
[edit] References [edit] Other links [edit] External links |
