1974 in country music

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-seat 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.

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.

Dolly Parton leaves Porter Wagoner's band and his weekly television show, after seven years, to embark on a solo career.

Loretta Lynn releases "The Pill" a sexually frank song about birth control. The song is deemed too controversial and most country stations refuse to play it.

United States

(as certified by Billboard)

Canada

(as certified by RPM)

Top new album releases

Breakaway — Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge (Monument)

Elvis: A Legendary Performer Volume 1 — Elvis Presley (RCA)

Elvis: As Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis — Elvis Presley (RCA)

Good Times — Elvis Presley (RCA)

The Grand Tour — George Jones (Epic)

Having Fun with Elvis on Stage — Elvis Presley (RCA)

If You Love Me, Let Me Know — Olivia Newton-John (MCA)

Jolene — Dolly Parton (RCA)

Junkie and the Juicehead Minus Me — Johnny Cash (Columbia)

Long Live Love — Olivia Newton-John (EMI)

Phases and Stages — Willie Nelson (Atlantic)

Ragged Old Flag — Johnny Cash (Columbia)

Spooky Lady's Sideshow — Kris Kristofferson (Monument)

Sundown — Gordon Lightfoot (Reprise)

This Time — Waylon Jennings (RCA)

Would You Lay with Me (In a Field of Stone) — Tanya Tucker (Columbia)

Other top albums

Another Lonely Song — Tammy Wynette (Epic)

Back Home Again — John Denver (RCA)

Honky Tonk Amnesia — Moe Bandy (GRT)

Honky Tonk Angel — Conway Twitty (MCA)

Houston (I'm Coming to See You) — Glen Campbell (Capitol)

I-40 Country — Jerry Lee Lewis (Mercury)

If We Make It Through December — Merle Haggard (Capitol)

I'm Not Through Loving You Yet — Conway Twitty (MCA)

The Midnight Oil — Barbara Mandrell (Columbia)

My Third Album — Johnny Rodriguez (Mercury)

Never Ending Song of Love — Conway Twitty (MCA)

Pure Love — Ronnie Milsap (RCA)

Reunion: The Songs Of Jimmy Webb — Glen Campbell (Capitol)

Rub It In - Billy "Crash" Craddock (ABC)

Songs About Ladies and Love — Johnny Rodriguez (Mercury)

Woman to Woman — Tammy Wynette (Epic)

Births

January 7 — John Rich, singer-songwriter and member of Big & Rich.

February 17 — Bryan White, singer-songwriter from the 1990s.

March 18 – Phillip Sweet, member of Little Big Town.

May 23 – Jewel, multi-genre singer-songwriter who released the country album Perfectly Clear in 2008.

June 6 – Uncle Kracker, rock singer who has had major country successes with "When the Sun Goes Down" (duet with Kenny Chesney) and "Smile."

September 12 — Jennifer Nettles, lead singer of Sugarland.

October 14 — Natalie Maines, lead singer of the Dixie Chicks.

November 21 — Kelsi Osborn, member of SHeDAISY.

Deaths

January 2 — Tex Ritter, 68, silver screen cowboy and western artist (heart attack).

April 26 - Tim Spencer, 65, member of the Sons of the Pioneers.

July 17 — Don Rich, 32, right-hand man of Buck Owens and key member of the Buckaroos (motorcycle crash).

Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

Owen Bradley (1915–1998)

Pee Wee King (1914–2000)

Grammy Awards

Best Female Country Vocal Performance — "A Love Song," Anne Murray

Best Male Country Vocal Performance — "Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends," Ronnie Milsap

Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal — "Fairytale," The Pointer Sisters

Best Country Instrumental Performance — The Atkins - Travis Traveling Show, Chet Atkins and Merle Travis

Best Country Song — "A Very Special Love Song," Billy Sherrill and Norro Wilson (Performer: Charlie Rich)

Juno Awards

Country Male Vocalist of the Year — Stompin' Tom Connors

Country Female Vocalist of the Year — Shirley Eikhard

Country Group or Duo of the Year — Mercey Brothers

Academy of Country Music

Entertainer of the Year — Mac Davis

Song of the Year — "Country Bumpkin," Don Wayne (Performer: Cal Smith)

Single of the Year — "Country Bumpkin," Cal Smith

Album of the Year — Back Home Again, John Denver

Top Male Vocalist — Merle Haggard

Top Female Vocalist — Loretta Lynn

Top Vocal Duo — Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn

Top New Male Vocalist — Mickey Gilley

Top New Female Vocalist — Linda Ronstadt

Country Music Association

Entertainer of the Year — Charlie Rich

Song of the Year — "Country Bumpkin," Don Wayne (Performer: Cal Smith)

Single of the Year — "Country Bumpkin," Cal Smith

Album of the Year — A Very Special Love Song, Charlie Rich

Male Vocalist of the Year — Ronnie Milsap

Female Vocalist of the Year — Olivia Newton-John

Vocal Duo of the Year — Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn

Vocal Group of the Year — The Statler Brothers

Instrumentalist of the Year — Don Rich

Instrumental Group of the Year — Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass

Other links

Country Music Association

Inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame