Mellow set with an eclectic mix of country oldies and original tunes, as well as a cover of campfire classic “(Just Enough To Keep Me) Hanging On.”
Adams appears to be channeling Michael Martin Murphey with this late-’70s release, though with more LA-scene pop flair.
Tammy Wynette
Tammy Wynette became one of country music’s premier female stars during the late 1970s, regularly topping charts and appearing in several television programs and movies. Although her relationship with George Jones proved volatile at times, Wynette continued to have a successful recording career and multiple high-profile relationships before ultimately marrying singer-songwriter George Richey in 1978.
Tammy Wynette was born Virginia Wynette Pugh in rural Mississippi to cotton-farming grandparents and raised with hardscrabble parents and siblings. At an early age she began singing in church choirs and playing her father’s homemade guitar before moving to Nashville in 1966 and meeting producer-songwriter Billy Sherrill who helped launch her musical career.
Sherrill recognized Wynette’s talent quickly, helping her break through to the top tier of country music. Wynette recorded several hit singles and albums before appearing at the Grand Ole Opry; becoming one of the pioneer women of country music while creating a more positive image for female artists.
Wynette experienced an often turbulent personal life, including abduction and near death in an auto accident. Following drug addiction for long periods before finally kicking it to the curb. Her marriage with Jones came to an end due to Jones’ alcoholism causing discord within their union.
Wynette went on to score twenty number-one country singles and sell millions of records during her life, remaining active until her untimely death from blood clots in her lungs at 55 in 1998. One, their reunion album released together in 1995 was widely popular with fans.
Chet Atkins
The 1970s were an extraordinary decade for country music. Solo artists and bands released classic albums throughout this decade; Kris Kristofferson is perhaps best-known as a songwriter’s songwriter who popularized gravelly vocals like Bob Dylan in country music. Waylon Jennings helped usher an outlaw country spirit into Nashville as part of Buddy Holly’s backing group The Crickets; though tragically he died tragically of a plane crash at only 35. His lasting contribution continues today through other musicians such as Travis Tritt’s classic albums from this decade.
Chet Atkins first rose to prominence through Homer & Jethro, an act that performed at the Grand Ole Opry and recorded for Bullet Records. By the late ’50s, Atkins had garnered enough recognition that RCA Victor hired him as a session guitarist based out of Nashville – soon thereafter producing “Mr. Sandman”, one of Atkins’s first hit singles that went gold! Soon thereafter he found himself recording alongside Eddy Arnold, Skeeter Davis, and Bobby Bare as well.
After rock ‘n’ roll began eroding country record sales, Atkins’ production skills really came into their own. Following in the footsteps of Owen Bradley at Decca and Don Law at Columbia, Atkins eliminated fiddles and steel guitars to make country singers more appealing to pop audiences; his style became known as the Nashville Sound.
Dolly Parton has become one of the most iconic female country music stars ever. Her hits during the 1970s included “Coat of Many Colors”, “Sweet Dreams”, and “Jolene”. Additionally to releasing singles she also boasts an extensive catalogue of award-winning albums.
Jim Reeves
Jim Reeves was one of the greatest underrated country music artists of the 1970’s. A Nashville artist, Reeves used producer Chet Atkins’s skills as an arranger to add strings, background vocals and other instruments to his recordings – and also used a deep baritone voice that appealed to both male and female listeners alike. Regular at Grand Ole Opry performances as well as touring extensively;
Reeves was returning from South Africa when his single-engine Beechcraft Debonair aircraft crashed near Hendersonville, Tennessee killing him and business manager Dean Manuel. Reeves had planned several more concerts and trips abroad when his death occurred and left behind an extensive catalog of recordings as well as an ardent fan base.
Mary Reeves employed an effective marketing strategy to distribute many of his posthumous recordings after his death. She would select vocal performances from original 3-track stereo master session tapes and resynchronize them onto new digital backing tracks before creating duets with singers such as Patsy Cline or Deborah Allen – this way making Jim Reeves one of the top-selling album artists, as many posthumous recordings reached #1 on country charts.
Reeves’ albums featured traditional country tunes reflective of his rural upbringing; however, he also experimented with pop, gospel and Western swing genres. Some of Reeves’ most successful ballads included Hello Darlin’ and He’ll Have to Go; many were autobiographical as he was one of the first country artists to do this. Reeves was tragically killed on his way to an Arkansas performance shortly afterwards, further making the songs poignant; he is buried there as part of his legacy.
Naomi & Wynonna Judd
Dolly Parton established herself as one of the great vocalists, while Loretta Lynn immortalized herself through her autobiographical “Coal Miner’s Daughter”. Furthermore, Wynonna Judd’s powerful vocals helped her and Naomi form one of country music history’s most successful duos.
Generations later, artists still turned to the 1970s for inspiration. Many songs written during this decade touched on love stories or economic hardship – showing country music still has the ability to touch us emotionally. Additionally, this decade also saw incredible collaborations between male and female artists that resulted in breathtaking duets like Waylon Jennings with Willie Nelson or Johnny Paycheck with Tanya Tucker that will forever make these unforgettable decades memorable.
A Tribute to the Judds features an all-star lineup of Nashville royalty. Its release comes at an especially poignant time for Judd, as she recently lost her mother by suicide and is focused on moving forward by performing some of her mother’s best songs live onstage. Judd told Yahoo Entertainment how this album helps her move past grief by doing just that.
Judd not only sang some of her mother’s most well-known hits, she also performed “Coal Miner’s Daughter” for the first time since The Judds disbanded in 1985. On Today she performed it and shared an emotive story related to it with co-hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie; watch below or go here for the complete interview (RCA Photo Credit).
Jerry Jeff Walker
Jerry Jeff Walker personified the Texas outlaw country scene and its legendary singer/songwriter community with unbridled fervor and persuasiveness. Hitchhiking across America in the early ’60s under his favorite character’s name (Ron Clyde Crosby), Walker eventually arrived in Austin where his brand of rootsy country music with hippie sensibility was well received by local musicians who shared his music genre. Although Walker never had hits himself, many artists covered his songs including a cover version of “Mr. Bojangles”, making him an iconic figure within this idiom genre.
Walker made an impression throughout the ’70s, producing several notable albums for Electra Records while performing more than 100 dates each year. Additionally, he made several guest appearances on Austin City Limits (from 1977 through 2004) as well as performing at two Texas governor inauguration ceremonies.
Walker launched his own label, Tried & True, in the late ’80s and recorded Cowjazz, an album on which he reinterpreted traditional American classics with top Austin jazz musicians. Later that year he published an autobiography, Gypsy Songman, before relaunching his recording career with Gonzo Stew later that year. Walker formed his Bandito Band that year and recorded Live at Gruene Hall to capture some of the spontaneity and energy captured from 1973 Luckenbach recording Viva Terlingua! Walker continues touring and recording projects today.