List of Hot Country Singles number ones of 1977

A man with long dark hair and a beard
Waylon Jennings had the longest-running number one of 1977.

Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 1977, 31 different singles topped the chart, which was at the time published under the title Hot Country Singles, based on playlists submitted by country music radio stations and sales reports submitted by stores.[1]

Waylon Jennings spent the most weeks at number one, with eight, including a run of six weeks at the top with "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)"; no single since 1967 had spent longer at number one.[2] Crystal Gayle and Dolly Parton came closest to Jennings's total number of weeks at number one, each spending five weeks in the top spot. Parton's time at number one comprised a five-week run with "Here You Come Again", the second-longest running chart-topper of 1977, in the issues of Billboard dated December 3 through December 31. Conway Twitty was the only artist to take three different songs to the top of the chart. Thanks to the prevalence of crossover-friendly country pop, several country number ones of 1977 also charted highly on Billboard's all-genres singles chart, the Hot 100, including Glen Campbell's "Southern Nights", which reached number one on the Hot 100 in the issue of Billboard dated April 30, the second time that Campbell had taken a song to the top of both charts.[3] Crystal Gayle's "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" reached number 2 on the Hot 100[4] and Dolly Parton's "Here You Come Again" made number 3.[5]

In February, Welsh singer Tom Jones achieved his first country number one with "Say You'll Stay Until Tomorrow". Previously associated mainly with the pop music field, albeit with some forays into country, Jones focused on the country music market when he returned to recording in the mid 1970s after concentrating in the early part of the decade on live stage shows in Las Vegas.[6] He immediately topped the Hot Country chart with his very first entry and would achieve several more country hits over the next decade before moving back into the pop market.[6][7] Father-daughter duo The Kendalls also topped the chart for the first time in 1977, spending four weeks atop the listing with "Heaven's Just a Sin Away";[8] although they had entered the chart several times previously, none of their earlier hits had even reached the top 50.[9] Tammy Wynette, one of country music's best-known artists and biggest-selling female singers, topped the singles chart for the last time with "Near You", a duet with her former husband George Jones.[10] The couple had divorced in 1975, but continued to release records together.[11] Elvis Presley, the "king of rock 'n roll", topped the country chart with the last single released in his lifetime,[12] when "Way Down" moved up to number one in the issue of Billboard dated August 20, four days after his death.[13]

Chart history

A grey-haired bearded man wearing a grey suit, singing into a microphone
Welsh singer Tom Jones (pictured in 2009) is primarily associated with other musical genres, but had a country number one in 1977.
A black-haired man wearing a light-coloured jacket
"King of rock 'n roll" Elvis Presley died on August 16, 1977. His single "Way Down" topped the country chart in the issue of Billboard dated August 20.
A woman with long blonde hair, wearing a long multi-coloured dress, sitting on a stool and singing into a microphone
In February Tammy Wynette topped the chart with "Near You", a duet with her former husband George Jones.
Issue date Title Artist(s) Ref.
January 1 "Sweet Dreams" Emmylou Harris [14]
January 8 "Broken Down in Tiny Pieces" Billy "Crash" Craddock [15]
January 15 "You Never Miss a Real Good Thing (Till He Says Goodbye)" Crystal Gayle [16]
January 22 "I Can't Believe She Gives It All to Me" Conway Twitty [17]
January 29 "Let My Love Be Your Pillow" Ronnie Milsap [18]
February 5 "Near You" George Jones and Tammy Wynette [19]
February 12 [20]
February 19 "Moody Blue" / "She Thinks I Still Care"[a] Elvis Presley [21]
February 26 "Say You'll Stay Until Tomorrow" Tom Jones [22]
March 5 "Heart Healer" Mel Tillis [23]
March 12 "She's Just an Old Love Turned Memory" Charley Pride [24]
March 19 "Southern Nights" Glen Campbell [25]
March 26 [26]
April 2 "Lucille" Kenny Rogers [27]
April 9 [28]
April 16 "It Couldn't Have Been Any Better" Johnny Duncan [29]
April 23 "She's Got You" Loretta Lynn [30]
April 30 "She's Pulling Me Back Again" Mickey Gilley [31]
May 7 "Play Guitar Play" Conway Twitty [32]
May 14 "Some Broken Hearts Never Mend" Don Williams [33]
May 21 "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)" Waylon Jennings [34]
May 28 [35]
June 4 [36]
June 11 [37]
June 18 [38]
June 25 [39]
July 2 "That Was Yesterday" Donna Fargo [40]
July 9 "I'll Be Leaving Alone" Charley Pride [41]
July 16 "It Was Almost Like a Song" Ronnie Milsap [42]
July 23 [43]
July 30 [44]
August 6 "Rollin' with the Flow" Charlie Rich [45]
August 13 [46]
August 20 "Way Down" / "Pledging My Love"[a] Elvis Presley [47]
August 27 "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" Crystal Gayle [48]
September 3 [49]
September 10 [50]
September 17 [51]
September 24 "I've Already Loved You in My Mind" Conway Twitty [52]
October 1 "Daytime Friends" Kenny Rogers [53]
October 8 "Heaven's Just a Sin Away" The Kendalls [54]
October 15 [55]
October 22 [56]
October 29 [57]
November 5 "I'm Just a Country Boy" Don Williams [58]
November 12 "More to Me" Charley Pride [59]
November 19 "The Wurlitzer Prize (I Don't Want to Get Over You)" Waylon Jennings [60]
November 26 [61]
December 3 "Here You Come Again" Dolly Parton [62]
December 10 [63]
December 17 [64]
December 24 [65]
December 31 [66]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Double A-sided single

References

  1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2005). Joel Whitburn's Top Country Songs: 1944-2005. Record Research. p. ix. ISBN 978-0-89820-165-9.
  2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2005). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits. Watson-Guptill Publications Inc. pp. 519–524. ISBN 978-0-8230-8289-6.
  3. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Glen Campbell Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  4. ^ Betts, Stephen L. (June 23, 2017). "Flashback: Crystal Gayle's 'Brown Eyes Blue' Goes Global". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  5. ^ Zaleski, Annie (February 1, 2018). "40 Years Ago: 'Here You Come Again' Becomes Dolly Parton's First Gold Single". The Boot. Townsquare Media. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  6. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Tom Jones Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  7. ^ "Tom Jones Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  8. ^ Cantwell, David (February 28, 2003). "Jeannie Kendall – Of missing persons". No Depression. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  9. ^ "The Kendalls Chart History". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 28, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  10. ^ "Tammy Wynette Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  11. ^ Pareles, Jon (April 8, 1998). "Tammy Wynette, Country Singer Known For 'Stand by Your Man,' Is Dead at 55". The New York Times. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  12. ^ Lewis, Randy (August 16, 2016). "Elvis Presley 'Way Down in the Jungle Room' 40 years later". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
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  31. ^ "Hot Country Songs chart for April 30, 1977". Billboard. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  32. ^ "Hot Country Songs chart for May 7, 1977". Billboard. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  33. ^ "Hot Country Songs chart for May 14, 1977". Billboard. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  34. ^ "Hot Country Songs chart for May 21, 1977". Billboard. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  35. ^ "Hot Country Songs chart for May 28, 1977". Billboard. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
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  37. ^ "Hot Country Songs chart for June 11, 1977". Billboard. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
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  39. ^ "Hot Country Songs chart for June 25, 1977". Billboard. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
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  46. ^ "Hot Country Songs chart for August 13, 1977". Billboard. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  47. ^ "Hot Country Songs chart for August 20, 1977". Billboard. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  48. ^ "Hot Country Songs chart for August 27, 1977". Billboard. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
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  50. ^ "Hot Country Songs chart for September 10, 1977". Billboard. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  51. ^ "Hot Country Songs chart for September 17, 1977". Billboard. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  52. ^ "Hot Country Songs chart for September 24, 1977". Billboard. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  53. ^ "Hot Country Songs chart for October 1, 1977". Billboard. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  54. ^ "Hot Country Songs chart for October 8, 1977". Billboard. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  55. ^ "Hot Country Songs chart for October 15, 1977". Billboard. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  56. ^ "Hot Country Songs chart for October 22, 1977". Billboard. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  57. ^ "Hot Country Songs chart for October 29, 1977". Billboard. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  58. ^ "Hot Country Songs chart for November 5, 1977". Billboard. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
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  60. ^ "Hot Country Songs chart for November 19, 1977". Billboard. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  61. ^ "Hot Country Songs chart for November 26, 1977". Billboard. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
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  63. ^ "Hot Country Songs chart for December 10, 1977". Billboard. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  64. ^ "Hot Country Songs chart for December 17, 1977". Billboard. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
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  66. ^ "Hot Country Songs chart for December 31, 1977". Billboard. Retrieved March 22, 2018.