1988 in country music

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See also: 1987 in country music, 1988 in music, other events of 1988, 1989 in country music, 1980s in music and the List of years in Country Music

Contents

[edit] Events

  • Time-Life Records releases the first volume of its "Country USA" series. The series, which would eventually include 23 volumes, each chronicles one year per volume - 1950 through 1972. Each volume - offered on two record albums, or one cassette or compact disc - contains liner notes from some of country music's most respected historians. In many cases, the songs offered on each volume represented the first time they had ever been re-released on compact disc. "Country USA" was offered through television and magazine advertisements.
  • Country music stars highlight a May 21 concert at Madison Square Garden in New York. Featured: Alabama, The Judds, George Strait and Randy Travis. The concert is a big success.
  • The Country Music Association Awards introduced a new award, Vocal Event of the Year, awarding collaborative efforts by two or more artists who normally don't work together. (Previously such efforts had to included with Best Duo or Group nominations.) The first recipient was the group of Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt for their Trio album.

[edit] Top hits of the year

[edit] Number one hits

(As certified by Billboard magazine)

Date Song Name Artist Wks. No. 1 Spec.
Note
January 9 I Can't Get Close Enough Exile 1 B
January 16 One Friend Dan Seals 1
January 23 Where Do the Nights Go Ronnie Milsap 1
January 30 Goin' Gone Kathy Mattea 1 A
February 6 Wheels Restless Heart 1
February 13 Tennessee Flat Top Box Rosanne Cash 1 A cover of a song her legendary
father Johnny Cash made famous in 1962.
February 20 Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Star Merle Haggard 1 B
February 27 I Won't Take Less Than Your Love Paul Davis, Tanya Tucker, and Paul Overstreet 1 C - Paul Davis
A - Paul Overstreet
March 5 Face to Face Alabama featuring K.T. Oslin 1
March 12 Too Gone Too Long Randy Travis 1
March 19 Life Turned Her That Way Ricky Van Shelton 1
March 26 Turn It Loose The Judds 1
April 2 Love Will Find Its Way to You Reba McEntire 1
April 9 Famous Last Words of a Fool George Strait 1
April 16 I Wanna Dance With You Eddie Rabbitt 1
April 23 I'll Always Come Back K.T. Oslin 1
April 30 It's Such a Small World Rodney Crowell with Rosanne Cash 1 A - Rodney Crowell
This was the lead-off single to Crowell's Diamonds and Dirt album, which sprouted five No. 1 hits in 1988-1989, and represented the peak of this alternative country singer's mainstream popularity.
May 7 Cry, Cry, Cry Highway 101 1
May 14 I'm Gonna Get You Eddy Raven 1
May 21 Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses Kathy Mattea 2
June 4 What She is (is a Woman in Love) Earl Thomas Conley 1
June 11 I Told You So Randy Travis 2
June 25 He's Back and I'm Blue The Desert Rose Band 1 A
July 2 If It Don't Come Easy Tanya Tucker 1
July 9 Fallin' Again Alabama 1
July 16 If You Change Your Mind Rosanne Cash 1
July 23 Set 'Em Up Joe Vern Gosdin 1
July 30 Don't We All Have the Right Ricky Van Shelton 1
August 6 Baby Blue George Strait 1
August 13 Don't Close Your Eyes Keith Whitley 1 1, A
August 20 Bluest Eyes in Texas Restless Heart 1
August 27 The Wanderer Eddie Rabbitt 1 A cover of the 1962 Dion song.
September 3 I Couldn't Leave You If I Tried Rodney Crowell 1
September 10 (Do You Love Me) Just Say Yes Highway 101 1
September 17 Joe Knows How to Live Eddy Raven 1
September 24 Addicted Dan Seals 1
October 1 We Believe in Happy Endings Earl Thomas Conley with Emmylou Harris 1 B - Emmylou Harris
October 8 Honky Tonk Moon Randy Travis 1
October 15 Streets of Bakersfield Dwight Yoakam with Buck Owens 1 A - Dwight Yoakam
B - Buck Owens
This song represented a (temporary, as it turned out) resurgence in groundbreaking artist Buck Owens' mainstream popularity, after hitting his peak in the 1960s and early 1970s.
October 22 Strong Enough to Bend Tanya Tucker 1 B
October 29 Gonna Take a Lot of River (Mississippi, Monongahela, Ohio) The Oak Ridge Boys 1 The first No. 1 Oak Ridge Boys song to feature new member Steve Sanders, who had replaced William Lee Golden a year earlier.
November 5 Darlene T. Graham Brown 1 B
November 12 Runaway Train Rosanne Cash 1 Written by former Kingston Trio member John Stewart.
November 19 I'll Leave This World Loving You Ricky Van Shelton 2
December 3 I Know How He Feels Reba McEntire 1
December 10 If You Ain't Lovin' (You Ain't Livin') George Strait 1 A cover of Faron Young's 1955 country hit.
December 17 A Tender Lie Restless Heart 1 B
December 24 When You Say Nothing at All Keith Whitley 2
  • 1 - No. 1 song of the year, as determined by Billboard magazine.
  • A - First Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist.
  • B - Last Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist to date.

[edit] Other major hits

[edit] Top new album releases

[edit] Gallery

Across the Rio Grande
Holly Dunn
(MTM)

Alabama Live
Alabama
(RCA)

Buenas Noches From a Lonely Room
Dwight Yoakam
(Reprise)

Full Circle
Waylon Jennings
(MCA)

Greatest Hits
The Judds
(RCA)

Highway 101²
Highway 101
(Warner Bros.)

Honky Tonk Angel
Patty Loveless
(MCA)

If My Heart Had Windows
Patty Loveless
(MCA)

If You Ain't Lovin', You Ain't Livin'
George Strait
(MCA)

Loving Proof
Ricky Van Shelton
(Columbia)

Old 8x10
Randy Travis
(Warner Bros.)

Reba
Reba McEntire
(MCA)

Strong Enough to Bend
Tanya Tucker
(Capitol)

[edit] Compilation albums

Country USA (Time-Life Music series)1
Various Artists
(Time-Life)

1 Country USA: 1970 volume shown. There would be 23 other volumes issued in the series during the next three years.

[edit] Other

[edit] On television

[edit] Regular series

  • Dolly (1987-1988)
  • Hee Haw (1969-1993, syndicated)

[edit] Specials

[edit] Births

[edit] Deaths

[edit] Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

[edit] Major Awards

[edit] Grammy awards

  • Best Country Vocal Performance, Female -- "Hold Me" - K.T. Oslin
  • Best Country Vocal Performance, Male -- "Old 8x10" - Randy Travis
  • Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal -- "Give A Little Love" - Judds (Naomi Judd, Wynonna Judd)
  • Best Country Vocal Collaboration -- "Crying" - Roy Orbison and k.d. lang
  • Best Country Instrumental Performance (Orchestra, Group Or Soloist) -- "Sugarfoot Rag" - Asleep At The Wheel
  • Best Bluegrass Recording (Vocal Or Instrumental) -- "Southern Flavor" - Bill Monroe
  • Best Country Song -- "Hold Me" - K.T. Oslin, songwriter

[edit] Academy of Country Music

  • Entertainer Of The Year -- Hank Williams Jr.
  • Song Of The Year -- "Eighteen Wheels And A Dozen Roses" - Kathy Mattea - Charles Nelson, Paul Nelson
  • Single Of The Year -- "Eighteen Wheels And A Dozen Roses" - Kathy Mattea
  • Album Of The Year -- This Woman - K.T. Oslin
  • Top Male Vocalist -- George Strait
  • Top Female Vocalist -- K.T. Oslin
  • Top Vocal Duo -- The Judds
  • Top Vocal Group -- Highway 101
  • Top New Male Vocalist -- Rodney Crowell
  • Top New Female Vocalist -- Suzy Bogguss
  • Video Of The Year -- Young Country" - Hank Williams Jr. (Director: Bill Fishman)

[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] Other links

[edit] External links

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