Still, the ACM category has bragging rights of its own. Critically-acclaimed albums like Storms of Life, Trio, Killin’ Time and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend won at the ACMs but were overlooked by the CMAs.  Additionally, women have also been far more successful at this ceremony. Only five women have ever won the CMA Album trophy, and one of them was Sissy Spacek!  At the ACMs, women have dominated the category for the past three years, and the category has honored everyone from Loretta Lynn and Donna Fargo to K.T. Oslin and Shania Twain.

A special note about ACM flashbacks. Like the Grammys, the ACMs issue their award for a given year the following year, so the awards for 2009, for example, are given out in 2010.  For the purposes of the flashbacks, Country Universe notes the year the award is presented. While the ACM first presented awards in 1966, the Album category wasn’t introduced until 1968.

As with other flashbacks, we begin with a look at this year’s nominees:

2010

• Lady Antebellum, Lady Antebellum
• Miranda Lambert, Revolution
• Brad Paisley, American Saturday Night
• Carrie Underwood, Play On
• Zac Brown Band, The Foundation

Three previous winners – Miranda Lambert, Brad Paisley, and Carrie Underwood – compete against the debut albums of two hot bands.  Lady Antebellum and Zac Brown Band each picked up a Grammy this year and are well represented on the rest of the ACM ballot.  This is a very competitive race. Even the sales-friendly nature of the ACMs doesn’t help much here, as four of these albums are platinum and Lambert’s just went gold.

2009

• Jamey Johnson, That Lonesome Song
• Montgomery Gentry, Back When I Knew It All
• George Strait, Troubadour
• Taylor Swift, Fearless
• Carrie Underwood, Carnival Ride

Taylor Swift became the third consecutive female artist to win in this category, a feat that would’ve seemed unthinkable earlier in the middle part of the decade, when country radio all but exiled women from radio.

2008

• Rodney Atkins, If You’re Going Through Hell
• Kenny Chesney, Just Who I Am: Poets and Pirates
• Miranda Lambert, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
• Brad Paisley, 5th Gear
• Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift

A visibly shocked Lambert accepted the trophy for her critically acclaimed sophomore set.  While it did go gold, it remains an anomaly among ACM album winners. You have to go all the way back to 1979 (Oak Ridge Boys) to find another ACM album winner that didn’t sell platinum or higher.

2007

• Brooks & Dunn, Hillbilly Deluxe
• Vince Gill, These Days
• Rascal Flatts, Me and My Gang
• George Strait, It Just Comes Natural
• Carrie Underwood, Some Hearts

Carrie Underwood became the first solo female artist to win this award in eleven years with her 7 million-selling Some Hearts.

2006

• Gary Allan, Tough All Over
• Brad Paisley, Time Well Wasted
• Rascal Flatts, Feels Like Today
• Sugarland, Twice the Speed of Life
• Lee Ann Womack, There’s More Where That Came From

A strikingly strong lineup, with the victory going to Brad Paisley. Due to differences in eligibility between the two shows, there are two CMA winners in this category. Not only did Paisley repeat his victory the following fall, Womack won the CMA the previous year.

2005

• Kenny Chesney, When the Sun Goes Down
• Sara Evans, Restless
• Tim McGraw, Live Like You Were Dying
• Keith Urban, Be Here
• Gretchen Wilson, Here for the Party

Though he’s always been popular with the CMA and Grammy voters, Urban’s only Album award to date came courtesy of the ACMs. Oddly enough, they haven’t nominated him since.

2004

• Brooks & Dunn, Red Dirt Road
• Toby Keith, Shock’n Y’All
• Martina McBride, Martina
• Brad Paisley, Mud on the Tires
• George Strait, Honkytonkville

On an evening where he won several major awards, Keith picked up his second Album of the Year trophy from the ACMs for an album that included the #1  hits “American Soldier”, “Whiskey Girl”,  and “I Love This Bar.”

2003

• Kenny Chesney, No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems
• Dixie Chicks, Home
• Alan Jackson, Drive
• Toby Keith, Unleashed
• Trick Pony, On a Mission

If you think all of those 2009 nominations for Heidi Newfield were surprising, check out Trick Pony’s presence in this category among four albums that sold more than 4 million copies each.  Alan Jackson picked up his third trophy in this category for the album that included “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” and “Drive (For Daddy Gene)”.

2002

• Brooks & Dunn, Steers & Stripes
• Toby Keith, Pull My Chain
• Tim McGraw, Set This Circus Down
• Soundtrack, O Brother, Where Art Thou?
• Travis Tritt, Down the Road I Go

Big comeback albums for Brooks & Dunn and Travis Tritt were nominated, but it was no surprise to see the victory go to the landmark soundtrack that sold more than eight million copies in the end.

2001

• Johnny Cash, American III: Solitary Man
• Billy Gilman, One Voice
• Toby Keith, How Do You Like Me Now?!
• Brad Paisley, Who Needs Pictures
• Lee Ann Womack, I Hope You Dance

Even Keith was a veteran in comparison to Gilman and Paisley, who were nominated with their debut albums, but the biggest surprise was the nomination of Cash for his third project with Rick Rubin. Even the CMA didn’t recognize those collaborations until the fourth volume and “Hurt.”

2000

• Asleep at the Wheel, Ride With Bob
• Dixie Chicks, Fly
• Faith Hill, Breathe
• George Jones, Cold Hard Truth
• Tim McGraw, A Place in the Sun

An impressively eclectic lineup is unsurprisingly represented by the consensus choice Dixie Chicks, the one act that everybody used to agree on.

1999

• Garth Brooks, Double Live
• Dixie Chicks, Wide Open Spaces
• Faith Hill, Faith
• Jo Dee Messina, I’m Alright
• George Strait, One Step at a Time

For the fourth time in the nineties, the trophy went to an artist’s breakthrough album.  After their shocking win at the Grammys a few weeks earlier, this Dixie Chicks victory wasn’t quite as surprising.

1998

• Garth Brooks, Sevens
• Patty Loveless, Long Stretch of Lonesome
• Tim McGraw, Everywhere
• George Strait, Carrying Your Love With Me
• Shania Twain, Come On Over

Strait’s third victory in this category tied him with Alabama for most wins.  It was also his first album to top the overall Billboard 200, a feat he’s repeated with three additional albums.

1997

• Brooks & Dunn, Borderline
• Tracy Lawrence, Time Marches On
• Patty Loveless, The Trouble With the Truth
• LeAnn Rimes, Blue
• George Strait, Blue Clear Sky

Strait’s victory came with an album that featured the #1 hits “Blue Clear Sky” and “Carried Away”, along with the rodeo-themed “I Can Still Make Cheyenne.”

1996

• Brooks & Dunn, Waitin’ On Sundown
• Patty Loveless, When Fallen Angels Fly
• Tim McGraw, All I Want
• George Strait, Lead On
• Shania Twain, The Woman in Me

Although Loveless won the CMA award the previous fall, the ACM sided with the Grammy winner for Best Country Album, Shania Twain’s landmark set, The Woman in Me.

1995

• Garth Brooks, In Pieces
• Mary Chapin Carpenter, Stones in the Road
• Vince Gill, When Love Finds You
• Alan Jackson, Who I Am
• Tim McGraw, Not a Moment Too Soon

McGraw’s only victory in this category came with his first nomination. This set remains his top-selling to date, thanks to the presence of the massive hits “Don’t Take the Girl”, “Indian Outlaw”, “Down on the Farm”, and the title track.

1994

• Brooks & Dunn, Hard Workin’ Man
• Billy Ray Cyrus, It Won’t Be the Last
• Vince Gill, I Still Believe In You
• Alan Jackson, A Lot About Livin’ (And a Little ‘Bout Love)
• Various Artists, Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles
• Dwight Yoakam, This Time

Alan Jackson picked up his second victory in this category with an album that included “Chattahoochee”, which would remain his biggest hit for nearly a decade.

1993

• Garth Brooks, The Chase
• Brooks & Dunn, Brand New Man
• Mary Chapin Carpenter, Come On Come On
• Billy Ray Cyrus, Some Gave All
• Wynonna, Wynonna

These are some big selling albums. Wynonna and Mary Chapin Carpenter both sold five million and they are tied for last place among the nominees.  It’s easy to forget how fresh the Brooks & Dunn sound was when it first arrived on the scene.  Five hits, including the classic title track, “Neon Moon”, and “Boot Scootin’ Boogie”, helped power them to a win.

1992

• Garth Brooks, No Fences
• Garth Brooks, Ropin’ the Wind
• Alan Jackson, Don’t Rock the Jukebox
• Ricky Van Shelton, Backroads
• Travis Tritt, It’s All About to Change

In perhaps the most bizarre moment in this category’s history, Garth Brooks competed again with No Fences, which won the same award last year. Alan Jackson emerged victorious with his sophomore set.

1991

• Alabama, Pass it On Down
• Garth Brooks, No Fences
• Vince Gill, When I Call Your Name
• Alan Jackson, Here in the Real World
• Ricky Van Shelton, RVS III

No Fences includes the Garth Brooks classics “Friends in Low Places”, “Unanswered Prayers”, and “The Thunder Rolls”. It remains his highest-selling album to date, and second only to Shania Twain’s Come On Over among all single-disc country albums in history.

1990

• Clint Black, Killin’ Time
• Rodney Crowell, Diamonds and Dirt
• Kathy Mattea, Willow in the Wind
• Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Will the Circle Be Unbroken? Vol. II
• Randy Travis, Old 8×10

The winning album demonstrates why Clint Black was the head of the Class of ’89, even though he’d soon be overshadowed by fellow newbie Garth Brooks.

1989

• Vern Gosdin, Chiseled in Stone
• K.T. Oslin, This Woman
• Ricky Van Shelton, Loving Proof
• George Strait, If You Ain’t Lovin’ You Ain’t Livin’
• Dwight Yoakam, Buenos Noches From a Lonely Room

K.T. Oslin dominated the awards circuit in 1988 and 1989, with her final victories coming at the ACM Awards.  Her Album of the Year winner included the #1 hit “Hold Me”, along with the top five hits “Hey Bobby” and the title track.

1988

• The Judds, Heart Land
• Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris, Trio
• George Strait, Ocean Front Property
• Randy Travis, Always and Forever
• Hank Williams Jr., Born to Boogie

The classic project by legends Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris also won a CMA for Vocal Event and a Grammy for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

1987

• The Judds, Rockin’ With the Rhythm
• Ricky Skaggs, Live in London
• George Strait, 7
• Randy Travis, Storms of Life
• Dwight Yoakam, Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.

The neo-traditionalist movement at its peak, with a win by its standard-bearing artist with his standard-bearing debut album.

1986

• Alabama, 40 Hour Week
• Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson, Highwayman
• The Judds, Why Not Me
• George Strait, Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind
• Hank Williams Jr., Five-O

The only #1 hit from this album was the title track, but “The Fireman” and “The Cowboy Rides Away” have since become signature songs for the legendary artist.

1985

• Alabama, Roll On
• Earl Thomas Conley, Don’t Make it Easy On Me
• Ricky Skaggs, Don’t Cheat in Our Hometown
• George Strait, Right or Wrong
• Hank Williams Jr., Man of Steel

Their third victory in four years came on the strength of the hits “Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)”, “If You’re Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band)”, “(There’s a) Fire in the Night”, and “When We Make Love.”

1984

• Alabama, The Closer You Get…
• John Anderson, Wild & Blue
• Merle Haggard, Going Where the Lonely Go
• Merle Haggard & Willie Nelson, Pancho & Lefty
• Ricky Skaggs, Highways & Heartaches

Over a field of traditionalists old and new, the pop-country supergroup Alabama won their second Album award. In addition to the hit title track, The Closer You Get… included the hits “Lady Down on Love” and “Dixieland Delight.”

1983

• Alabama, Mountain Music
• Willie Nelson, Always On My Mind
• Kenny Rogers, Love Will Turn You Around
• Ricky Skaggs, Waitin’ For the Sun to Shine
• Don Williams, Listen to the Radio

Nelson’s biggest single powered the album of the same name to victory. It also included a pair of #2 hits: “Last Thing I Needed First Thing This Morning” and “Let it Be Me.”

1982

• Alabama, Feels So Right
• Rosanne Cash, Seven Year Ache
• George Jones, Still the Same Ole Me
• Oak Ridge Boys, Fancy Free
• Dolly Parton, 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs

With the exception of George Jones, all the nominees here enjoyed significant pop success with these projects. Alabama won their first trophy in this category with Feels So Right, which included the hit title track, “Old Flame”, and their biggest crossover hit, “Love in the First Degree.”

1981

• Charley Pride, There’s a Little Bit of Hank in Me
• Kenny Rogers, Greatest Hits
• Soundtrack, Coal Miner’s Daughter
• Soundtrack, Urban Cowboy
• Don Williams, I Believe in You

For all that it’s been maligned, the Urban Cowboy soundtrack does have a lot of classic hits on it.  Some of them were recycled, like “Devil Went Down to Georgia” and “Lyin’ Eyes”, but some were introduced on the soundtrack, most notably Anne Murray’s “Could I Have This Dance” and Johnny Lee’s “Lookin’ For Love.”

1980

• Larry Gatlin, Straight Ahead
• Emmylou Harris, Blue Kentucky Girl
• Waylon Jennings, Greatest Hits
• Willie Nelson, Willie Sings Kristofferson
• Kenny Rogers, Kenny

Those of you wondering how on earth Larry Gatlin was the winner in this field should know that this was actually a platinum-selling album. Perhaps its big hit, “All the Gold in California”, endeared the project to west coast voters.

1979

• Ronnie Milsap, It Was Almost Like a Song
• Anne Murray, Let’s Keep it That Way
• Willie Nelson, Stardust
• Oak Ridge Boys, Y’All Come Back Saloon
• Kenny Rogers & Dottie West, Every Time Two Fools Collide

They had made several albums as gospel stars, but it was their first big country hit that fueled this win for Album of the Year.

1978

• Waylon Jennings, Ol’ Waylon
• Dolly Parton, Here You Come Again
• Elvis Presley, Moody Blue
• Kenny Rogers, Kenny Rogers
• Conway Twitty, Greatest Hits Vol. II

This self-titled album was renamed “Lucille” in later pressings to capitalize on its biggest hit.

1977

• Mickey Gilley, Gilley’s Smokin’
• Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser, Wanted! The Outlaws
• Loretta Lynn, Somebody Somewhere
• Marty Robbins, El Paso City
• Conway Twitty, Now and Then

Gilley’s winning album features his most well known hit, “Don’t the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time.” It’s the most recent album in the category’s history that hasn’t reached at least gold status.

1976

• Glen Campbell, Rhinestone Cowboy
• Freddie Fender, Before the Next Teardrop Falls
• Merle Haggard, Keep Movin’ On
• Loretta Lynn & Conway Twitty, Feelins’
• Willie Nelson, Red Headed Stranger

This shared award is the only Album trophy that either Lynn or Twitty won from the ACM or CMA, though Lynn did go on to win Best Country Album three decades later at the Grammys.

1975

• John Denver, Back Home Again
• Merle Haggard, Merle Haggard Presents His 30th Album
• Loretta Lynn, They Don’t Make ‘Em Like My Daddy
• Cal Smith, Country Bumpkin
• Bob Wills, For the Last Time

Denver’s biggest country album, it spent thirteen weeks atop the country album chart. The title track topped the chart, and “Annie’s Song” became a wedding standard.

1974

• Merle Haggard, I Love Dixie Blues…so I Recorded “Live” in New Orleans
• Loretta Lynn, Love is the Foundation
• Charlie Rich, Behind Closed Doors
• Johnny Rodriguez, Introducing Johnny Rodriguez
• Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn, Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man

Rich’s classic set has sold four million copies, an unheard of tally for a country album from this time period. It didn’t hurt that the title track and “The Most Beautiful Girl” were crossover hits, with the latter actually topping the pop singles chart.

1973

• Mac Davis, Baby Don’t Get Hooked On Me
• Donna Fargo, The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A.
• Merle Haggard, The Best of the Best of Merle Haggard
• Merle Haggard, It’s Not Love (But It’s Not Bad)
• Merle Haggard, Let Me Tell You About a Song
• Freddie Hart, Bless Your Heart

Donna Fargo triumphed in a field of six albums, half of which were recorded by Merle Haggard! The Fargo set produced two million-selling singles – the title track and “Funny Face”.

1972

• Merle Haggard, Hag
• Merle Haggard, Someday We’ll Look Back
• Freddie Hart, Easy Loving
• Ray Price, I Won’t Mention it Again
• Charley Pride, Charley Pride Sings Heart Songs

The title track was a massive hit, helping Hart’s Easy Loving reach gold status and spend nine weeks atop the country albums chart.

1971

• Glen Campbell, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Album
• Merle Haggard, The Fightin’ Side of Me
• Merle Haggard, A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World (or, My Salute to Bob Wills)
• Ray Price, For the Good Times
• Charley Pride, Charley Pride’s 10th Album

Who knows how many times Haggard could’ve won this award if he wasn’t nominated against himself? This year, Ray Price’s For the Good Times was the victor, thanks to the Kristofferson-penned title track.

1970

• Glen Campbell, Live
• Johnny Cash, At Folsom Prison
• Merle Haggard, Okie From Muskogee
• Charley Pride, Best of Charley Pride
• Tammy Wynette, Greatest Hits

Haggard’s only victory in this category was for a live album. Incidentally, he won over two other live albums and a pair of greatest hits sets.

1969

• Glen Campbell, Wichita Lineman
• Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell, Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell
• Merle Haggard, The Best of Merle Haggard
• Merle Haggard, Mama Tried
• Buck Owens, Best of Buck Owens

Campbell won for the second year in a row, this time sharing the victory with Bobbie Gentry of “Ode to Billie Joe” fame.

1968

• Glen Campbell, Burning Bridges
• Glen Campbell, Gentle on My Mind
• Merle Haggard, Branded Man
• Merle Haggard, I’m a Lonesome Fugitive
• Wynn Stewart, It’s Such a Pretty World Today

California favorite Glen Campbell won the first ACM trophy in this category, and he’d remain a favorite of the Academy over the next decade.

Facts & Feats

Multiple Wins:

• (3) – Alabama, Alan Jackson, George Strait
• (2) – Glen Campbell, Dixie Chicks, Toby Keith

Most Nominations:

• (17) – Merle Haggard
• (12) – George Strait
• (7) – Garth Brooks, Glen Campbell, Willie Nelson
• (6) – Alabama, Tim McGraw
• (5) – Loretta Lynn, Brad Paisley, Kenny Rogers

Most Nominations Without a Win:

• (4) – Vince Gill, Waylon Jennings, Charley Pride, Ricky Skaggs
• (3) – Johnny Cash, Kenny Chesney, The Judds, Patty Loveless, Ricky Van Shelton, Hank Williams Jr., Dwight Yoakam

Albums that won the ACM Award and the CMA Award:

• Merle Haggard, Okie From Muskogee
• Charlie Rich, Behind Closed Doors
• Willie Nelson, Always on My Mind
• Alabama, The Closer You Get
• George Strait, Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind
• Garth Brooks, No Fences
• George Strait, Blue Clear Sky
• George Strait, Carrying Your Love With Me
• Dixie Chicks, Fly
• Soundtrack, O Brother Where Art Thou?
• Alan Jackson, Drive
• Brad Paisley, Time Well Wasted
• George Strait, It Just Comes Natural
• Taylor Swift, Fearless

Albums that Won the ACM award and the Grammy for Album of the Year:

• Soundtrack, O Brother Where Art Thou?
• Taylor Swift, Fearless

Albums that Won the ACM award and the Grammy for Best Country Album (only presented in 1965-1966 and 1995-present):

• Shania Twain, The Woman in Me
• Dixie Chicks, Wide Open Spaces
• Dixie Chicks, Fly
• George Strait, Troubadour
• Taylor Swift, Fearless

But first, a disclaimer. This list makes no attempt to objectively list the worst singles of the decade. If that’s what I was going for here, I’d just post a collection of homemade tracks and twenty Rascal Flatts singles and call it a day. Instead, this list takes a broader view, including songs from accomplished artists that were just disappointing, copycat and fad-chasing numbers, and just plain old mediocre efforts.

This isn’t the type of thing we normally do, but I’m sure I’ll hear what I’m right about, what I’m wrong about, and what I forgot to include in the first place!  Look for the best-of lists to follow as the year starts winding down.

The Worst Singles of the Decade, Part 1: #50-#41

#50
Mark Wills, “19 Somethin’”

Pick a decade, man.

#49
Toby Keith, “Who’s Your Daddy?”

The biggest casualty of Keith’s ascent to superstardom was his quality check. When your label lets you put out anything and radio goes ahead and plays it, the blame must be spread around for such silliness as this.

#48
Halfway to Hazard, “Daisy”

In which a girl’s sole reasons for existing are to make a boy a man, lead him to God, and give him a child. After that, you can just kill her off in the final verse.  This is why people hate country music.

#47
Martina McBride, “(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden”

McBride’s bloodless cover of the Lynn Anderson classic lacks all of the layers of irony found in the original, but it secured its place on this list by the parenthetical addition to the title.  “Oh, it’s that song about a rose garden!”

#46
Rascal Flatts, “Revolution”

Then again, if Martina sounds like she doesn’t get the layers of meaning in “Rose Garden”, Rascal Flatts make clear they have no idea at all what John Lennon was singing about on the White Album.  That they have the audacity to start going “Shoo-be-doo-bop” in the background as Gary LeVox sings about Chairman Mao is simply insane.

#45
Joe Nichols, “If Nobody Believed In You”

He’s worried that God is finally giving up on mankind. He was able to keep the faith through all those epic wars and acts of genocide, but no prayers in public school  pushed Him over the edge.

#44
Miranda Lambert, “Dead Flowers”

Person #1: “Wow, this song has no melody at all.”

Person #2: “Did she just compare herself to Christmas lights?”

Person #1: “And it just goes on forever. Who’s singing this anyway?”

Person #2: “It’s by….Miranda Lambert.”

Person #1: “Miranda Lambert?…..It’s…..brilliant!”

Person #2: “Yes. Brilliant!”

#43
Lady Antebellum, “Lookin’ For a Good Time”

She should look for an Autotuner instead.

#42
Billy Gilman, “She’s My Girl”

“The way she moves, the way she grooves. She drives me wild with her wild-child smile.”   It took Billy Gilman singing a romantic song to make all of his inspirational songs seem painless in comparison.

#41
Sammy Kershaw & Lorrie Morgan, “He Drinks Tequila”

He drinks tequila, she talks dirty in Spanish. That’s the premise.  Lorrie Morgan yelping like a chihuahua is the unfortunate result.

While the Grammys have honored country music from the very first ceremony in 1959, they did not begin honoring by gender until 1965, when the country categories were expanded along with the other genre categories. This year, the 45th trophy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance will be awarded.

In a continuation of our Grammy Flashback series, here is a rundown of the Best Country Vocal Performance, Male category. It was first awarded in 1965, and included singles competing with albums until the Best Country Album category was added in 1995. When an album is nominated, it is in italics, and a single track is in quotation marks.

As usual, we start with a look at this year’s nominees and work our way back. Be sure to vote in My Kind of Country’s Best Male Country Vocal Performance poll and let your preference for this year’s race be known!

2009

• Trace Adkins, “You’re Gonna Miss This”
• Jamey Johnson, “In Color”
• James Otto, “Just Got Started Lovin’ You”
• Brad Paisley, “Letter to Me”
• George Strait, “Troubadour”

As with the album race, this year’s contenders for Best Male Country Vocal Performance are a combination of unrecognized veterans and promising newcomers. In fact, none of this year’s nominees have won in this category, and only one of them – Brad Paisley – has a Grammy at all.

First, the veterans. Paisley has numerous ACM and CMA victories to his credit, including two each for Male Vocalist.  Although he’s been nominated for this award twice before, this is the first time he’s contended with a cut that can’t be dismissed as a novelty number. The touching self-penned “Letter to Me” is his best shot yet at taking this home.

Trace Adkins has been at this a bit longer than Paisley, but this is his first Grammy nomination. His crossover exposure from Celebrity Apprentice might help him out here, along with the fact that the song was considered strong enough by voters to earn a nomination of its own.

But the real veteran to watch out for is George Strait. After being nominated only twice for this category in the first 25 years of his career, voters have now given him three consecutive nominations. This is one of four nods he’s earned for the 2009 ceremony, and “Troubadour” is essentially the story of his epic career distilled into a radio-length song. It would be the perfect way to honor the man and his music in one fell swoop.

However, there’s a newcomer that might be a Grammy favorite already.  We just haven’t found out yet. Not James Otto, of course, who is nominated for his charming romantic romp “Just Got Started Lovin’ You”, but rather, Jamey Johnson. The recent Nashville Scene critics’ poll further confirmed the depth of his support among tastemakers, and his nominations for Best Country Song and Best Country Album indicate that he’s very much on the academy’s radar. It helps that he has the most substantial track of the five, and it’s the obvious choice for traditionalists, who have little reason to split their votes in this category. If voters aren’t considering legacy when making their selections, he has a great shot at this.

2008

• Dierks Bentley, “Long Trip Alone”
• Alan Jackson, “A Woman’s Love”
• Tim McGraw, “If You’re Reading This”
• George Strait, “Give it Away”
• Keith Urban, “Stupid Boy”

The often offbeat Grammy voters have been surprisingly mainstream in this category for the past three years, a trend best exemplified by this lineup, which was the first in more than a decade to feature only top ten radio hits. Tim McGraw and Keith Urban were the only two who had won this before, and it was Urban who emerged victorious. ”Stupid Boy” was a highlight of his fourth studio album, and this was the only major award that the impressive collection would win.

2007

• Dierks Bentley, “Every Mile a Memory”
• Vince Gill, “The Reason Why”
• George Strait, “The Seashores of Old Mexico”
• Josh Turner, “Would You Go With Me”
• Keith Urban, “Once in a Lifetime”

Vince Gill returned to win in this category for a ninth time with “The Reason Why.” Not only is he, by far, the most honored artist in this category, his wins here account for nine of the nineteen Grammys currently on his mantle.

2006

• George Jones, “Funny How Time Slips Away”
• Toby Keith, “As Good As I Once Was”
• Delbert McClinton, “Midnight Communion”
• Willie Nelson, “Good Ol’ Boys”
• Brad Paisley, “Alcohol”
• Keith Urban, “You’ll Think of Me”

Urban’s biggest and probably best hit launched his second album to triple platinum and established him as a crossover artist. He gave a killer performance of the song on the show. Toby Keith was a first-time nominee here, and while he publicly groused that the Grammys put too little emphasis on commercial success in picking their nominations, he lost to the only track that was a bigger hit than his own.

2005

• Johnny Cash, “Engine One-Forty-Three”
• Lyle Lovett, “In My Own Mind”
• Tim McGraw, “Live Like You Were Dying”
• Willie Nelson, “You Are My Flower”
• Keith Urban, “You’ll Think of Me”

McGraw’s biggest hit won him his first Grammy in this category. His other wins have been for his collaborations with wife Faith Hill.  To the Grammy voters’ credit, they have been reluctant to shower Johnny Cash with posthumous Grammys, so his predicted win here for a mundane effort didn’t come to pass.

2004

• Ray Benson, “Annabelle”
• Vince Gill, “Next Big Thing”
• Lyle Lovett, “My Baby Don’t Tolerate”
• Tim McGraw, “She’s My Kind of Rain”
• Joe Nichols, “Brokenheartsville”
• Randy Travis, “Three Wooden Crosses”

My vote would’ve gone to Randy Travis, who was nominated with his finest single in years, but Gill remained the voter’s favorite. Travis did; however, win two Grammys in the gospel categories, this and the previous year.

2003

• Johnny Cash, “Give My Love to Rose”
• Pat Green, “Three Days”
• Alan Jackson, “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)”
• Joe Nichols, “The Impossible”
• Brad Paisley, “I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin’ Song)”

I fully expected Jackson to win here, but his understated performance lost out to one of the only gems on Cash’s fourth American project. Voters wisely acknowledged Jackson in the Best Country Song category, making him one of the few artist-songwriters to sweep the industry songwriting awards with one composition.

2002

• Ryan Adams, “Lovesick Blues”
• Johnny Cash, “I Dreamed About Mama Last Night”
• Lyle Lovett, “San Antonio Girl”
• Tim McGraw, “Grown Men Don’t Cry”
• Willie Nelson, “Maria (Shut Up and Kiss Me)”
• Ralph Stanley, “O Death”

This was one of those times where you are just thankful the Grammys exist. Stanley’s “O Death” was the most powerful track on the storied O Brother soundtrack, but without a video, it was only known to those people who listened to the album all the way through. That NARAS had the good taste to both nominate it and vote it the winner, which was a welcome surprise.

2001

• Johnny Cash, “Solitary Man”
• Vince Gill, “Feels Like Love”
• Billy Gilman, “One Voice”
• Tim McGraw, “My Best Friend”
• Dwight Yoakam, “A Thousand Miles From Nowhere” (Acoustic)

Grammy voters listening to this category couldn’t get a more drastic difference in male voices than the withered-with-age Cash and the prepubescent Gilman. “Solitary Man” was one of the most inspired covers Cash ever did with Rick Rubin, and it deserved the gold.

2000

• Vince Gill, “Don’t Come Cryin’ to Me”
• George Jones, “Choices”
• Lyle Lovett, “That’s Right (You’re Not From Texas)”
• Tim McGraw, “Please Remember Me”
• Dwight Yoakam, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”

Jones won his first Grammy in twenty years for his harrowing “Choices,” which became oddly prescient as it was released in the aftermath of his near-death experience in an alcohol-related car crash.

1999

• Clint Black, “Nothin’ But the Taillights”
• Garth Brooks, “To Make You Feel My Love”
• Vince Gill, “If You Ever Have Forever in Mind”
• Steve Wariner, “Holes in the Floor of Heaven”

Gill won a record-setting fifth year in a row, a domination that no country category has seen before or since. After being nominated for three years in a row, Black hasn’t been cited since.

1998

• Clint Black, “Something That We Do”
• Johnny Cash, “Rusty Cage”
• Vince Gill, “Pretty Little Adriana”
• Willie Nelson, “Peach Pickin’ Time Down in Georgia”
• George Strait, “Carrying Your Love With Me”
  

NARAS was so sure that Strait would get his first Grammy that they invited him to perform on the show, and he agreed. Unfortunately, sickness required Vince Gill to fill in for him, and Gill won the award, allowing him to acknowledge the memory of the young girl who inspired the song.

1997

• Clint Black, “Like the Rain”
• Junior Brown, “My Wife Thinks You’re Dead”
• Vince Gill, “Worlds Apart”
• Lyle Lovett, “Private Conversation”
• Dwight Yoakam, “Nothing”

Amid a strong lineup, the Grammy again went to Vince Gill.   This time around, he won for a tender plea for harmony within families and among all races and creeds.   A very inspiring song that was written while eating grilled cheeseburgers with Bob DiPiero at Rotier’s in Nashville.

1996

• John Berry, “Standing on the Edge of Goodbye”
• Vince Gill, “Go Rest High on That Mountain”
• Alan Jackson, “Gone Country”
• John Michael Montgomery, “I Can Love You Like That”
• Dwight Yoakam, “A Thousand Miles From Nowhere (Live)”

Strong entries from Jackson and Berry, plus a well-known song that was a hit for All 4 One after topping the charts for Montgomery, couldn’t stop Grammy powerhourse Gill from winning again. Patty Loveless and Ricky Skaggs provided the soaring harmonies.

1995

• David Ball, “Thinkin’ Problem”
• John Berry, “Your Love Amazes Me”
• Vince Gill, “When Love Finds You”
• John Michael Montgomery, “I Swear”
• Dwight Yoakam, “Pocket of a Clown”

The Grammys were getting dull, with Gill winning his third in this category the same evening that Mary Chapin Carpenter picked up her fourth in the Female category.

1994

• Garth Brooks, “Ain’t Goin’ Down (’Til the Sun Comes Up)”
• Alan Jackson, “Chattahoochee”
• George Jones, “I Don’t Need Your Rockin’ Chair”
• Aaron Neville, “The Grand Tour”
• Dwight Yoakam, “Ain’t That Lonely Yet”

An astonished Yoakam accepted his Grammy on the live telecast, his only victory in this category in ten nominations. It’s also one of the few hits he had that was neither self-written nor a cover of another artist’s hit.

1993

• Garth Brooks, The Chase
• Billy Ray Cyrus, “Achy Breaky Heart”
• Vince Gill, I Still Believe in You
• Randy Travis, “Better Class of Losers”
• Travis Tritt, “Lord Have Mercy on the Working Man”

Gill was the last artist to win this category for a full-length album. The same set won Album of the Year at the CMA’s.

1992

• Garth Brooks, Ropin’ the Wind
• Billy Dean, “Somewhere in My Broken Heart”
• Vince Gill, Pocket Full of Gold
• Alan Jackson, Don’t Rock the Jukebox
• Travis Tritt, “Here’s a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)”

Despite breaking records, Brooks was left out of the big categories at the 1992 Grammys. He did win for his only nomination that evening, over a field that shows just how excellent commercial country was in the early nineties.

1991

• Garth Brooks, “Friends in Low Places”
• Vince Gill, “When I Call Your Name”
• Doug Stone, “I’d Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)”
• Randy Travis, “Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart”
• Dwight Yoakam, “Turn it On, Turn it Up, Turn Me Loose”

It would eventually become a yearly tradition, but when Vince Gill won his first Grammy, it was after more than a decade in the recording industry.

1990

• Clint Black, Killin’ Time
• Rodney Crowell, “After All This Time”
• Lyle Lovett, Lyle Lovett & His Large Band
• Randy Travis, “It’s Just a Matter of Time”
• Keith Whitley, “I’m No Stranger to the Rain”

Lovett is another frequent nominee in this category who has only actually won once.  The album includes his cheeky cover of the Tammy Wynette classic “Stand By Your Man.”

1989

• Rodney Crowell, Diamonds and Dirt
• Lyle Lovett, Pontiac
• Dan Seals, “Addicted”
• Randy Travis, Old 8×10
• Dwight Yoakam, Buenas Noches From a Lonely Room

Not one of Travis’ better albums, but who doesn’t enjoy “Deeper Than the Holler”?  Seals’s only nomination in this category is for a song written by popular folk star Cheryl Wheeler, who also penned the Suzy Bogguss hit “Aces.”

1988

• Steve Earle, Exit O
• George Strait, “All My Ex’s Live in Texas”
• Randy Travis, Always & Forever
• Hank Williams, Jr., Born to Boogie
• Dwight Yoakam, Hillbilly Deluxe

Grammy partially redeems itself for overlooking Travis, Earle and Yoakam the previous year. Travis’ second album is almost good as his legendary debut.

1987

• Steve Earle, Guitar Town
• Ronnie Milsap, Lost in the Fifties Tonight
• Randy Travis, “Diggin’ Up Bones”
• Hank Williams, Jr., “Ain’t Misbehavin’”
• Dwight Yoakam, Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.

Three of country’s most artistically significant newcomers lose to the album home of the previous year’s winning entry. The most charitable explanation I can come up with is they split the vote.

1986

• Lee Greenwood, “I Don’t Mind the Thorns (If You’re the Rose)”
• Mel McDaniel, “Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On”
• Ronnie Milsap, “Lost in the Fifties Tonight”
• Willie Nelson, “Loving You Was Easy”
• Ricky Skaggs, “You Make Me Feel Like a Man”

Milsap, ever the Grammy favorite, hit the sweet spot of nostalgic voters with this swooning throwback to fifties pop that borrowed heavily from “In the Still of the Night.”

1985

• Lee Greenwood, “God Bless the U.S.A.”
• Merle Haggard, “That’s the Way Love Goes”
• Willie Nelson, “City of New Orleans”
• Ricky Skaggs, Country Boy
• Hank Williams, Jr., “All My Rowdy Friends are Coming Over Tonight”

Haggard finally wins in this category, and with one of his very best ballads.   He would later cover the song with Jewel, back when she was first contemplating making the jump to country music.

1984

• Ray Charles, “Born to Love Me”
• Earl Thomas Conley, “Holding Her and Loving You”
• Vern Gosdin, “If You’re Gonna Do Me Wrong (Do it Right)”
• Lee Greenwood, “I.O.U.”
• Ronnie Milsap, “Stranger in My House”
• Kenny Rogers, “All My Life”

Lee Greenwood’s triumph here with “I’m Just a Gigolo” “I.O.U.” came just months after being named Male Vocalist at the CMA awards.   Surprisingly, he was not a winner of the Grammy for Best Album Package.

1983

• Ronnie Milsap, “He Got You”
• Willie Nelson, “Always On My Mind”
• Jerry Reed, “She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)”
• Kenny Rogers, “Love Will Turn You Around”
• Ricky Skaggs, “Heartbroke”

Willie Nelson’s career has been one with many zeniths.   Commercially speaking, “Always on My Mind” was the highest one.   It’s no surprise that it earned him a Grammy.

1982

• John Anderson, “I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal”
• George Jones, “Still Doin’ Time”
• Ronnie Milsap, “(There’s No) Gettin’ Over Me”
• Willie Nelson, Somewhere Over the Rainbow
• Eddie Rabbitt, “Step by Step”

Milsap again. It was a shame, since they could’ve gone for Jones again or for newcomer John Anderson.

1981

• George Burns, “I Wish I Was Eighteen Again”
• George Jones, “He Stopped Loving Her Today”
• Johnny Lee, “Lookin’ For Love”
• Willie Nelson, “On the Road Again”
• Eddie Rabbitt, “Drivin’ My Life Away”

Well, obviously. It’s not only Jones’s biggest hit ever, it’s arguably the greatest country single of all time.

1980

• Willie Nelson, “Whiskey River”
• Charley Pride, Burgers & Fries
• Eddie Rabbitt, “Every Which Way But Loose”
• Kenny Rogers, “The Gambler”
• Hank Williams, Jr., Family Tradition

Rogers has won for both of his signature songs in this category. This is the one that led to several  made-for-television movies.

1979

• Waylon Jennings, I’ve Always Been Crazy
• Ronnie Milsap, “Let’s Take the Long Way Around the World”
• Willie Nelson, “Georgia On My Mind”
• Elvis Presley, “Softly As I Leave You”
• Johnny Pacycheck, “Take This Job and Shove It”
• Kenny Rogers, Love or Something Like It
  

Nelson’s biggest-selling album Stardust gets its due as the Grammy goes to one of the album’s highlights.

1978

• Larry Gatlin, “I Don’t Wanna Cry”
• Waylon Jennings, “Luckenbach, Texas”
• Ronnie Milsap, “It Was Almost Like a Song”
• Kenny Rogers, “Lucille”
• Jerry Jeff Walker, “Mr. Bojangles”

This is the signature Rogers hit that hasn’t led to made-for-television movies, but it does boast a singalong chorus.   Who knows how many people have told off Lucille in the past thirty years?

1977

• Mac Davis, Forever Lovers
• Larry Gatlin, “Broken Lady”
• Waylon Jennings, Are You Ready For the Country
• Ronnie Milsap, “(I’m a) Stand By My Woman Man”
• Willie Nelson, “I’d Have to Be Crazy”

Less than a decade after Tammy Wynette won a Grammy for “Stand By Your Man”, Milsap’s male spin on the theme earned him a trophy.

1976

• Glen Campbell, “Country Boy (You’ve Got Your Feet in L.A.)”
• John Denver, “Thank God I’m a Country Boy”
• Freddy Fender, “Before the Next Teardrop Falls”
• Waylon Jennings, “Are You Sure Hank Done it This Way”
• Willie Nelson, “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain”
  

Even classics by Fender and Jennings can’t touch the Nelson masterpiece.

1975

• Glen Campbell, “Bonaparte’s Retreat”
• Roy Clark, The Entertainer
• Waylon Jennings, “I’m a Ramblin’ Man”
• Ronnie Milsap, “Please Don’t Tell Me How the Story Ends”
• Charley Pride, Country Feelin’

Covering Kristofferson is a good way to get a Grammy. Just ask Ray Price and Sammi Smith.

1974

• Tom T. Hall, “Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine”
• Kris Kristofferson, “Why Me”
• Charley Pride, “Amazing Love”
• Charlie Rich, “Behind Closed Doors”
• Johnny Russell, “Rednecks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer”

Of course, Kristofferson recording his own work didn’t lead to a Grammy. In another year, it might have, but Rich is the stuff of legend here.

1973

• Merle Haggard, “It’s Not Love (But it’s Not Bad)
• Waylon Jennings, “Good Hearted Woman”
• Jerry Lee Lewis, “Chantilly Lace”
• Charley Pride, Charley Pride Sings Heart Songs
• Charlie Rich, “I Take it On Home”

The album home of “Kiss an Angel Good Morning” gets the Grammy that the single lost the previous year.

1972

• Freddie Hart, “Easy Loving”
• Johnny Paycheck, “She’s All I Got”
• Ray Price, “I Won’t Mention it Again”
• Charley Pride, “Kiss an Angel Good Morning”
• Jerry Reed, “When You’re Hot (You’re Hot)”
  

Reed won against a collection of classic recordings.   This was one of those years where a victory by any of the nominees would be justified.

1971

• Johnny Cash, “Sunday Morning Coming Down”
• Merle Haggard, Okie From Muskogee
• Charley Pride, Charley Pride’s 10th Album
• Ray Price, “For the Good Times”
• Jerry Reed, “Amos Moses”

The other way to lose a Grammy with a Kristofferson song? Be nominated against another Kristofferson song! In another rock-solid set of nominees, Price’s classic rendition of “For the Good Times” takes the gold, even though Cash had won the previous two years.

1970

• Johnny Cash, “A Boy Named Sue”
• Clay Hart, “Spring”
• Bobby Lewis, “From Heaven to Heartache”
• Charley Pride, “All I Have to Offer You is Me”
• Jerry Reed, “Are You From Dixie”
  

Cash became the second artist to win this two years in a row.   That both of his victories were recorded live in prison is pretty remarkable in itself.

1969

• Glen Campbell, “I Wanna Live”
• Henson Cargill, “Skip a Rope”
• Johnny Cash, “Folsom Prison Blues (Live)”
• Roger Miller, “Little Green Apples”
• Porter Wagoner, “The Carroll County Accident”

It was already one of his best songs, but after hearing it performed live for the inmates of Folsom Prison, the original recording sounds almost quaint.

1968

• Jim Ed Brown, “Pop a Top”
• Glen Campbell, “Gentle On My Mind”
• Jack Greene, “All the Time”
• Charley Pride, “Does My Ring Hurt Your Finger”
• Porter Wagoner, “Cold Hard Facts of Life”
  

Glen Campbell’s crossover success would help him win several Grammy awards in 1968 and 1969.  Wagoner’s cited here for his best single.

1967

• Ben Colder, “Almost Persuaded No. 2″
• Jack Greene, “There Goes My Everything”
• David Houston, “Almost Persuaded”
• Charley Pride, “Just Between You and Me”
• Jim Reeves, “Distant Drums”

David Houston emerged victorious with a classic anthem for those who almost cheat.   Perhaps Colder came in second.

1966

• Eddy Arnold, “Make the World Go Away”
• Bobby Bare, “Talk Me Some Sense”
• Carl Belew, “Crystal Chandelier”
• Roger Miller, “King of the Road”
• Jim Reeves, “Is it Really Over?”

Can’t you hear those sweeping strings and Arnold’s soaring vocals as soon as you read the words “Make the World Go Away”?   Anyway,  not only did “King of the Road” win several Grammys in 1966, the parody “Queen of the House” even won the female trophy.

1965

• Bobby Bare, “Four Strong Winds”
• Johnny Cash, “I Walk the Line”
• George Hamilton IV, Fort Worth, Dallas or Houston
• Sonny James, You’re the Only World I Know
• Hank Locklin, Hank Locklin Sings Hank Williams
• Roger Miller, “Dang Me”
• Buck Owens, My Heart Skips a Beat

Miller won the first trophy in this category, one of eleven victories in just two years.

Written by Mark Schultz

Grade: B

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