There is a smorgasbord of great material here, including early versions of songs that Crowell would see other artists have success with the same songs.

Some of Crowell’s strongest compositions are here, such as:

• “‘Til I Gain Control Again”, a #1 hit for Crystal Gayle that was recorded earlier by Emmylou Harris
• “I Ain’t Living Long Like This”, a #1 hit for Waylon Jennings that was recorded earlier by Emmylou Harris
• “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight”, a #1 hit for the Oak Ridge Boys that was recorded earlier by Emmylou Harris
• “Ashes By Now”, a top five hit for Lee Ann Womack that was recorded earlier by Emmylou Harris
• “I Don’t Have to Crawl”, a minor hit for Emmylou Harris that was later recorded by Rosanne Cash
• “Shame on the Moon”, a top fifteen country hit for Bob Seeger
• “Victim or a Fool”, a top forty hit for Crowell that was also recorded by Crystal Gayle
• “Stars on the Water”, later covered by George Strait and Jimmy Buffett

How good was this guy’s ear? Even the songs he didn’t write went on to become hits, with Ricky Skaggs taking “Heartbroke” to #1 and Juice Newton scoring a massive pop hit with “Queen of Hearts.”  The only thing missing here is “Elvira”, which Crowell also recorded first.

This has always been a budget collection, but now it’s incredibly affordable – twelve tracks for $5.49.  Given that Warner is asking for $9.90 for the far inferior Pam Tillis Collection, which includes only ten tracks, this one’s a steal.

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 is a look back at the Best Female Country Vocal Performance category. It was first awarded in 1965, an included single 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.

I’ve often made the case that female artists were making the best music in the 1990s, and the Grammys did a great job nominating songs and albums that were ignored at the CMA and ACM awards, which is not surprising, given that those shows have so few categories that are actually for songs and albums.

As usual, we start with a look at this year’s nominees and work our way back.

2009

• Martina McBride, “For These Times”
• LeAnn Rimes, “What I Cannot Change”
• Carrie Underwood, “Last Name”
• Lee Ann Womack, “Last Call”
• Trisha Yearwood, “This is Me You’re Talking To”

This year’s lineup includes three former winners and two women looking for their first victory in this category. Martina McBride is in the running for the eighth time in fifteen years, and with one of her more understated performances. Lee Ann Womack returns for a fifth time, having received a nomination for the lead single of her five most recent albums. Both ladies turned in good performances here, but they’ve been overlooked for records bigger and better, so they’re not likely to snap their losing streaks this time around.

As for the previous winners, LeAnn Rimes earned her third consecutive nod, bringing her total to five in this category. She hasn’t won since 1997, when she took home the award for “Blue.” If enough voters hear “What I Cannot Change,” she might have a shot, though the only version of the song that’s been a legitimate hit has been the dance remix.

Trisha Yearwood won in 1998 for “How Do I Live,” her only victory to date. But she’s earned her tenth nomination for “This is Me You’re Talking To,” which is arguably her strongest vocal performance of the ten. Like Rimes, the challenge is getting enough voters to listen to it, but she’s never been more deserving of the victory than she is this year.

Still, the favorite remains Carrie Underwood. She’s quickly become a favorite with Grammy voters, having won this category two years running, along with Best New Artist in 2007. She’s the nominee with the highest profile, and while “Last Name” is nowhere near the same league of “Jesus, Take the Wheel” and “Before He Cheats” in terms of artistry or impact, it was a big hit, something that the other four entries cannot claim.

If Underwood was nominated for “Just a Dream,” she’d have a mortal lock on this one. But the strength of the other nominees will at least keep this race competitive. If Underwood prevails, Grammy queen Alison Krauss better watch her back.

2008

• Alison Krauss, “Simple Love”
• Miranda Lambert, “Famous in a Small Town”
• LeAnn Rimes, “Nothin’ Better to Do”
• Carrie Underwood, “Before He Cheats”
• Trisha Yearwood, “Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love”

Looking at this lineup, you’d think that it was a golden age of female country artists, something akin to the mid-nineties. In reality, only one of these songs was a big radio hit, though three others managed to go top twenty. In terms of quality, however, this is the most consistent and thoroughly wonderful set of nominees this category has seen this century.  You’d have to go back to exactly 1999 to find a better lineup.

In a year when any winner would have been deserving, Underwood won for “Before He Cheats,” her second straight win for a signature mega-hit from her debut album.

2007

• Miranda Lambert, “Kerosene”
• Martina McBride, “I Still Miss Someone”
• LeAnn Rimes, “Something’s Gotta Give”
• Carrie Underwood, “Jesus, Take the Wheel”
• Gretchen Wilson, “I Don’t Feel Like Loving You Today”

Carrie Underwood’s award show golden streak capped off its inaugural year with two big wins at the Grammy awards: Best New Artist and Best Female Country Vocal Performance. It wasn’t the first time a country artist won both awards – LeAnn Rimes did so exactly ten years earlier – but Rimes didn’t do so on the heels of huge ACM and CMA wins. Underwood’s dominance out of the gate was truly unprecedented.

2006

• Emmylou Harris, “The Connection”
• Faith Hill, “Mississippi Girl”
• Gretchen Wilson, “All Jacked Up”
• Lee Ann Womack, “I May Hate Myself In The Morning”
• Trisha Yearwood, “Georgia Rain”

Emmylou Harris has been nominated for many obscure tracks in this category. This time, she actually won with one. “The Connection” was a new recording tacked on the end of a career-spanning compilation. It managed to triumph over a comeback hit from fellow Grammy favorite Faith Hill and Lee Ann Womack’s CMA winner for Single of the Year.

2005

• Alison Krauss, “You Will Be My Ain True Love”
• Loretta Lynn, “Miss Being Mrs.”
• Martina McBride, “In My Daughter’s Eyes”
• Shania Twain, “She’s Not Just a Pretty Face”
• Gretchen Wilson, “Redneck Woman”

Grammy voters have often honored new female artists for their debut singles. Gretchen Wilson’s win for her wildly popular “Redneck Woman” puts her in the company of Carrie Underwood, LeAnn Rimes, K.T. Oslin, Donna Fargo, Jeannie C. Riley, Jeannie Seely and Jody Miller. To date, only Underwood and Oslin have managed to win in the category again.

2004

• June Carter Cash, “Keep On the Sunny Side”
• Patty Loveless, “On Your Way Home”
• Martina McBride, “This One’s For the Girls”
• Dolly Parton, “I’m Gone”
• Shania Twain, “Forever and For Always”

Cash would’ve had a great shot if she was still alive, but dying the previous year clinched it. It’s worth noting that Twain and Loveless are cited for performances that rank among their best work.  “I’m Gone” was Dolly Parton’s eighteenth nomination in this category.

2003

• Faith Hill, “Cry”
• Martina McBride, “Blessed”
• Dolly Parton, “Dagger Through the Heart”
• Lucinda Williams, “Lately”
• Lee Ann Womack, “Something Worth Leaving Behind”

The pop production “Cry” may have caused a backlash for Faith Hill among country radio programmers, but Grammy voters continued to embrace her.   Hill is often underrated among critics, but her ability to find great songs from unknown singer-songwriters is excellent.  She plucked Angie Aparo out of obscurity when she cut this.  His moody original is worth seeking out.

2002

• Sheryl Crow, “Long Gone Lonesome Blues”
• Jamie O’Neal, “There Is No Arizona”
• Dolly Parton, “Shine”
• Lucinda Williams, “Cold, Cold Heart”
• Trisha Yearwood, “I Would’ve Loved You Anyway”

Parton won for one of her most ambitious recordings, reworking a Collective Soul rock smash into a spiritual mountain hymn. While she’d been nominated quite a few times, this was Parton’s first victory in this race since 1981.

2001

• Faith Hill, “Breathe”
  
• Jo Dee Messina, “That’s the Way”
• Dolly Parton, “Travelin’ Prayer”
• Lee Ann Womack, “I Hope You Dance”
• Trisha Yearwood, “Real Live Woman”

Yearwood’s song is among the best of her storied catalog, and Womack was in the running for her career record, but Faith Hill’s biggest hit was unstoppable.  Standing in the shadow of Shania Twain, it was easy to overlook Hill’s own impressive sales numbers, but Breathe is the fourth biggest-selling studio album ever by a female country artist.  With eight million copies sold, it trails three albums of Twain’s.

2000

• Emmylou Harris, “Ordinary Heart”
• Faith Hill, “Let Me Let Go”
• Alison Krauss, “Forget About It”
• Martina McBride, “I Love You”
• Shania Twain, “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!”
  

Her loss in the Best Country Album category the previous year allowed for more tracks from Come On Over to be eligible in 2000, and Twain repeated with the opening cut of that mammothly successful project.

1999

• Emmylou Harris, “Love Still Remains”
• Faith Hill, “This Kiss”
• Shania Twain, “You’re Still the One”
  
• Lee Ann Womack, “A Little Past Little Rock”
• Trisha Yearwood, “There Goes My Baby”

Twain’s ballad was nominated in the general Record and Song categories, and also won for Best Country Song. Here, she won over a very strong lineup. I’m most impressed that NARAS cited “Love Still Remains,” Harris’ gorgeous contribution to a low-profile Kate Wolf tribute.  That set also included a great track from Kathy Mattea.

1998

• Deana Carter, “Did I Shave My Legs For This?
• Patty Loveless, “The Trouble With the Truth”
• LeAnn Rimes, “How Do I Live”
• Pam Tillis, “All the Good Ones are Gone”
• Trisha Yearwood, “How Do I Live”
  

Yearwood took home the Grammy in the infamous “How Do I Live” showdown, leaving Rimes’ tepid version in the dust. Pop fans only familiar with Rimes’s performance must have been confused when Yearwood won the award, only moments after Rimes had performed the song on the telecast.

1997

• Mary Chapin Carpenter, “Let Me Into Your Heart”
• Deana Carter, “Strawberry Wine”
• Alison Krauss, “Baby Mine”
• LeAnn Rimes, “Blue”
• Trisha Yearwood, “Believe Me Baby (I Lied)”

LeAnn Rimes”s vocal performance on “Blue,” along with the retro charm of the composition and the media fascination about her precocious talent, added up to two Grammy victories in 1997.  In addition to this award, she was also named Best New Artist.

1996

• Alison Krauss, “Baby, Now That I’ve Found You”
  
• Patty Loveless, “You Don’t Even Know Who I Am”
• Martina McBride, “Safe in the Arms of Love”
• Pam Tillis, “Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life)”
• Shania Twain, “Any Man of Mine”

Alison Krauss turned the schlocky sixties pop hit into a devastating plea of devotion.   Her Foundations cover triumphed over four top five country hits, despite peaking outside of the top forty during its chart run.   Such a feat would become more common, but this was the first time in the category’s history that the winning track was not a top ten radio hit.

1995

• Mary Chapin Carpenter, “Shut Up and Kiss Me”
• Patty Loveless, “How Can I Help You Say Goodbye”
• Martina McBride, “Independence Day”
• Reba McEntire, “She Thinks His Name Was John”
• Wynonna, “Is It Over Yet”

It’s hard to believe that Reba McEntire and Wynonna haven’t been nominated in this category since 1995, given that both women have remained prominent on the charts and in the media. This was Mary Chapin Carpenter’s fourth consecutive victory in this category, a record that has yet to be seriously threatened, despite a couple of back-t0-back wins from Carrie Underwood and Shania Twain.

1994

• Mary Chapin Carpenter, “Passionate Kisses”
  
• Emmylou Harris, “High Powered Love”
• Tanya Tucker, “Soon”
• Wynonna, “Only Love”
• Trisha Yearwood, “Walkaway Joe”

Carpenter’s third win in this category was her only victory for a song she didn’t write. “Passionate Kisses” was penned by Lucinda Williams, and it earned her the Grammy for Best Country Song the same evening.

1993

• Mary Chapin Carpenter, “I Feel Lucky”
• Reba McEntire, “The Greatest Man I Never Knew”
• Lorrie Morgan, “Something In Red”
• Pam Tillis, “Maybe It Was Memphis”
• Wynonna, Wynonna

This is the last year that an album was nominated with individual tracks, though they were still eligible in 1994. McEntire, Morgan and Tillis are represented with signature performances, and Chapin’s wry sense of humor was firmly established with her victorious hit, “I Feel Lucky.”

1992

• Mary Chapin Carpenter, “Down at the Twist & Shout”
• Kathy Mattea, Time Passes By
• Reba McEntire, For My Broken Heart
• Tanya Tucker, “Down to My Last Teardrop”
• Trisha Yearwood, “She’s in Love With the Boy”

Despite being known as an introspective songwriter, Mary Chapin Carpenter won her first Grammy for a Cajun dance romp. This trend would continue, as all four of her victories in this category would be for uptempo hits.  McEntire’s album was recorded in the wake of the plane crash that killed several band members and her road manager, while fresh-faced Yearwood was nominated for her debut single.

1991

• Mary Chapin Carpenter, “Quittin’ Time”
• Carlene Carter, I Fell in Love
• Kathy Mattea, “Where’ve You Been”
  
• Reba McEntire, “You Lie”
• K.T. Oslin, “Come Next Monday”

In addition to sweeping the industry awards for Song of the Year, “Where’ve You Been” earned its singer her first Grammy. Kathy Mattea would go on to win another Grammy for her Christmas album, and is a nominee this year for Coal, a collection of mining songs.

1990

• Rosanne Cash, “I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party”
• Emmylou Harris, Bluebird
• k.d. lang, Absolute Torch & Twang
• Kathy Mattea, Willow in the Wind
• Dolly Parton, “Why’d You Come in Here Lookin’ Like That”

k.d. lang’s first and only win in this category is also the last time the Grammy went to a full-length album. While Parton would return to this category at the turn of the century and be cited for four consecutive years, this would be her last nomination for a big radio hit.

1989

• Emmylou Harris, “Back in Baby’s Arms”
• k.d. lang, “I’m Down to My Last Cigarette”
• Reba McEntire, Reba
• K.T. Oslin, “Hold Me”
  
• Tanya Tucker, “Strong Enough to Bend”

K.T. Oslin won for the second year in a row, the first woman in history to earn consecutive victories in this category. This time, her win was for her #1 hit “Hold Me.”  The unconventionally structured composition also earned her a Grammy for Best Country Song.

1988

• Rosanne Cash, King’s Record Shop
• Emmylou Harris, Angel Band
• Reba McEntire, “The Last One to Know”
• K.T. Oslin, “80’s Ladies”
  
• Tanya Tucker, “Love Me Like You Used To”

K.T. Osln was the queen of the awards show circuit in the late eighties, winning several Grammy, CMA and ACM awards for her first two albums. She won her first Grammy for her breakthrough hit “80′s Ladies”, which was also the first song written by a woman to win the CMA award for Song of the Year.

1987

• Holly Dunn, “Daddy’s Hands”
• Crystal Gayle, “Cry”
• Emmylou Harris, “Today I Started Loving You Again”
• Kathy Mattea, “Love at the Five & Dime”
• Reba McEntire, “Whoever’s in New England”

McEntire has been showered with Female Vocalist awards, winning seven from the ACM, four from the CMA and twelve American Music Awards in that category. That dominance did not carry over to the Grammy Awards, who honored her only once in this race.   “Whoever’s in New England” was a career record for McEntire, pushing her to gold album sales, contributing to her CMA Entertainer of the Year victory, turning her into a video star and earning her a Grammy. She has won only one more Grammy in the years since: Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for “Does He Love You”, a duet with Linda Davis.

1986

• Rosanne Cash, “I Don’t Know Why You Don’t Want Me”
  
• Janie Fricke, “She’s Single Again”
• Emmylou Harris, The Ballad of Sally Rose
• Juice Newton, “You Make Me Want To Make You Mine”
• Dolly Parton, Real Love

In one of the best twists in Grammy history, Cash started writing the tongue-in-cheek “I Don’t Know Why You Don’t Want Me” as she drove home from the 1983 Grammys, inspired by her loss to Juice Newton three years earlier. The song inspired by a Grammy loss resulted in her sole Grammy victory. 

1985

• Janie Fricke, “Your Heart’s Not in It”
• Crystal Gayle, “The Sound of Goodbye”
• Emmylou Harris, “In My Dreams”
  
• Anne Murray, Heart Over Mind
  
• Dolly Parton, “Tennessee Homesick Blues”

Against a field of pop-flavored hits, the relatively country “In My Dreams” was Emmylou Harris’ third victory in this category, tying Anne Murray’s winning record in this field.

1984

• Deborah Allen, “Baby I Lied”
• Crystal Gayle, “Baby What About You”
• Emmylou Harris, Last Date
• Anne Murray, “A Little Good News”
• Dolly Parton, Burlap and Satin
  

Murray’s topical hit was adopted by Vice President Bush on the campaign trail later that year.   Murray’s victory was her third in this category, breaking a tie with Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette for the most victories in this race to date. “A Little Good News” also earned Murray her only CMA awards, winning Single and Album in the fall of 1984.

1983

• Rosanne Cash, “Ain’t No Money”
• Emmylou Harris, Cimarron
• Juice Newton, “Break it to Me Gently”
• Dolly Parton, “I Will Always Love You”
• Sylvia, “Nobody”

Juice Newton had as much success on the pop charts as she did on the country charts, and her first Grammy nomination was in the pop field. But her only victory was for “Break it to Me Gently,” which was one of her biggest country hits, in addition to being a crossover smash.

1982

• Rosanne Cash, Seven Year Ache
• Terri Gibbs, Somebody’s Knockin’
• Barbara Mandrell, “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool”
• Juice Newton, “Queen of Hearts”
• Dolly Parton, “9 to 5″

Dolly Parton didn’t start winning Grammys until pop radio started spinning her records.   But while her first pop hits were penned by other writers, “9 to 5″ came from her own pen. Not only did it earn her the Female Country Grammy, it also won Best Country Song, the first time that award went to a female writer.

1981

• Crystal Gayle, “If You Ever Change Your Mind”
• Emmylou Harris, Roses in the Snow
• Barbara Mandrell, “The Best of Strangers”
• Anne Murray, “Could I Have This Dance”
  
• Sissy Spacek, “Coal Miner’s Daughter”

Orginally intended to be a duet with Kenny Rogers, Murray recorded the male lead part and her own harmony on the demo tape. To her surprise, the label decided to release the record that way when the deal with Rogers fell through. Despite Murray singing in a lower register than she was known for, it became one of her biggest hits, earning her another Grammy to boot.

1980

• Crystal Gayle, We Should Be Together
• Emmylou Harris, Blue Kentucky Girl
• Brenda Lee, “Tell Me What It’s Like”
• Barbara Mandrell, Just For the Record
  
• Billie Jo Spears, “I Will Survive”

Emmylou Harris’s second victory in this category came for her fifth studio album, which was an intentional attempt at making a pure, traditional country album. The title cut was an old Loretta Lynn hit, which had also served as the title cut for Lynn’s fourth studio album back in 1965.

1979

• Crystal Gayle, Talking in Your Sleep
• Emmylou Harris, Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town
• Barbara Mandrell, “Sleeping Single in a Double Bed”
• Anne Murray, “Walk Right Back”
• Dolly Parton, Here You Come Again
  

After ten Grammy losses in various categories, Parton finally picked up her first win with her first platinum-selling album. The title cut was a crossover hit, and the album also included such Parton standards as “It’s All Wrong But It’s All Right” and “Two Doors Down.”

1978

• Janie Fricke, “What’re You Doing Tonight”
• Crystal Gayle, “Don’t it Make My Brown Eyes Blue”
• Emmylou Harris, “Making Believe”
• Barbara Mandrell, “After the Lovin’”
• Dolly Parton, “(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher & Higher”

Crystal Gayle followed in her big sister’s footsteps to country stardom. But while Loretta Lynn had never emerged victorious in this category, her little sister did, thanks to her omnipresent hit “Don’t it Make My Brown Eyes Blue.”

1977

• Crystal Gayle, “I’ll Get Over You”
• Emmylou Harris, Elite Hotel
• Dolly Parton, All I Can Do
• Mary Kay Place, Tonite! At the Capri Lounge, Loretta Naggers
• Tammy Wynette, “‘Til I Can Make It on My Own”

Tammy Wynette’s final nomination in this category was for one of her biggest hits, and she was the only former winner among the five nominees.  The trophy went to fellow future Hall of Famer Emmylou Harris for her sophomore set, Elite Hotel. Country Grammy king Vince Gill has often cited this Harris set as one of the best country albums of all-time.

1976

• Jessi Colter, “I’m Not Lisa”
• Emmylou Harris, “If I Could Only Win Your Love”
• Loretta Lynn, “The Pill”
• Dolly Parton, “Jolene (Live in Concert)”
• Linda Ronstadt, “I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love With You)”

Emmylou Harris didn’t win the trophy this year, but she did contribute to the winning entry. Before achieving stardom herself, Harris recorded the harmony vocal to Linda Ronstadt’s cover of a Hank Williams classic. Harris and Ronstadt would go on to win two more Grammys for harmonizing with each other, with a little help from Dolly Parton.

1975

• Anne Murray, “Love Song”
  
• Dolly Parton, “Jolene”
• Tanya Tucker, “Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)”
• Dottie West, “Last Time I Saw Him”
• Tammy Wynette, “Woman to Woman”

Anne Murray continued the imported winner trend begun the previous year with Olivia Newton-John, though her home of  Canada was quite a bit closer to Nashville than Newton-John’s Australia. Murray would go on to become a Grammy favorite, winning awards in both the country and pop fields.

1974

• Barbara Fairchild, “Teddy Bear Song”
• Olivia Newton-John, “Let Me Be There”
• Marie Osmond, “Paper Roses”
• Dottie West, “Country Sunshine”
• Tammy Wynette, “Kids Say the Darndest Things”

Despite the controversy created by Olivia Newton-John’s victory, she won for a legitimately country record, her first of several top ten country hits. The following year, she would win Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “I Honestly Love You”, becoming the first of four women to win both the Pop and Country vocalist trophies. The feat was later accomplished by Anne Murray, Linda Ronstadt, and k.d. lang.

1973

• Skeeter Davis, “One Tin Soldier”
• Donna Fargo, “The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A.”
  
• Loretta Lynn, “One’s on the Way”
• Dolly Parton, “Touch Your Woman”
• Tanya Tucker, “Delta Dawn”
• Tammy Wynette, “My Man”

Donna Fargo’s infectious hit won her the CMA for Single of the Year, in addition to earning her a Grammy. It was one of two million-selling singles from her debut album of the same name. The second, “Funny Face,” was also a crossover hit but was overlooked at the award shows in favor of its predecessor.

1972

• Lynn Anderson, “How Can I Unlove You”
• Jody Miller, “He’s So Fine”
• Dolly Parton, “Joshua”
• Sammi Smith, “Help Me Make it Through the Night”
• Tammy Wynette, “Good Lovin’ (Makes it Right)”

Kris Kristofferson penned Grammy-winning hits for Ronnie Milsap and Ray Price, in addition to  Sammi Smith. But it was the Smith hit that earned him the Grammy for Best Country Song, where he defeated a field that included two more of his own compositions.

1971

• Lynn Anderson, “Rose Garden”
• Wanda Jackson, “A Woman Lives For Love”
• Dolly Parton, “Mule Skinner Blues”
• Jean Shepard, “Then He Touched Me”
• Tammy Wynette, “Run, Woman, Run”

Even back in the early days of the Grammys, the organization was already acknowledging veteran artists, with pioneers Wanda Jackson and Jean Shepard scoring nods alongside those hot new hitmakers Dolly Parton and Lynn Anderson. The latter’s million-selling hit remains her signature song. 

1970

• Lynn Anderson, “That’s a No No”
• Jeannie C. Riley, “Back Side of Dallas”
• Connie Smith, “Ribbon of Darkness”
• Diana Trask, “I Fall to Pieces”
• Tammy Wynette, “Stand By Your Man”
  

Two great performances by Connie Smith and Jeannie C. Riley were nominated this year, but both were overshadowed by the massive Tammy Wynette hit “Stand By Your Man.”  Wynette made history twice this year, becoming both the first woman to achieve two victories in this category and the first woman to be nominated for Best Country Song.

1969

• Lynn Anderson, “Big Girls Don’t Cry”
• Jan Howard, “My Son”
• Jeannie C. Riley, “Harper Valley P.T.A.”
  
• Dottie West, “Country Girl”
• Tammy Wynette, “D-I-V-O-R-C-E”

Jeannie C. Riley was catapulted into stardom on the strength of “Harper Valley P.T.A.” In addition to her victory here, she was nominated for Record of the Year and Best New Artist.

1968

• Liz Anderson, “Mama Spank”
• Skeeter Davis, “What Does it Take”
• Connie Smith, “Cincinnati, Ohio”
• Dottie West, “Paper Mansions”
• Tammy Wynette, “I Don’t Wanna Play House”
  

Tammy Wynette won her first of two Grammy awards for her first #1 hit.   “I Don’t Wanna Play House” would serve as the domestic template for many of her best hits, with “D-I-V-O-R-C-E,” “Kids Say the Darndest Things” and “Bedtime Story” revisiting this theme most successfully.

1967

• Jan Howard, “Evil On Your Mind”
• Loretta Lynn, “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’”
• Jeannie Seely, “Don’t Touch Me”
  
• Connie Smith, “Ain’t Had No Loving”
• Dottie West, “Would You Hold it Against Me”

Jeannie Seely’s victory for her debut single was something of a surprise, given it was competing against Loretta Lynn’s “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’.” That song was so popular that Lynn’s studio album of the same name went gold. Still, Seely’s hit is a classic in its own right, a standard that has since been covered by everyone from George Jones to Etta James.

1966

• Molly Bee, “Single Girl Again”
• Wilma Burgess, “Baby”
• Skeeter Davis, “Sunglasses”
• Jody Miller, “Queen of the House”
  
• Dottie West, “Before the Ring on Your Finger Turns Green”

How dominant was Roger Miller at the Grammy awards this year?  Even a parody of “King of the Road” won a Grammy.  Jody Miller, who was of no relation to Roger, managed to launch a moderately successful career on the strength of this “answer song.”

1965

• Skeeter Davis, “He Says the Same Thing to Me”
• Wanda Jackson, Two Sides of Wanda Jackson
• Jean Shepard, “Second Fiddle”
• Connie Smith, “Once a Day”
• Dottie West, “Here Comes My Baby”

West won the very first Grammy given in this category.   While she’s more widely known for her more cosmopolitan work in the seventies, she was quite the traditional country singer when she first arrived on the scene.   She won against an accomplished field, every one of them a legend.

Facts and Feats

Most Wins

• 4 – Mary Chapin Carpenter, Emmylou Harris
• 3 – Anne Murray, Dolly Parton
• 2 – Faith Hill, K .T. Oslin, Shania Twain, Carrie Underwood, Tammy Wynette

Most Nominations

• 18 – Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton
• 10 - Trisha Yearwood
• 9 – Tammy Wynette
• 8 – Crystal Gayle, Martina McBride
• 7 – Reba McEntire, Dottie West
• 6 – Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tanya Tucker

Most Nominations without a Win

• 8 – Martina McBride
• 6 – Tanya Tucker
• 5 – Barbara Mandrell, Lee Ann Womack
• 4 – Skeeter Davis, Patty Loveless, Loretta Lynn, Connie Smith
• 3 – Janie Fricke, Pam Tillis, Wynonna

#52

Juice Newton

The cross-pollination between pop and country music in the early eighties provided an opening for Juice Newton and her undeniably infectious aural confections.

By the time that the hits started rolling in, they had been a long time coming. Newton had found local success in a band she dubbed Juice Newton & The Silver Spur. Their regional popularity led to a deal with RCA in the mid-seventies. They released two albums, an eponymous debut in 1975 and After the Dust Settles in 1976, but both projects sank quietly, with one single barely denting the country charts.

The band switched to Capitol records, but disbanded after a third album went nowhere. Newton stayed on the label as a solo act, and her single “It’s a Heartache” nicked the bottom of the pop charts. It became a smash single in Mexico, but American audiences embraced Bonnie Tyler’s version instead. She made some headway with her 1979 album Take Heart, which featured five charting country singles, but none of them made a significant impact.

It was with her third solo album that the stars aligned. While Newton had been trying to break through without success in both the country and the pop markets, the lead single from Juice stormed the pop charts. “Angel of the Morning” was a power pop reworking of the Merrilee Rush classic, and while it wasn’t a huge country hit, it was a million-selling pop hit, reaching #4 on the pop charts. She put her sugary spin on “Queen of Hearts” next, a song that had been unsuccessful for Rodney Crowell, and it became her second gold single, peaking at No. 2 on the pop chart and No. 14 on the country chart.

A third single from Juice was her first to have its biggest impact in the country market. “The Sweetest Thing (I’ve Ever Known)” was a No. 1 country and AC single, and also went top ten on the pop chart. This string of hits pushed Juice to double platinum sales and earned her the ACM Top New Female Vocalist trophy in 1983.

Newton followed up with Quiet Lies, and lead single “Love’s Been a Little Bit Hard On Me.” Country didn’t bite, but it was a big pop and AC hit, and featured a hilariously cheesy video of Newton being repeatedly injured by her beau’s accident-prone ways. “Break it To Me Gently” not only returned her to the top five of the country chart, it earned her a Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. Her success in both markets made her a nominee in both the pop and country fields for two straight years.

In 1984, Newton’s final album for Capitol experimented with a more rock-influenced sound. Dirty Looks didn’t find an audience in country or pop, straying too far from the hit-making formula of the previous two albums. Newton chose to leave Capitol and return to RCA. Her 1984 album for the label, Can’t Wait All Night, didn’t score any hits, but it laid the groundwork for a more targeted approach to the country market.

Newton returned to country in a big way in 1985. Her album Old Flame was fully embraced by country radio, featuring three No. 1 hits: “You Make Me Want to Make You Mine,” “Hurt” and a duet with Eddie Rabbitt, “Both to Each Other (Friends and Lovers).” Three more singles from the album hit the top ten, a stunning run of hits for that time period.

After that, the hits slowed down. “Tell Me True,” from her 1987 album Emotion, was her last top ten country hit. A final album for RCA, Ain’t Gonna Cry, was released in 1989, and produced her last top forty country hit, “When Love Comes Around the Bend”, a song co-written by Pam Tillis and also recorded by Suzy Bogguss.

Throughout the next two decades, Newton would revive some of her old hits for independent labels, and release a studio album of all-new material in 1999. In 2003, she appeared on the television show “Hit Me Baby One More Time,” where her cover of Ashlee Simpson’s “Pieces of Me” was voted by fans as the best of that week’s performances. In 2007, she released her first Christmas album, The Gift of Christmas, and she still tours actively with her band, the REGENR8ERS.

Juice Newton

Essential Singles

• “Angel of the Morning”, 1981
• “Queen of Hearts”, 1981
• “The Sweetest Thing (I’ve Ever Known)”, 1982
• “Break it To Me Gently”, 1982
• “Hurt”, 1985

Essential Albums

• Juice (1981)
• Quiet Lies (1982)
• Old Flame (1985)
  

Industry Awards

• ACM Top New Female Vocalist, 1982
• Grammy: Best Country Vocal Performance, Female (“Break it To Me Gently”), 1983

==> #51. Terri Clark

<== #53. Jo Dee Messina

100 Greatest Women: The Complete List