The Best of 1991: The Ballot

Once again, we will be coupling our year-end roundup with a retro counterpart. This December, we will count down our favorite singles and albums from 1991 and from 2016.

1991 is the year that multiple Country Universe writers fell in love with country music. One look at the ballot and it’s easy to see why.

Suzy Bogguss, Reba McEntire, Lorrie Morgan, Dolly Parton, Travis Tritt, Tanya Tucker, and Steve Wariner released studio albums that became career best sellers, and Garth Brooks became the first country music artist in history to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 with is 14x platinum smash, Ropin’ the Wind.

Successful debut albums were released by Brooks & Dunn, Diamond Rio, Sammy Kershaw, Hal Ketchum, Tracy Lawrence, Collin Raye, Pam Tillis, Aaron Tippin, and Trisha Yearwood.

Future stars like Alison Krauss & Union Station, Little Texas, McBride & the Ride charted singles for the first time, and the Remingtons debuted with their only top ten hit.

Major career comebacks were launched by John Anderson and Sawyer Brown, while Mary Chapin Carpenter, Vince Gill, and Alan Jackson released award-winning hits.

It was also a year of transition, as the final top ten hits of Lionel Cartwright, Earl Thomas Conley, The Forester Sisters, The Judds, Ronnie Milsap, The Oak Ridge Boys, Paul Overstreet, Conway Twitty, Keith Whitley, and Don Williams hit the charts, while Baillie and the Boys, Davis Daniel, Holly Dunn, Lee Greenwood, Highway 101, and Ricky Skaggs enjoyed their final top twenty hits.

Overall, it was an embarrassment of riches, with so much good music to choose from that country radio couldn’t accommodate it all.

But we’re up to the challenge here at Country Universe. Take a look at the 68 albums and 260 singles under consideration for our Best of 1991 lists, and share your personal favorites in the comments!

The Best of 1991: The Ballot

Albums

First Last Title Chart Certification
Suzy Bogguss Aces 15 Platinum
Garth Brooks Ropin’ the Wind 1 14x Platinum
Brooks & Dunn Brand New Man 3 6x Platinum
Marty Brown High and Dry 44
Lionel Cartwright Chasin’ the Sun 27
Earl Thomas Conley Yours Truly 53
Rob Crosby Solid Ground 71
Davis Daniel Fighting Fire with Fire 54
Charlie Daniels Band Renegade 25
Billy Dean Billy Dean 22 Gold
Martin Delray Get Rhythm 57
Diamond Rio Diamond Rio 13 Platinum
Dean Dillon Out of Your Ever Lovin’ Mind 58
Exile Justice 91
Forester Sisters Talkin’ ‘Bout Men 16
Vince Gill Pocket Full of Gold 5 2x Platinum
Vern Gosdin Out of My Heart 41
Lee Greenwood A Perfect 10 38
Highway 101 Bing Bang Boom 36
Alan Jackson Don’t Rock the Jukebox 2 4x Platinum
Waylon & Willie Clean Shirt 28
George Jones Friends in High Places 72
George Jones And Along Came Jones 22
Kentucky Headhunters Electric Barnyard 3 Gold
Sammy Kershaw Don’t Go Near the Water 17 Platinum
Hal Ketchum Past the Point of Rescue 6 Gold
Alison Krauss I’ve Got That Old Feeling 61
Tracy Lawrence Sticks and Stones 10 Platinum
Chris LeDoux Western Underground 36
Brenda Lee Brenda Lee 67
Patty Loveless Up Against My Heart 27
Shelby Lynne Soft Talk 55
Barbara Mandrell Key’s in the Mailbox 62
Kathy Mattea Time Passes By 9 Gold
McBride & The Ride Burnin’ Up the Road 27
Ronnie McDowell Unchained Melody 32
Ronnie McDowell Your Precious Love 72
Reba McEntire For My Broken Heart 3 4x Platinum
Ronnie Milsap Back to the Grindstone 24
Lorrie Morgan Something in Red 8 Platinum
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band In Concert: Live Two Five 50
Oak Ridge Boys Unstoppable 41
Mark O’Connor The New Nashville Cats 44
Paul Overstreet Heroes 17
Dolly Parton Eagle When She Flies 1 Platinum
Pirates of the Mississippi Walk the Plank 39
Collin Raye All I Can Be 7 Platinum
Mike Reid Turning for Home 22
Kenny Rogers Back Home Again 42
Roy Rogers Roy Rogers Tribute 17
Sawyer Brown Buick 23
Ricky Van Shelton Backroads 3 Platinum
Ricky Skaggs My Father’s Son 68
Doug Stone I Thought it Was You 12 Platinum
George Strait Chill of an Early Fall 4 Platinum
Marty Stuart Tempted 20 Gold
Texas Tornadoes Zone of Our Own 50
Pam Tillis Put Yourself in My Place 10 Gold
Aaron Tippin You’ve Got to Stand for Something 23 Gold
Randy Travis High Lonesome 3 Platinum
Travis Tritt It’s all About to Change 2 3x Platinum
Tanya Tucker What Do I Do With Me 6 Platinum
Jerry Jeff Walker Navajo Rug 59
Steve Wariner I am Ready 28 Gold
Gene Watson At Last 74
Keith Whitley Kentucky Bluebird 45
Hank Williams Jr. Pure Hank 8 Gold
Trisha Yearwood Trisha Yearwood 2 2x Platinum

Singles

First Last Title Chart Peak
Alabama Down Home 1
Alabama Here We Are 2
Alabama Then Again 4
Bill Anderson Deck of Cards 60
John Anderson Who Got Our Love 67
John Anderson Straight Tequila Night 1
Asleep at the Wheel Dance With Who Brung You 71
Baillie and the Boys Treat Me Like a Stranger 18
Bandit Brothers Women 57
Bellamy Brothers She Don’t Know That She’s Perfect 46
Bellamy Brothers All in the Name of Love 74
Ray Benson Four Scores and Seven Beers Ago 67
Matraca Berg I Got it Bad 43
Matraca Berg I Must Have Been Crazy 55
Matraca Berg It’s Easy to Tell 66
Clint Black Loving Blind 1
Clint Black One More Payment 7
Clint Black Where are You Now 1
Suzy Bogguss Someday Soon 12
Larry Boone I Need a Miracle 57
Larry Boone To be With You 34
Garth Brooks Two of a Kind, Workin’ on a Full House 1
Garth Brooks The Thunder Rolls 1
Garth Brooks Rodeo 3
Garth Brooks Shameless 1
Brooks & Dunn Brand New Man 1
Brooks & Dunn My Next Broken Heart 1
T. Graham Brown I’m Sending This One Up to You 53
T. Graham Brown With This Ring 31
Glen Campbell Unconditional Love 27
Glen Campbell Living in a House Full of Love 70
Paulette Carlson I’ll Start With You 21
Mary Chapin Carpenter Right Now 15
Mary Chapin Carpenter Down at the Twist and Shout 2
Mary Chapin Carpenter Going Out Tonight 14
Carlene Carter The Sweetest Thing 25
Carlene Carter One Love 33
Lionel Cartwright Leap of Faith 1
Lionel Cartwright What Kind of Fool 24
Rosanne Cash On the Surface 69
Mark Chesnutt Blame it on Texas 5
Mark Chesnutt Your Love is a Miracle 3
Mark Chesnutt Broken Promise Land 10
Mark Collie Let Her Go 18
Mark Collie Calloused Hands 31
Mark Collie She’s Never Comin’ Back 28
Earl Thomas Conley Shadow of a Doubt 8
Corbin/Hanner Band Concrete Cowboy 59
Rob Crosby She’s a Natural 15
Rob Crosby Still Burnin’ for You 21
Rodney Crowell Things I Wish I’d Said 72
Davis Daniel Picture Me 28
Davis Daniel For Crying Out Loud 13
Charlie Daniels Band Honky Tonk Life 65
Charlie Daniels Band Little Folks 47
Linda Davis In a Different Light 61
Linda Davis Some Kinda Woman 68
Billy Dean Somewhere in My Broken Heart 3
Billy Dean You Don’t Count the Cost 4
Martin Delray Get Rhythm 27
Martin Delray Lillies White Lies 58
Desert Rose Band Will This Be the Day 37
Desert Rose Band Come a Little Closer 65
Desert Rose Band You Can Go Home 53
Diamond Rio Meet in the Middle 1
Diamond Rio Mirror Mirror 3
Diamond Rio Mama Don’t Forget to Pray for Me 9
Joe Diffie If the Devil Danced (in Empty Pockets) 1
Joe Diffie New Way (to Light Up an Old Flame) 2
Joe Diffie Is it Cold in Here 5
Dean Dillon Holed up in Some Honky Tonk 69
Dean Dillon Friday Night’s Woman 39
Dean Dillon Don’t You Even Think (About Leavin’) 62
Holly Dunn Heart Full of Love 19
Holly Dunn Maybe I Mean Yes 48
Skip Ewing I Get the Picture 73
Exile Even Now 16
Donna Fargo Soldier Boy 71
Forester Sisters Men 8
Forester Sisters Too Much Fun 62
Vince Gill Pocket Full of Gold 7
Vince Gill Liza Jane 7
Vince Gill Look at Us 4
The Goldens Keep the Faith 67
Vern Gosdin I Knew My Day Would Come 64
Vern Gosdin The Garden 51
Vern Gosdin A Month of Sundays 54
Great Plains A Picture of You 63
Lee Greenwood Hopelessly Yours (w/Suzy Bogguss) 12
Lee Greenwood Between a Rock and a Heartache 46
Clinton Gregory Couldn’t Love Have Picked a Better Place to Die 64
Clinton Gregory (If it Weren’t for Country Music) I’d Go Crazy 26
Clinton Gregory One Shot at a Time 51
Clinton Gregory Satisfy Me and I’ll Satisfy You 53
Emmylou Harris Wheels of Love 71
Highway 101 Bing Bang Boom 14
Highway 101 The Blame 31
Alan Jackson I’d Love You All Over Again 1
Alan Jackson Don’t Rock the Jukebox 1
Alan Jackson Someday 1
Alan Jackson I Only Want You For Christmas 41
Waylon Jennings What Bothers Me Most 66
Waylon Jennings The Eagle 22
Waylon & Willie If I Can Find a Clean Shirt 51
JJ White The Crush 69
George Jones You Couldn’t Get the Picture 32
Judds One Hundred and Two 6
Judds John Deere Tractor 29
Ray Kennedy Scars 58
Ray Kennedy I Like the Way it Feels 74
Kentucky Headhunters Ballad of Davey Crockett 49
Kentucky Headhunters With Body and Soul 56
Kentucky Headhunters It’s Chitlin’ Time 63
Kentucky Headhunters Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line 60
Sammy Kershaw Cadillac Style 3
Hal Ketchum Small Town Saturday Night 3
Hal Ketchum I Know Where Love Lives 13
Alison Krauss & Union Station Steel Rails 73
Tracy Lawrence Sticks and Stones 1
Chris LeDoux This Cowboy’s Hat 63
Robin Lee Nothin’ ‘But You 51
Little Texas Some Guys Have All the Love 8
Eddie London If We Can’t Do it Right 41
Patty Loveless I’m That Kind of Girl 5
Patty Loveless Blue Memories 22
Patty Loveless Hurt Me Bad (in a Real Good Way) 3
Shelby Lynne What About the Love We Made 45
Shelby Lynne The Very First Lasting Love (w/Lee Taylor) 50
Shelby Lynne Don’t Cross Your Heart 54
Marcy Bros She Can 71
Jerry Martin Letter to Saddam Hussein 71
Kathy Mattea Time Passes By 7
Kathy Mattea Whole Lotta Holes 18
Kathy Mattea Asking Us to Dance 27
McBride & the Ride Can I Count On You 15
McBride & the Ride Same Old Star 28
Neal McCoy If I Built You a Fire 48
Neal McCoy This Time I Hurt Her More (Than She Loves Me) 50
Reba McEntire Fancy 8
Reba McEntire Fallin’ Out of Love 2
Reba McEntire For My Broken Heart 1
Ronnie Milsap Are You Lovin’ Me Like I’m Lovin’ You 3
Ronnie Milsap Since I Don’t Have You 6
Ronnie Milsap Turn That Radio On 4
Molly & the Heymakers He Comes Around 59
Lorrie Morgan We Both Walk 3
Lorrie Morgan A Picture of Me (Without You) 9
Lorrie Morgan Except for Monday 4
Gary Morris Miles Across the Bedroom 47
Dude Mowrey Cowboys Don’t Cry 65
Michael Martin Murphy Let the Cowboy Dance 74
Anne Murray Everyday 56
Willie Nelson The Piper Came Today 70
Willie Nelson Ten with a Two 45
Oak Ridge Boys Lucky Moon 6
Oak Ridge Boys Change My Mind 70
Oak Ridge Boys Baby on Board 44
Mark O’Connor Restless (w/Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs, Steve Wariner) 25
K.T. Oslin Mary and Willie 28
K.T. Oslin You Call Everybody Darling 69
K.T. Oslin Cornell Crawford 63
Paul Overstreet Heroes 4
Paul Overstreet Ball and Chain 5
Paul Overstreet If I Could Bottle This Up 30
Dolly Parton Rockin’ Years (with Ricky Van Shelton) 1
Dolly Parton Silver and Gold 15
Dolly Parton Eagle When She Flies 33
Pirates of the Mississippi Feed Jake 15
Pirates of the Mississippi Speak of the Devil 29
Pirates of the Mississippi Fighting for You 41
Prairie Oyster One Precious Love 51
Eddie Rabbitt Tennessee Born and Bred 58
Eddie Rabbitt Hang Up the Phone 50
Eddy Raven Rock Me in the Rhythm of Your Love 60
Eddy Raven Too Much Candy for a Dime 58
Collin Raye All I Can Be (is a Sweet Memory) 29
Collin Raye Love, Me 1
Mike Reid Till You Were Gone 17
Mike Reid As Simple as That 14
Remingtons A Long Time Ago 10
Restless Heart You Can Depend on Me 3
Kenny Rogers Lay My Body Down 69
Kenny Rogers If You Want to Find Love 11
Billy Joe Royal If the Jukebox Took Teardrops 29
Tim Ryan Seventh Heaven 68
Sawyer Brown One Less Pony 70
Sawyer Brown Mama’s Little Baby Loves Me 68
Sawyer Brown The Walk 2
Sawyer Brown The Dirt Road 3
Dan Seals Water Under the Bridge 57
Dan Seals Sweet Little Shoe 62
Ricky Van Shelton I am a Simple Man 1
Ricky Van Shelton Keep it Between the Lines 1
Ricky Van Shelton After the Lights Go Out 13
Shenandoah I Got You 7
Shenandoah The Moon Over Georgia 9
Shenandoah When You Were Mine 38
T.G. Sheppard Born in a High Wind 63
Ricky Skaggs Life’s too Long (to Live Like This) 37
Ricky Skaggs Same Ol’ Love 12
Ray Stevens Working for the Japanese 62
Doug Stone In a Different Light 1
Doug Stone I Thought it was You 4
Doug Stone A Jukebox with a Country Song 1
George Strait If I Know Me 1
George Strait You Know Me Better Than That 1
George Strait The Chill of an Early Fall 3
Marty Stuart Till I Found You 12
Marty Stuart Tempted 5
Sweethearts of the Rodeo Hard-Headed Man 63
Sweethearts of the Rodeo Devil and Your Deep Blue Eyes 74
Les Taylor I Gotta Mind to Go Crazy 44
Marsha Thornton Maybe the Moon Will Shine 73
Pam Tillis One of Those Things 6
Pam Tillis Put Yourself in My Place 11
Pam Tillis Maybe it Was Memphis 3
Aaron Tippin I Wonder How Far it is Over You 40
Aaron Tippin She Made a Memory out of Me 54
Randy Travis Heroes and Friends 3
Randy Travis Point of Light 3
Randy Travis Forever Together 1
Randy Travis Better Class of Losers 2
Travis Tritt Drift Off to Dream 3
Travis Tritt Here’s a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares) 2
Travis Tritt Anymore 1
Travis Tritt The Whiskey ain’t Workin’ (with Marty Stuart) 2
Tanya Tucker Oh What it Did to Me 12
Tanya Tucker Down to My Last Teardrop 2
Tanya Tucker (Without You) What Do I Do With Me 2
Conway Twitty I Couldn’t See You Leavin’ 3
Conway Twitty One Bridge I Didn’t Burn 57
Conway Twitty She’s Got a Man on Her Mind 22
Conway Twitty Who Did They Think He Was 56
Donna Ulisse Things are Mostly Fine 75
Donna Ulisse When was the Last Time 66
Steve Wariner Leave Him out of This 6
B.B. Watson Light at the End of the Tunnel 23
Gene Watson At Last 61
Gene Watson You Can’t Take it With You When You Go 67
Kevin Welch True Love Never Dies 54
Michael White Professional Fool 32
Keith Whitley Brotherly Love (with Earl Thomas Conley) 2
Keith Whitley Somebody’s Doin’ Me Right 15
Don Williams True Love 4
Don Williams Lord Have Mercy on a Country Boy 7
Hank Williams Jr. I Mean I Love You 39
Hank Williams Jr. If it Will it Will 26
Hank Williams Jr. Angels are Hard to Find 59
Kelly Willis Baby Take a Piece of My Heart 51
Tom Wopat Too Many Honky Tonks (On My way Home) 46
Tom Wopat Back to the Well 51
Michelle Wright All You Really Wanna Do 73
Tammy Wynette What Goes with Blue 56
Tammy Wynette We’re Strangers Again (with Randy Travis) 49
Trisha Yearwood She’s in Love with the Boy 1
Trisha Yearwood Like We Never Had a Broken Heart 4
Trisha Yearwood That’s What I Like About You 8
Dwight Yoakam You’re the One 5
Dwight Yoakam Nothing’s Changed Here 15
Dwight Yoakam It Only Hurts When I Cry 7

7 Comments

  1. Albums – (alphabetically by artist)
    Suzy Bogguss – Aces
    Marty Brown – High and Dry
    Vern Gosdin – Out of My Heart
    Alan Jackson – Don’t Rock The Jukebox
    Hal Ketcham – Past The Point of Rescue
    Tracy Lawrence – Sticks and Stones
    Patty Loveless – Up Against My Heart
    Aaron Tippin – Youi’ve Got To Stand For Something
    Randy Travis – High Lonesome
    Jerry Jeff Walker – Navajo Rug
    Gene Watson – At Last
    Keith Whitley – Kentucky Bluebird

    It was a good year – I think I have 65 of the 68 albums listed !

  2. Depending on your age, this was either a great time in country music or an end of a great era as some of the best artists of all time were banished from country radio.

    I definitely appreciate some of the incredible talent that came along at this time. But I’ve never gotten over the dismissal of so many greats. Other than Tanya Tucker, just about every artist who had charted in the 70s were given the boot. Sad, sad time.

  3. I have the albums by Suzy, Kathy, Hal, Trisha & Garth. It was still a few years before I really got into country.

    Favorite Singles in no particular order:
    Treat Me Like A Stranger – Baillie & Boys (saw Kathie Baillie a few years ago for the first time. Great voice.)
    Heroes – Paul Overstreet
    At Last – Gene Watson (my favorite take on this oft covered song)
    In a Different Light – Doug Stone
    Love, Me – Collin Raye
    Moon Over Georgia – Shenandoah
    Asking Us to Dance – Kathy Mattea
    Someday Soon – Suzy Bogguss
    Small Town Saturday Night – Hal Ketchum
    Somewhere in My Broken Heart – Billy Dean
    The Thunder Rolls – Garth
    If the Devil Danced in Empty Pockets – Joe Diffie

  4. Wow. This was well before my time, but “embarrassment of riches” is right. I can’t believe how many of these singles hold up to this day, I could rattle off favorite songs from this list for hours.

  5. Singles – my top five in ( )

    (5) John Anderson – Straight Tequila Night
    Clint Black – Loving Blind
    Suzy Bogguss – Someday Soon
    Mary Chapin Carpenter – Down at the Twist and Shout
    Martin Delray – Get Rhythm (with Johnny Cash)
    (1) Martin Delray – Lillie’s White Lies
    Joe Diffie – If the Devil Danced (in Empty Pockets)
    Holly Dunn – Maybe I Mean Yes
    Skip Ewing – I Get the Picture
    Forester Sisters – Men
    Clinton Gregory – (If it Weren’t for Country Music) I’d Go Crazy
    Highway 101 – Bing Bang Boom
    Highway 101 – The Blame
    Alan Jackson – Don’t Rock the Jukebox
    Alan Jackson – Someday
    George Jones – You Couldn’t Get the Picture
    Ray Kennedy – Scars
    Sammy Kershaw – Cadillac Style
    (3) Hal Ketchum – Small Town Saturday Night
    Tracy Lawrence – Sticks and Stones
    Patty Loveless – I’m That Kind of Girl
    Patty Loveless – Blue Memories
    Patty Loveless – Hurt Me Bad (in a Real Good Way)
    Mark O’Connor – Restless (w/Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs, Steve Wariner)
    Paul Overstreet – Ball and Chain
    Pirates of the Mississippi – Feed Jake
    Sawyer Brown – The Walk
    Ricky Van Shelton – Keep it Between the Lines
    (2) Doug Stone – A Jukebox with a Country Song
    George Strait – You Know Me Better Than That
    Marty Stuart – Tempted
    Randy Travis – Better Class of Losers
    Travis Tritt – Here’s a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)
    (4) Travis Tritt – The Whiskey ain’t Workin’ (with Marty Stuart)
    Tanya Tucker – Down to My Last Teardrop
    Donna Ulisse – Things are Mostly Fine
    Donna Ulisse – When was the Last Time
    Gene Watson – At Last
    Gene Watson – You Can’t Take it With You When You Go
    Dwight Yoakam – It Only Hurts When I Cry

    My top forty would include non-charting singles as follows
    Johnny Cash – Mystery of Life
    Merle Haggard – A Bar In Bakersfield
    Statler Brothers – Remember Me
    Faron Young – Just An Old Heartache

    I’m not sure which of the forty above I would delete to make room

  6. Looking forward to this look back on 1991. This was the year I started to really become aware of country music after borrowing a couple tapes from a friend (Reba’s Rumor Has It and Garth Brooks No Fences). My favorite albums from the list above are Reba’s For My Broken Heart and Tanya Tucker’s What Do I Do with Me. My favorite singles are:

    Clint Black – Loving Blind and Where Are You Now
    Mark Chesnutt – Broken Promise Land
    Diamond Rio – Mama Don’t Forget to Pray for Me
    The Judds – One Hundred and Two
    Patty Loveless – Hurt Me Bad (In a Real Good Way)
    Dolly Parton – Eagle When She Flies

  7. The music released in 1991 is an excellent example of how the artists of that time were successful at meaningfully reinterpreting an idealized standard of traditional country music while incorporating contemporary influences and sounds. Much of the mainstream music released today suffers in comparison to the output of 1991, if for no other reason, than the cheap imitation of country themes and tropes feels more like parody than prophecy. Too often, neither country’s past nor it’s present hold much hope for the future. The country artists of 1991 cared enough to both coddle and kick country music out of its cradle.

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