Episode 23: Women of Country Music in the 70s

SHOW NOTES

In this episode of For the Record: The 70s, Amy discusses the women in country music in the Seventies. In 2019, a study by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative reported that between 2014 and 2018, only 16% of the Top 500 songs in country music were performed by women. However, Amy goes back to the Seventies and finds that, as the women’s rights movement was well underway, female artists were more present than ever on the Billboard country charts. Many of those artists also crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100, which exposed country music to an even wider audience. Amy explores the sometimes complex reasons for the increased acceptance of women as artists, independent from men, and why the trend did not continue into the 21st century.

PLAYLIST

  1. “Harper Valley PTA” by Jeannie C. Riley (1968)

  2. “Fancy” by Bobbie Gentry (1969)

  3. “If You Love Me Let Me Know” by Olivia Newton-John (1974)

  4. “Rose Garden” by Lynn Anderson (1970)

  5. “Til I Can Make it On My Own” by Tammy Wynette (1976)

  6. “Coal Miner’s Daughter” by Loretta Lynn (1970)

  7. “Jolene” by Dolly Parton (1974)

  8. “When Will I Be Loved” by Linda Ronstadt (1974) 

  9. “The Sweetest Gift (Live)” by Dolly Parton, Emmy Lou Harris, and Linda Rondstadt (1976)

SOURCES

Betts, Stephen. “Dolly Parton Writes ‘I Will Always Love You’ for Porter Wagoner.” Rolling Stone. Feb. 19, 2015. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/flashback-dolly-parton-writes-i-will-always-love-you-for-former-boss-179134/

Bronson, Fred. The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits. United States: Billboard Books, 2003.

Country Boys and Redneck Women. Diane Pecknold and Kristine M. McCusker, eds. Jackson, MS: University of Mississippi Press. 2016.

The Encyclopedia of Country Music. John Rumble, Michael McCall, Paul Kingsbury, Vince Gill, Eds. New York: Oxford University Press. 2012. 

“Enjoli Commercial 1978”. YouTube.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRoGbiOGC54

Hilburn, Robert. “Women Setting Pace in Country Music.” The Spokesman-Review SpokaneWA, September 10, 1978.

Kort, Michele. “A Feminist Ode to Bobbie Gentry.” Ms. February 6, 2015. https://msmagazine.com/2015/02/06/a-feminist-ode-to-bobbie-gentry/

McDonough, Jimmy. Tragic Country Queen. New York: Viking Press. 2010.

Moore, Bobby. “Jeannie C. Riley Became An Overnight Success With This Pop Country Hit.” Wide Open Country. 2019. https://www.wideopencountry.com/the-sudden-impact-of-jeannie-c-rileys-crossover-hit-harper-valley-pta/

Murtha, Tara. “Bobbie Gentry: ‘Ode to Bille Joe’ Singer’s Secret Life.” Rolling Stone. August 21, 2017. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/the-secret-life-of-bobbie-gentry-pioneering-artist-behind-ode-to-billie-joe-196953/

“No Country for Female Artists: Artist and Songwriter Gender on Popular Country Charts from 2014 to 2018.” USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. 2019. http://assets.uscannenberg.org/docs/no-country-for-female-artists-research-brief_2019-04-04.pdf

“Sisters in Country: Dolly, Linda, and Emmylou.” Video. BBC Four. 2016. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ7StOs2xY0&t=128s

“Tammy Wynette: The ‘Tragic Country Queen.’ NPR. March 10, 2014. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124540180

Thomasson, Sara. “Star Says Music Her Job, ‘Not My Life.’ Springfield Leader and Press (Springfield, MO). August 10, 1977.

Tsioulcas, Anastasia. “Country Music Excludes Women, Especially Over Age 40, Study Finds.” NPR. April 5, 2019. https://www.npr.org/2019/04/05/710262673/country-music-excludes-women-especially-over-age-40-study-finds


“Women Country Singers Far Removed from Counterparts.” Tyler Morning Telegraph (Tyler, TX). April 18, 1973.

Amy Lively