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Top Country Albums is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music albums in the United States, published by Billboard. In 1973, 21 different albums topped the chart, which was at the time published under the title Top Country LP's, based on sales reports submitted by a representative sample of stores nationwide.[1]
In the issue of Billboard dated January 6, Merle Haggard was at number one with the compilation album The Best of the Best of Merle Haggard, the record's seventh week in the top spot.[2] The following week, it was displaced from the top spot by Got the All Overs for You by Freddie Hart and the Heartbeats, but Haggard returned to number one in the issue dated January 27 with It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad). He achieved a third number one in September with I Love Dixie Blues...So I Recorded "Live" In New Orleans and was one of two artists with three chart-toppers during the year. The other was Loretta Lynn, who reached number one with Entertainer of the Year – Loretta and Love Is the Foundation as well as Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man, a collaboration with Conway Twitty. The two singers had a run of success with duet recordings in the early 1970s alongside their ongoing solo careers.[3]
Kris Kristofferson was one of several artists with two number one albums in 1973, topping the chart in consecutive weeks with Jesus Was a Capricorn and Full Moon, the latter a collaboration with Rita Coolidge, his then-wife.[4] Full Moon's time at number one was ended by Marie Osmond, the younger sister of teen-pop stars the Osmonds, who achieved her first chart-topping album at the age of 14.[5][6] Jeanne Pruett had the year's longest unbroken run at number one, spending eight consecutive weeks at the top of the listing with her album Satin Sheets. Charlie Rich spent four non-consecutive weeks at number one in June and July with his album Behind Closed Doors. Having released his first records in the 1950s, Rich had finally achieved country music success in 1972 and become a mainstream star the following year.[7] Five months after it left the top spot, the album returned to number one in December, in the same week that Rich's song "The Most Beautiful Girl" reached number one on Billboard's all-genre singles chart, the Hot 100.[8] The album would continue its success into 1974 and eventually spend a total of 21 weeks atop the chart, a new record total for an album.[9]
Issue date | Title | Artist(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
January 6 | The Best of the Best of Merle Haggard | Merle Haggard | [2] |
January 13 | Got the All Overs for You | Freddie Hart and the Heartbeats | [11] |
January 20 | [12] | ||
January 27 | It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad) | Merle Haggard and the Strangers | [13] |
February 3 | [14] | ||
February 10 | [15] | ||
February 17 | Songs of Love by Charley Pride | Charley Pride | [16] |
February 24 | [17] | ||
March 3 | [18] | ||
March 10 | [19] | ||
March 17 | Dueling Banjos | Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell | [20] |
March 24 | [21] | ||
March 31 | [22] | ||
April 7 | [23] | ||
April 14 | Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite | Elvis Presley | [24] |
April 21 | [25] | ||
April 28 | [26] | ||
May 5 | [27] | ||
May 12 | My Second Album | Donna Fargo | [28] |
May 19 | Super Kind of Woman | Freddie Hart and the Heartbeats | [29] |
May 26 | Introducing Johnny Rodriguez | Johnny Rodriguez | [30] |
June 2 | Entertainer of the Year – Loretta | Loretta Lynn | [31] |
June 9 | The Rhymer and Other Five and Dimers | Tom T. Hall | [32] |
June 16 | Behind Closed Doors | Charlie Rich | [33] |
June 23 | [34] | ||
June 30 | [35] | ||
July 7 | Good Time Charlie | Charlie McCoy | [36] |
July 14 | Behind Closed Doors | Charlie Rich | [37] |
July 21 | Satin Sheets | Jeanne Pruett | [38] |
July 28 | [39] | ||
August 4 | [40] | ||
August 11 | [41] | ||
August 18 | [42] | ||
August 25 | [43] | ||
September 1 | [44] | ||
September 8 | [45] | ||
September 15 | Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man | Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn | [46] |
September 22 | I Love Dixie Blues...So I Recorded "Live" In New Orleans | Merle Haggard and the Strangers | [47] |
September 29 | [48] | ||
October 6 | You've Never Been This Far Before / Baby's Gone | Conway Twitty | [49] |
October 13 | [50] | ||
October 20 | [51] | ||
October 27 | Love Is the Foundation | Loretta Lynn | [52] |
November 3 | Jesus Was a Capricorn | Kris Kristofferson | [53] |
November 10 | Full Moon | Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge | [54] |
November 17 | Paper Roses | Marie Osmond | [55] |
November 24 | [56] | ||
December 1 | [57] | ||
December 8 | Primrose Lane / Don't Give Up On Me | Jerry Wallace | [58] |
December 15 | Behind Closed Doors | Charlie Rich | [59] |
December 22 | [60] | ||
December 29 | [61] |
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