Suggested by reader Joe:
What are your five favorite debut singles?
Here’s my list:
- Trisha Yearwood, “She’s in Love With the Boy”
- Clint Black, “A Better Man”
- Deana Carter, “Strawberry Wine”
- Jeannie C. Riley, “Harper Valley P.T.A.”
- Diamond Rio, “Meet in the Middle”
Well, Kevin chose three of the five I would put here (“A Better Man,” “Meet In The Middle,” “She’s In Love With The Boy”) so here’s five more:
1. Wynonna Judd, “She Is His Only Need”
2. Lee Ann Womack, “Never Again, Again”
3. Tanya Tucker, “Delta Dawn”
4. Tracy Lawrence, “Sticks and Stones”
5. Doug Stone, “I’d Be Better off (in a Pine Box)”
BONUS:
Mark Chestnutt, “Too Cold At Home”
Mindy McCreedy, “Ten Thousand Angles”
1. Taylor Swift Tim McGraw
2. Carrie Underwood Jesus Take The Wheel (Insode Your Heaven wasn’t sent to country)
3. Gloriana Wild At Heart
4. Jana Kramer Why Ya Wanna
5. Mickey Guyton Better Than You Left Me
Honorable Mentions
Kelsea Ballerini Love Me Like You Mean It
Kip Moore Mary Was The Marrying Kind
Kacey Musgraves Merry Go Round
Lady Antebellum Love Don’t Live Here
Love & Theft RunAway
Really all of these are really close
Ty Herndon – What Mattered Most
Jamie O’Neal – There Is No Arizona
Jimmy Wayne – Stay Gone
Hal Ketchum – Small Town Saturday Night
Jo Dee Messina – Heads Carolina, Tails California
My five:
1. DIFFERENT DRUM–Linda Ronstadt
2. TAKE IT EASY–The Eagles
3. THAT’S ALL RIGHT MAMA–Elvis Presley
4. SHE’S IN LOVE WITH THE BOY–Trisha Yearwood
5. ODE TO BILLIE JOE–Bobbie Gentry
1. Carrie Underwood – Jesus Take the Wheel
2. Kacey Musgraves – Merry Go Round
3. Garth Brooks – Much Too Young
4. Charlie Worsham – Could It Be
5. Brandy Clark – Stripes
1. Garth Brooks – “Much Too Young”
2. Toby Keith – “Should’ve Been A Cowboy”
3. Blake Shelton – “Austin”
4. Josh Turner – “Long Black Train”
5. Randy Houser – “Anything Goes”
1. Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old): Garth Brooks
2. Here In The Real World: Alan Jackson
3. Bye Bye Love: The Everly Brothers
4. Cry! Cry! Cry!: Johnny Cash
5 (A). She’s In Love With the Boy: Trisha Yearwood
5 (B). I’d Be Better Off In A Pinebox: Doug Stone
5 (C). Unwound: George Strait
1. Happiest Girl in the Whole USA – Donna Fargo
2. Snowbird – Anne Murray
3. Flowers on the Wall – Statler Brothers
4. Honky Tonk Man – Dwight Yoakum
5. Let Your Love Flow – Bellamy Brothers
BONUS:
Honky Tonk Girl – Loretta Lynn
Once a Day – Connie Smith
Before the Next Teardrop Falls – Freddy Fender
5 Addtions to good ones above:
Dierks — “What Was I Thinkin'”
Mindy McCready — “Ten Thousand Angels”
Montgomery Gentry — “Hillbilly Shoes”
Trick Pony — “Pour Me”
Wade Hayes — “Old Enough To Know Better”
1. Brandy Clark – “Stripes”
2. Alan Jackson – “Here in the Real World”
3. George Strait – “Unwound”
4. Brad Paisley – “Who Needs Pictures”
5. Josh Turner – “Long Black Train”
In alphabetical order by artist, because the idea of having to rank these is beyond my ability to concentrate at the moment.
Garth Brooks – “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)”
My favorite Garth song, period!
Deana Carter – “Strawberry Wine”
I feel like I’ve elaborated on my feelings for this song in another discussion here recently-ish, but the short version is that it’s a truly perfect recording that I appreciate even more at this point in my life than I did when it was first released. This is the kind of sophisticated songwriting that seems beyond Nashville’s clumsy manufactured nostalgic tripe. Carter’s measured vocals let the song unfold on its own and breathe. Possibly the greatest debut single in the entire genre, at least of the last 25 years.
Toby Keith – “Should’ve Been a Cowboy”
A lot of Toby Keith’s singles have been catchy but fade from consciousness after a couple of years. Not this one, though having been the most played song of the 1990’s ensured it never faded from the airwaves so that surely helped. Still, it’s got a great melody, is well written, and Toby’s vocals were in fine form from the beginning.
Randy Travis – “On the Other Hand”
Technically not his debut single, which was “I’ll Take Any Willing Woman”, which he released in 1978 under his real name, Randy Traywick. It didn’t even chart and I’ve never heard it.
Dwight Yoakam – “Honky Tonk Man”
Yeah, it’s a cover but it’s a brilliant one. My brother was obsessed with this song when it came out, and would turn up the volume on our TV as loud as it would go whenever the music video played on CMT. He was 3-4 at the time.
I will have to think more on this, but my number one choice is easy:
1. Apartment #9 – Tammy Wynette
01 Travis Tritt Country Club
Travis Tritt is forever my favorite country singer, and This song started it all. Wish he was still churning out albums.
02 Dwight Yoakam Honky Tonk Man
Yes, it’s a Johnny Horton song, but Dwight Yoakam can sing anything and I’ll love it.
03 Josh Turner Long Black Train
That voice, oh that voice. The fact that he struggles to maintain hit popularity is a travesty.
04 George Strait Unwound
The song that started it all, 34 years later still sounds as fresh as ever. George Strait is and will be the definition of country.
05 Garth Brooks Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)
The beginning of Garth Brooks’ career was amazing and any song that mentions Chris LeDoux wins in my book.