Easy Loving

"Easy Loving" is a song composed by country music singer-songwriter Freddie Hart. Released in the summer of 1971, it became Hart's breakthrough hit and a country music standard.

"Easy Loving"
Single by Freddie Hart
from the album California Grapevine
B-side"Brother Bluebird"
ReleasedJuly 1971 (U.S.)
Recorded1970
GenreCountry, country pop
Length2:29
LabelCapitol 3115
Songwriter(s)Freddie Hart
Producer(s)George Richey
Freddie Hart singles chronology
"California Grapevine"
(1971)		 "Easy Loving"
(1971)		 "My Hang-Up Is You"
(1972)

Song history

Hart, a country music stalwart since the late 1950s, had a string of minor hits for several labels, including Kapp, Columbia and his then-current label, Capitol. However, his hits were modest at best.

"Easy Loving," about deep commitment in a monogamous relationship, very nearly did not become a hit. Hart's previous single, "California Grapevine," had stalled at No. 68 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, and Capitol Records decided to drop Hart's contract.

In mid-1971, a disc jockey at Atlanta, Georgia radio station WPLO began playing "Easy Loving" to great response. The song quickly caught on nationwide, and by that August, "Easy Loving" had broken into the top 10 of the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. On September 11, it was his first No. 1 song, spending three weeks atop the chart (interrupted between its first and second weeks for Tom T. Hall's "The Year Clayton Delaney Died.").[1]

"Easy Loving" also was a modest pop hit, reaching No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the fall of 1971, and was the only pop hit of Hart's career.[2]

Awards

The success of "Easy Loving" won Hart numerous awards. For instance, during the 1972 Academy of Country Music Awards, he was named Top Male Vocalist and Entertainer of the Year, plus Single and Song of the Year; the album from which it came, Easy Loving, won the ACM's award that year, too.

The Country Music Association bestowed Song of the Year honors upon "Easy Loving" in both 1971 and 1972.

"Easy Loving" was certified gold for sales of 1 million units by the Recording Industry Association of America,[3] and was the No. 1 song of 1971 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart.[4]

In addition to all of its awards and honors, "Easy Loving" sparked Hart's flagging career. After quickly being re-signed by Capitol Records, Hart went on to score five more consecutive No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart during the next two years, plus scored more than a dozen more top 10 hits through 1977.

Chart performance

References
  1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 154.
  2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 277.
  3. "Searchable Database - Search: Easy Loving (pag. 4)". RIAA. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
  4. Billboard, December 25, 1971.
  5. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 134. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  6. Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 107.
  7. "Cash Box Top 100 11/20/71". Tropicalglen.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  8. "Top 100 Hits of 1971/Top 100 Songs of 1971". Archived from the original on 2016-10-11. Retrieved 2016-07-23.

Bibliography
  • Millard, Bob. Country Music: 70 Years of America's Favorite Music (1993). New York: HarperCollins. (ISBN 0-06-273244-7)
  • Roland, Tom. The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits (1991). New York: Billboard Books, Watson-Guptill Publications. (ISBN 0-82-307553-2)
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