The Greatest Group of CMA Song of the Year Nominees Was in 1991

by Julian Spivey
While looking through the nominees of the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards yesterday I noticed and then remarked on social media that this year’s crop of Song of the Year nominees has to be the weakest in the 53 year history of the CMAs.

Those nominees are:

“Beautiful Crazy” by Luke Combs (written by Combs, Wyatt B. Durrette III and Robert Williford)

“GIRL” by Maren Morris (written by Morris, Sarah Aarons and Greg Kurstin)

“God’s Country” by Blake Shelton (written by Devin Dawson, Jordan Schmidt and Michael Hardy)

“Rainbow” by Kacey Musgraves (written by Musgraves, Natalie Hemby and Shane McAnally)

“Tequila” by Dan + Shay (written by Dan Smyers, Nicolle Galyon and Jordan Reynolds)

Of those nominees the only one that’s really worthy of such an honor is Kacey Musgraves’ “Rainbow,” which is certainly the song among the group that was least played on country radio. It didn’t even crack the top 30 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart.

My remark about this being the weakest crop of Song of the Year nominees had me wondering what year had the greatest crop of CMA Song of the Year nominees.

So, I sat out to decide that for myself.

While doing the research I quickly came to realize that there are very few years in the more than half century since the CMA Awards debuted in which I’d say there was a perfect slate of Song of the Year nominees. The CMAs have a bad history of including a lot of sappy schmaltz in this coveted category like “You Decorated My Life” by Kenny Rogers and any number of Ronnie Millsap songs, among many others.

After going through each and every year of Song of the Year nominees I narrowed the competition down to six years: 1970 (Sunday Morning Comin’ Down, The Fightin’ Side of Me, Hello Darlin’, My Woman, My Woman, My Wife and Okie From Muskogee), 1973 (Behind Closed Doors, It’s Not Love (But It’s Not Bad), Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine, Satin Sheets and Why Me Lord), 1989 (Chiseled in Stone, A Better Man, After All This Time, Don’t Close Your Eyes and Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses), 1990 (Where’ve You Been, Here in the Real World, If Tomorrow Never Comes, Killin’ Time and When I Call Your Name), 1991 (When I Call Your Name, Don’t Rock the Jukebox, Friends in Low Places, Here in the Real World and The Dance) and 2009 (In Color, Chicken Fried, I Told You So, People Are Crazy and Then).

You’ll notice that throughout the history of the CMA Awards they had the preposterous rule that allowed the same song to be nominated on multiple occasions, which is how Vince Gill’s “When I Call Your Name” could miss out on winning in 1990 and then win in 1991. There was even the truly ridiculous four-year span from 1980-1983 where only two songs won Song of the Year with George Jones’ “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” written by Bobby Braddock and Curly Putnam, winning in ’80 and ’81 and Willie Nelson’s “Always On My Mind,” written by Wayne Carson Thompson, Johnny Christopher and Mark James, winning in ’82 and ’83.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand.

I must admit it was extremely hard for me to pick against 1970, which unbelievably had a sole songwriter for every song nominated, but the addition of Marty Robbins’ “My Woman, My Woman, My Wife” – one of those schmaltzy song I mentioned above – kind of brings the whole group down a bit.

Jeanne Pruett’s “Satin Sheets” eliminated 1973 for me almost single-handedly.

Kathy Mattea’s “Where’ve You Been,” written by Jon Vezner and Don Henry, is just a song you absolutely do not hear anymore and that’s unfortunately while I’m the least familiar with it of any song to ever win CMA’s Song of the Year. Probably not the best reason for keeping it out of my top slot, but that’s what I’m going with.

Zac Brown Band’s “Chicken Fried” lowers the 2009 group, although compared to what he’s doing lately it’s a masterpiece. I’m just shocked that any year within the last dozen years had a field of Song of the Year nominees that strong.

The nominees for 1989 are all perfect. But if I’m going to select five songs, I’d rather hear at any given moment I’m going to give 1991’s group the small edge over 1989.

The winner of Song of the Year in 1991 was Vince Gill’s “When I Call Your Name,” written by Gill and Tim DuBois. I believe “When I Call Your Name,” which was nominated the year before and lost out to “Where’ve You Been,” is the greatest song of Gill’s Hall of Fame career, but I don’t think it should’ve been the winner of this crop.

If I had a vote my winner would’ve been Alan Jackson’s “Here in the Real World,” written by Jackson and Mark Irwin, which was nominated two straight years losing both times. I believe “Here in the Real World,” which was Jackson’s first hit single, is the best song of his entire career and one of the most underrated songs in the history of country music. It’s tear-jerkingly beautiful in its tale of love not being as simple and fairytale as it is in the movies.

Jackson’s “Don’t Rock the Jukebox,” written by Jackson, Keith Stegall and Roger Murrah, was also nominated in ’91 and is one of the lasting hits of his stellar, Hall of Fame career. It was the bigger hit between itself and “Here in the Real World” and an all-time classic, but among the five nominees I’d say it ranks as the fifth greatest.

Garth Brooks, who had just burst upon the scene in a major way the year before, saw two songs nominated for Song of the Year in 1991. There was the serious ballad “The Dance,” written by Tony Arata, and the good time, forever karaoke favorite “Friends in Low Places,” written by Dewayne Blackwell and Earl Bud Lee. “The Dance” and “Friends in Low Places” are among the five greatest of Brooks’ legendary career and will both live on forever.

When it comes down to it, it’s mighty hard to beat career bests by Garth Brooks, Vince Gill and Alan Jackson, who have a combined for 44 CMA Awards between them. 

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