Five Fabulous Cuts From Crystal Gayle

Maybe it’s because she’s more unassuming than her older sister Loretta Lynn, or maybe it’s just the fickleness of pop music history, but it feels like Crystal Gayle is the overlooked queen of ‘70s pop country.

As the Countrypolitan movement crossed over into the pop mainstream, Gayle was monumental in pushing it a step further with a soft pop sound. 

(Editor’s note: Countrypolitan is a commercial sound, primarily designed by Chet Atkins, that abandoned hillbilly and honky tonk instrumentations for lush string arrangements with a real orchestra and often background vocals provided by a choir.)

With a gentle fusion of slow disco-pop, middle-of-the-road (MOR), smooth jazz, and a twang of traditional country, working with producer Allen Reynolds, Crystal set about reshaping the soundscape. Crystal was not alone in her efforts; it was a sound also explored by her contemporaries Dolly Parton, Barbara Mandrell, and Lynn Anderson.

We’re sure you know and love Crystal Gayle’s two chart-toppers (who doesn’t?!): TALKING IN YOUR SLEEP and DON’T IT MAKE MY BROWN EYES BLUE (originally written for Shirley Bassey). And maybe you remember seeing her perform RIVER ROAD on The Muppet Show in 1979 (what a backing chorus!). So, let’s look at five other Frank favorites.

Crystal is dealing with an ex-lover who turns up unexpectedly on her doorstep to try and rekindle their love. And, rightly so, she is suspicious. All the while Allen Reynolds blends folk harmonies and handclaps with a smooth yacht rock groove.

This gentle song of self-empowerment has beautifully bleak lyrics like “You'll never break in woman in me though you might break the smile. You'll never hurt the woman in me, but you might hurt the child.”

It is Frank’s favorite of Crystal’s hits (the single climbed the Adult Contemporary, Hot Country, and Hot 100 charts at the same time.)

Bleaker still, and written by Allen Reynolds, this 1974 cut fills you up with the loneliness and restlessness felt by a truly unhappy friend.

And since Hollywood’s auteur of ‘70s pop, Quentin Tarantino, used it on the soundtrack of The Hateful Eight, you know we are not exaggerating its goodness.

Sounding like the lost theme to a glitzy early 80s soap opera, this 1979 summery floor filler is essential slow disco. The production only pushed Crystal further creatively as she experimented with sounds that would cement her reputation as a crossover artist in the new decade.

With her LPs, Crystal always comes off the blocks strong. The songs she chooses to open her albums are absolute bangers, this opener of her 1976 album Crystal is no different.

Recorded at Jack Clement’s Tracks studio in Nashville, I’LL DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN is a breezy slice (with electric piano!) of sugary country-pop deliciousness. Lyrically, Crystal feels alright about the bridges she burns and the life experiences she gains when she gets up and dusts herself off after a breakup.