"Easy Loving" is a song composed by country music singer-songwriter Freddie Hart. Released in the summer of

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, it became Hart's breakthrough hit and a country music standard.

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 A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart, and

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

decided to drop Hart's contract. In mid-1971, a disc jockey at

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

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''

chart. On September 11, it became his first No. 1 song, spending three weeks atop the chart (interrupted between its first and second weeks by Tom T. Hall's "The Year Clayton Delaney Died."). "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.

Awards

The success of "Easy Loving" won Hart numerous awards. For instance, during the 1972

Academy of Country Music The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Among the founders were Eddie Miller (songwriter), Eddie Miller, Tommy Wiggins, and Mickey and Chris ...

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 The Country Music Association (CMA) is an American trade association with the stated aim of promoting and developing country music throughout the world. Founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee, it originally consisted of 233 members and was the f ...

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 The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

, and was the No. 1 song of 1971 on ''Billboard's'' Hot Country Singles chart.
Billboard
', December 25, 1971. 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

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

Bibliography

*Millard, Bob. ''Country Music: 70 Years of America's Favorite Music'' (1993). New York: HarperCollins. () *Roland, Tom. ''The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits'' (1991). New York: Billboard Books, Watson-Guptill Publications. () {{authority control 1971 singles Freddie Hart songs Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one singles of the year Songs written by Freddie Hart 1971 songs Song recordings produced by George Richey Capitol Records singles