Country Boy is the seventh LP by American country singer-songwriter Don Williams. Released on September 13, 1977, on the ABC-Dot label, the album reached number 9 on the Billboard Country Albums chart. Country Boy was the second of two Don Williams albums released in 1977, along with Visions, which was released in January. Three singles were released from the album, and all three were top-10 country chart hits: "I'm Just a Country Boy" was released first in 1977, and was Williams' second consecutive number-one hit (following "Some Broken Hearts Never Mend"). The following two singles released in 1978 were "I've Got a Winner in You", which reached number seven, and "Rake and Ramblin' Man", which reached number three.
Don Williams spent the summer of 1977 touring in road shows with Jerry Jeff Walker, Waylon Jennings, and Emmylou Harris, and splitting his time recording in the studio. Willams produced the album himself, and contributed writing on some of the songs.
The single "I'm Just a Country Boy" was released in August 1977 in advance of the album, and in the Billboard review for the single it was described as:<blockquote> Beautiful, soft arrangement of the old evergreen should take Williams back to No. 1 on the Hot Country Singles chart and perhaps establish him on the Hot 100 pop chart...instrumentation kept mainly in the background, focusing attention on the flawless Williams delivery.</blockquote>The prediction was correct, and by the week before the release of the album, the single went from number 51 to number two on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. Williams' record label, ABC/Dot, developed a strategy to cross-market Williams to the US Pop market, and "I'm Just a Country Boy" was released to pop stations that played both country and rock music.
Shortly before the release of the Country Boy album, Don Williams was announced as a finalist for best male vocalist by the Country Music Association Awards. In October it was announced that Williams would also perform on the 11th annual CMA Awards, hosted by Johnny Cash.
Upon release of the album in September, he embarked on a short tour of England before returning to the US to play Las Vegas in November. Williams was especially popular in England and Europe in 1977, where he collected a gold and silver album awards for Visions, Harmony, and You're My Best Friend. The decision to market him to a mainstream American audience was in large part driven by his unexpected success in Europe.
from the original vinyl
Side A
Side B
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