Grammy Award for Best Country Song
Year Songwriter ( s ) Title Artist ( s ) Nominees ( Performer ( s ) in parentheses )
1979 Don Schlitz The Gambler Kenny Rogers Jan Dyer & Jeffrey Tweel for Every Time Two Fools Collide ( Kenny Rogers & Dottie West ) Archie Jordan & Naomi Martin for Let 's Take the Long Way Around the World ( Ronnie Milsap ) Ed Bruce & Patsy Bruce for Mamas Do n't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys ( Willie Nelson & Waylon Jennings ) David Allen Coe for Take This Job and Shove It ( Johnny Paycheck )
1978 Richard Leigh Do n't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue Crystal Gayle Glenn Frey & Don Henley for Desperado ( Johnny Rodriguez ) Archie Jordan & Hal David for It Was Almost Like a Song ( Ronnie Milsap ) Roger Bowling & Hal Bynum for Lucille ( Kenny Rogers ) Bobby Emmons & Chips Moman for Luckenbach , Texas ( Waylon Jennings )
1977 Larry Gatlin Broken Lady Larry Gatlin Bob McDill & Dickey Lee for The Door is Always Open ( Dave & Sugar ) Paul Craft for Dropkick Me Jesus ( Bobby Bare ) Charlie Rich & Billy Sherrill for Everytime You Touch Me I Get High ( Charlie Rich ) Paul Craft for Hank Williams You Wrote My Life ( Moe Bandy )
1976 Chips Moman & Larry Butler ( Hey Wo n't You Play ) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song B. J. Thomas Vivian Keith & Ben Peters for Before the Next Teardrop Falls ( Freddy Fender ) Fred Rose for Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain ( Willie Nelson ) Jessi Colter for I 'm Not Lisa ( Jessi Colter ) John Martin Sommers for Thank God I 'm a Country Boy ( John Denver )
1975 Norro Wilson & Billy Sherrill A Very Special Love Song Charlie Rich Anita Pointer & Bonnie Pointer for Fairytale ( The Pointer Sisters ) Ray Pennington for I 'm a Ramblin ' Man ( Waylon Jennings ) Merle Haggard for If We Make it Through December ( Merle Haggard ) Janice Torre & Fred Spielman for Paper Roses ( Marie Osmond )
1974 Kenny O'Dell Behind Closed Doors Charlie Rich Billy Davis & Dottie West for Country Sunshine ( Dottie West ) Rory Bourke , Billy Sherrill & Norro Wilson for The Most Beautiful Girl ( Charlie Rich ) Tom T. Hall for Old Dogs , Children , and Watermelon Wine ( Tom T. Hall ) Kris Kristofferson for Why Me ( Kris Kristofferson )
1973 Ben Peters Kiss an Angel Good Mornin ' Charley Pride Alex Harvey & Larry Collins for Delta Dawn ( Tanya Tucker ) Donna Fargo for Funny Face ( Donna Fargo ) Donna Fargo for The Happiest Girl in the Whole USA ( Donna Fargo ) Gary S. Paxton for Woman ( Sensuous Woman ) ( Don Gibson )
1972 Kris Kristofferson Help Me Make It Through the Night Sammi Smith Freddie Hart for Easy Loving ( Freddie Hart ) Kris Kristofferson for For the Good Times ( Ray Price ) Kris Kristofferson & Fred Foster for Me and Bobby McGee ( Gordon Lightfoot ) Joe South for ( I Never Promised You a ) Rose Garden ( Lynn Anderson )
1971 Marty Robbins My Woman , My Woman , My Wife Marty Robbins Merle Haggard for The Fightin ' Side of Me ( Merle Haggard ) Conway Twitty for Hello Darlin ' ( Conway Twitty ) Glenn Martin & Dave Kirby for Is Anybody Goin ' to San Antone ( Charley Pride ) Bill Rice for Wonder Could I Live There Anymore ( Charley Pride )
1970 Shel Silverstein A Boy Named Sue Johnny Cash Dallas Frazier & A. L. Owens for All I Have To Offer You is Me ( Charley Pride ) Billy Sherrill & Tammy Wynette for Stand by Your Man ( Tammy Wynette ) Don Sumner for The Things That Matter ( Van Trevor ) Marty Robbins for You Gave Me a Mountain ( Marty Robbins )
1970s
The Grammy Award for Best Country Song (sometimes known as the Country Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1965. The award is given to the writer(s) of the song, not to the artist, except if the artist is also the songwriter. There have been several minor changes to the name of the award:
Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were presented, for music released in the previous year.