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| "Easy Loving" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byFreddie Hart | ||||
| from the album California Grapevine | ||||
| B-side | "Brother Bluebird" | |||
| Released | July1971(U.S.) | |||
| Recorded | 1970 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 2:29 | |||
| Label | Capitol3115 | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Freddie Hart | |||
| Producer(s) | George Richey | |||
| Freddie Hart singles chronology | ||||
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"Easy Loving" is a song composed by country music singer-songwriterFreddie Hart. Released in the summer of1971, it became Hart's breakthrough hit and a country music standard.
Hart, a country music stalwart since the late 1950s, had a string of minor hits for several labels, includingKapp,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 theBillboardHot Country Singles chart, andCapitol Records decided to drop Hart's contract.
In mid-1971, a disc jockey atAtlanta, Georgia 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 theBillboardHot Country Singles chart. On September 11, it became his first No. 1 song, spending three weeks atop the chart (interrupted between its first and second weeks byTom T. Hall's "The Year Clayton Delaney Died.").[1]
"Easy Loving" also was a modest pop hit, reaching No. 17 on theBillboard Hot 100 in the fall of 1971, and was theonly pop hit of Hart's career.[2]
The success of "Easy Loving" won Hart numerous awards. For instance, during the 1972Academy of Country Music 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.
TheCountry Music Association bestowedSong of the Year honors upon "Easy Loving" in both 1971 and 1972.
"Easy Loving" was certified gold for sales of 1 million units by theRecording Industry Association of America,[3] and was the No. 1 song of 1971 onBillboard's Hot Country Singles chart.[4]
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 theBillboard Hot Country Singles chart during the next two years, plus scored more than a dozen more top 10 hits through 1977.
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
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