Forty years ago, Jimmy Carter was president and the United States was just being introduced to the McDonald's Happy Meal. The year 1979 probably feels like a lifetime ago (or, for some younger readers, like an entirely different world), but the year brought country fans a number of classic albums.

It was a good year for Willie Nelson, for example, who was involved in the soundtrack for the movie The Electric Horseman; that album features two big hits of his: "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" and "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys." Reba McEntire, meanwhile, was releasing her sophomore album, Out of a Dream, and earning her first Top 30 song with "Last Night, Ev'ry Night." Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton and Waylon Jennings also dropped new albums in 1979.

12 Country Albums You Won't Believe Are Turning 40 in 2019:

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