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3. Tina Turner: “Bayou Song”
Released in 1974, Tina Turner’s first solo album announced its cowgirl bona fides (and its radiant sensuality) right there in the title: “Tina Turns the Country On!” The album featured Turner’s reworkings of twangy tunes like Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It Through the Night” and Bob Dylan’s “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You,” plus this smoldering original, penned for Turner by the songwriter P.J. Morse.
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4. Rissi Palmer: “Country Girl”
“It’s a state of mind, no matter where you’re from,” Rissi Palmer sings on this upbeat 2007 single, which playfully called for a more inclusive definition of “country.” The video received significant airplay on CMT, and when “Country Girl” hit Billboard’s Hot Country Songs, Palmer became the first Black woman to appear on the chart in 20 years.
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5. The Pointer Sisters: “Fairytale”
Here’s an underappreciated gem from the Pointer Sisters — yep, those Pointer Sisters. Known more for their pop and R&B hits, the girl group made the occasional foray into country music, though never more successfully than on this lushly arranged 1974 single. “Fairytale” hit No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and took home a Grammy for best country vocal performance by a duo or group, making the Pointer Sisters the first — and still the only — Black women to win a Grammy in a country category.
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6. Valerie June: “Workin’ Woman Blues”
The Tennessee-born singer-songwriter Valerie June calls her unclassifiably unique blend of musical stylings “organic moonshine roots music.” You can hear its singular magic on this bluesy single from her 2013 album “Pushin’ Against a Stone,” which celebrates the undersung work done by generations of women.
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7. Brittney Spencer: “I Got Time”
Brittney Spencer, 35, worked as a vocal coach and a background singer before she finally broke through as a solo artist several years ago. This January she released her debut full-length album, the humorously named “My Stupid Life.” This laid-back track showcases her eclectic sound, which pulls from pop, country and gospel. (Spencer’s earliest singing experience came in her church choir.) “You wanna drive, I wanna ride,” she sings with a flirty wink. “It’s summertime, I got time today.”
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8. Reyna Roberts: “Louisiana”
Reyna Roberts, 26, is another Black country artist with a recent debut: Her swaggering “Bad Girl Bible, Vol. 1” came out in September. This stomping single puts Roberts’s own stamp on the outlaw tradition and tells the tale of a wandering Southern woman: “Just like smoke, she’s here and gone.”
