50 Years Ago: In Protest, Traditional Country Entertainers Form “ACE”

History 42 Comments

George Jones and Tammy Wynette


Protesting the direction of country music is just about as old as country music itself. As long as there have been radio stations playing it, and record companies making it, fans and performers have been fighting over what country music is supposed to be. In some ways it’s one of the most tedious, if not outright annoying aspects of the genre. But it’s also what has kept the heart of country beating strong for going on 100 years.

Over those years there have been many protest songs, and many protest moments that have become legendary, from Waylon Jennings singing “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?” to George Strait and Alan Jackson performing “Murder on Music Row.” But arguably nothing compares to the time many of country music’s most popular artists all banded together, and decided to take matters into their own hands by founding their own organization to fight back against the encroachment of pop performers in country.

It was called the Association of Country Entertainers, or ACE. It was officially formed 50 years ago today, November 12th, 1974.

Though “The Nashville Sound” with its heavily-produced strings and choruses had become quite lucrative for Nashville’s major labels by 1974, there was concern that making music mostly for an older adult crowd was not a sustainable business model moving forward. If country music was going to stay relevant in the changing culture, it was going to need to attract at least some younger audiences, as well as listeners outside of it’s traditional and increasingly antiquated demographic.

So folk-oriented pop stars like John Denver and Olivia Newton-John were starting to find more favor with the radio DJs who at the time were country music’s primary gatekeepers. At the 1974 CMA Awards where Johnny Cash hosted and George Jones and Tammy Wynette handed out the Album of the Year award, the the British-born and Australian-raised Olivia Newton-John won the CMA for Female Vocalist of the Year, sending shockwaves throughout country music’s more traditional-oriented performers.

Over the seven years previous of the CMA Awards, only three women had won the Female Vocalist trophy—Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette three times respectively, and Lynn Anderson in 1971. Now the pop incursion into country had gone too far, at least according to traditional country artists. And so they decided to do something about it.

A meeting was convened at the home of Tammy Wynette and George Jones who were married at the time, and were country music’s major power couple. At that meeting with George and Tammy were also Dolly Parton, Barbara Mandrell, Bill Anderson, Porter Wagoner, Conway Twitty, Jim Ed Brown, Dottie West, Brenda Lee, Faron Young, Cal Smith, Hank Snow, Mel Tillis, and others. It officially involved 20 charter members to start.

This was a major cross section of country music’s biggest stars at the time. Imagine a meeting commencing like this in present-day country music, and how much conversation and controversy it would stir. While speaking publicly in defense of the formation of ACE, Minnie Pearl notoriously stated, “This year’s female vocalist winner, Olivia Newton-John, said she was coming to Nashville to meet Hank Williams. She didn’t even know that he was dead.”

The stated goal of ACE was to “Preserve the identity of country music.” Unlike the CMA that allowed label reps, radio and tour promoters, merchandisers, and other industry people to join its ranks, ACE only included entertainers. ACE wasn’t exactly interested in replacing the CMA, which itself was founded amid the rise in popularly of rock and roll to advocate for country music. Its goal was more about holding the CMA to account.

Traditional country singer George Morgan served as the President of ACE for a while, while Barbara Mandrell, Grandpa Jones and Vic Willis of the Willis Brothers also served in leadership positions. George Jones and Tammy Wynette remained the symbolic leaders, since it was at their house where it all started.

ACE insisted that country awards should only go to performers who considered themselves country as opposed to people who were simply exploiting country’s burgeoning popularity. It also asserted that the playlists of country radio stations were too narrow, and encouraged radio stations to broaden the population of the performers it played. Don’t these sound like grievances country music performers could bring today?

But ACE wasn’t just interested in sowing grievances. During its tenure, ACE organized concerts where under-the-radar artists could have an opportunity to be seen and heard. ACE released a compilation album called Proud Country that featured country legends such as Ernest Tubb, Bill Monroe, Jean Shepard, and Grandpa Jones next to names like Speck Rhodes and Del Wood. Justin Tubb’s song “What’s Wrong With The Way Were Doing It Now” in many respect worked as a rallying cry for the movement.


What happened to ACE? According to country music historian Bill C. Malone in the book Country Music USA, the organization was “genuinely concerned about country music’s growing fusion with pop. The organization as a whole, however, was timid about confronting the issue head-on, partly because it was fearful of alienating the Nashville commercial establishment, but largely because it included performers strongly attracted by pop sounds.”

Malone goes on to say that, “An organization that included Tammy Wynette as a charter member and Barbara Mandrell as one of its presidents could hardly be described as traditional. It was easy for critics to argue, therefore, that ACE was primarily concerned with fostering a closed community among country musicians … Fans, of course, were excluded from membership in both the CMA and ACE, and so traditionalists among them stood by helplessly with no one to provide effective focus for their complaints.”

So despite the loud noise, excitement, and controversy ACE stirred upon it’s formation, it never really found it’s proper footing, and ultimately, its proper funding. It eventually went mostly forgotten, and the organization officially closed its offices on September 25th, 1981, citing funding issues as the reason specifically.

ACE was a great idea, but failed in its execution, in part due to infighting and conflicting agendas within its ranks. It probably didn’t help that George Jones and Tammy Wynette divorced the year after ACE was founded.

But it’s not hard to envision how an organization like ACE could be relevant today. With performers like Beyoncé and Post Malone dominating the Grammy’s country nominations 50 years later, while country music’s radio and major streaming playlists have never been more insular, an organization to advocate for traditional and up-and-coming artists definitely feels necessary.

In some respects, the Americana Music Association tries to do similar things today. But with the wide berth of music “Americana” covers, it’s far from exclusive to traditional country. Dale Watson’s Ameripolitan Awards is another good example of a modern-style ACE organization, but Ameripolitan looks to be more of an alternative than an advocacy group within country music.

Either way, looking back on the legacy of the Association of Country Entertainers, it tells us that country music’s struggles are eternal, and some fights are never settled. But the reason we argue over country music is because we all love it so much, it feels so instrumental to our lives, and we want to make sure it’s around another 50-100 years to be voice of the common man, and the salve for a broken heart for generations to come.


© 2024 Saving Country Music

, , , , , , , , , , ,