The List

3 Country Songs From 1991 That Still Make Me Want To Dance Today

So much of country music was made for dancing. For decades, the genre has had plenty of country songs that sound best turned up loud on the dance floor. Especially in the early 1990s, country dancing, and specifically line dancing, grew exponentially in popularity.

With that in mind, these are three of the best country songs from 1991, which still make me want to dance today.

Videos by American Songwriter

โ€œSmall Town Saturday Nightโ€ by Hal Ketchum

A dance song if there ever was one, โ€œSmall Town Saturday Nightโ€ is Hal Ketchumโ€™s debut single. The song, on his Past The Point Of Rescue record, was written by Pat Alger and Hank DeVito.

A nostalgic look at life in rural America, the song says in part, “Got a six-pack of beer and a bottle of wine / Gotta be bad just to have a good time / They’re gonna howl at the moon, shoot out the light / It’s a small town Saturday night / It’s a small town Saturday night.”

โ€œSmall Town Saturday Nightโ€ is Ketchumโ€™s biggest hit. The title track of Past The Point Of Rescue also became a Top 5 single for him.

โ€œThe Whiskey Ainโ€™t Workinโ€™ by Travis Tritt and Marty Stuart

Travis Tritt teams up with Marty Stuart on “The Whiskey Ain’t Workinโ€™โ€. On Trittโ€™s sophomore Itโ€™s All About To Change album, Stuart wrote โ€œThe Whiskey Ainโ€™t Workinโ€™โ€ with Ronny Scaife.

The perfect song for a rowdy bar, โ€œThe Whiskey Ainโ€™t Workinโ€™โ€ says, โ€œI need one good honky tonk angel to turn my life around / That’s reason enough for me to lay this old bottle down / A woman warm and willing, that’s what I’m looking for / ‘Cause the whiskey ain’t workin’ anymore.”

Itโ€™s All About To Change became a pivotal record for Tritt. It also includes “Here’s a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)โ€, โ€œAnymoreโ€, and โ€œNothing Short Of Dyingโ€, all big hits for Tritt.

“Two Of A Kind, Workinโ€™ On A Full House” by Garth Brooks

On No Fences, Garth Brooksโ€™ sophomore album, is โ€œTwo Of A Kind, Workinโ€™ On A Full Houseโ€. The song, written by Dennis Robbins, Bobby Boyd, and Warren Haynes, is actually a cover song. Robbins first released a version of the uptempo tune in 1987. But it wasnโ€™t until Brooks released his take on “Two Of A Kind, Workinโ€™ On A Full Houseโ€ that it became a big hit.

A love song at its core, โ€œTwo Of A Kind, Workinโ€™ On A Full Houseโ€ says, โ€œShe’s my easy lovin’ woman / I’m her hard-workin’ man, no doubt / Yeah, we’re two of a kind / Workin’ on a full house.”

An incredible track, Brooks doesnโ€™t take all of the credit for the songโ€™s success.

โ€œโ€˜Two Of A Kindโ€™ was kind of a swamp thing that a guy named John Northrup took and turned into what I heard,โ€ Brooks tells American Songwriter. โ€œHe had it for a record deal, so it had everything, the whole nine yards on it. I take them anyway I can get them.โ€

Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images