Music City News was founded in 1963, by country music singer Faron Young. In 1967, the publication began to confer annual awards; in 1978, it began televising them, with the inclusion of artist performances. These awards were not decided by a secretive, politically motivated committee or by an "association," but by fan nominations. Each installment of the Country Legends Live series highlights performances from particular annual awards shows. Country Legends Live, Vol. 1 offers a "best of" the 1978 and 1979 Music City News Awards Shows. Featured artists in this installment include Mel Tillis, Tom T. Hall, Jim Ed Brown & Helen Cornelius, Archie Campbell, The Kendalls, The Statler Brothers, The Gatlin Brothers, Barbara Mandrell, Moe Bandy & Joe Stampley, Mickey Gilley, Loretta Lynn, Eddie Rabbitt, Conway Twitty, Jerry Clower, and Dave & Sugar.

Down a dusty road in the deep South, wanders a young man, Arlin Grove, with a guitar and his earthly belongings on his back, just released from the U. A. Army, with no place to go. When a Hootenanny comes to town, it just discovered that Arlin not only has an exciting voice, he also is a gifted guitar player. He is soon appearing on the Grand Ole Opry stage in Nashville.

Two guys come to Nashville and try to make it on the country music scene. Their vision is to play at the Grand IL' Opry. Rejection after rejection pushes them to the verge of quitting and moving back to wherever they came from.

In the summer of 1969, HEE HAW moseyed into the CBS time slot occupied by The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Conceived as a rural alternative to Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the show ranked in the top 20 nationally when CBS pulled the plug in 1971. But co-hosts Buck Owens and Roy Clark, along with the whole Kornfield Kountry gang, sang and joked on in syndication. In 1978, they grinned at the critics in a two-hour 10th-Anniversary shindig, which was videotaped with an audience of invited guests and fans at the Grand Ole Opry House. Mixing nostalgia with new performances by country music's biggest stars, this special edition of HEE HAW never misses the funnybone.