1965 in country music

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See also: 1964 in country music, 1965 in music, other events of 1965, 1966 in country music and the List of years in Country Music

Contents 1 Events 1.1 No dates 2 Top hits of the year 2.1 Number one hits 2.2 Other major hits 3 Top new album releases 4 Births 5 Deaths 6 Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees 7 Major Awards 7.1 Grammy awards 7.2 Academy of Country Music 8 Further reading

[edit] Events

• January - Leo Fender, founder of Fender Guitars, sells his company to a subsidiary of Columbia Records for $13 million.
• February 17 – "The Tennessee Waltz" is declared the state song of Tennessee.
• October - Country Music Association president Tex Ritter awards Leo Fender the President's Award for "outstanding contributions to the sound of country music."
• October 5 - Johnny Cash is arrested in El Paso, Texas on federal drug charges. He pleads guilty and is given a 30-day suspended sentence and fined $1,000.
• December - George Jones, his agent and band members are held for questioning in connection with a Houston, Texas murder investigation. Lie detector tests clear them all.

[edit] No dates

• Rock singer Conway Twitty makes his county music debut. His first few country singles and albums were met with "some" country DJs refusing to play them because he was a well known rock-n-roll singer.
• Johnny Cash is banned from the Grand Ole Opry after an infamous concert where - in a drug-induced haze - he used a microphone to smash the floodlights. He also walked offstage in the middle of a song.
• The Vietnam War, which by now was making daily headlines, brings about the second wave of patriotic-themed songs. One of the first big songs was Johnnie Wright's "Hello Vietnam," a No. 1 hit in October. Late in the year, Dave Dudley records and releases "What We're Fighting For."

The trend continues through the rest of the 1960s and early 1970s, with songs such as "Distant Drums" by Jim Reeves; "Ballad of the Green Berets" by Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler; "Dear Uncle Sam" by Loretta Lynn; and others. By the late 1960s, the tone of the songs became darker, most notably the Mel Tillis-penned "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" (first a hit for Johnny Darrell but more famously in 1969 by Kenny Rogers and the First Edition).

[edit] Top hits of the year

[edit] Number one hits

(As certified by Billboard magazine)

• January 23 - "You're the Only World I Know" - Sonny James
• February 20 - "I've Got a Tiger By the Tail" - Buck Owens
• March 27 - "King of the Road" - Roger Miller
• May 1 - "This is It" - Jim Reeves
• May 15 - "Girl on the Billboard" - Del Reeves

"This is It" by Jim Reeves returns to No. 1 on May 29

• June 5 - "What's He Doing In My World" - Eddy Arnold
• June 19 - "Ribbon of Darkness" - Marty Robbins
• June 26 - "Before You Go" - Buck Owens
• August 7 - "The First Thing Ev'ry Morning (and the Last Thing Ev'ry Night)" - Jimmy Dean
• August 21 - "Yes, Mr. Peters" - Roy Drusky and Priscilla Mitchell
• September 4 - "The Bridge Washed Out" - Warner Mack
• September 11 - "Is it Really Over" - Jim Reeves
• October 2 - "Only You (Can Break My Heart)" - Buck Owens
• October 9 - "Behind the Tear" - Sonny James
• October 23 - "Hello Vietnam" - Johnnie Wright

"Behind the Tear" by Sonny James returns to No. 1 on November 13

• November 20 - "May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose" - Little Jimmy Dickens
• December 4 - "Make the World Go Away" - Eddy Arnold
• December 25 - "Buckaroo" - Buck Owens and the Buckaroos

[edit] Other major hits

• "Blue Kentucky Girl" — Loretta Lynn
• "Baby" — Wilma Burgess
• "A Dear John Letter" — Bobby Bare and Skeeter Davis
• "Don't You Ever Get Tired Of Hurting Me?" — Ray Price
• "Engine Engine #9" — Roger Miller
• "(From Now On All My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers" — Roy Drusky
• "(From Now On All My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers" — Merle Haggard
• "Green, Green Grass of Home" — Porter Wagoner
• "I'll Keep Holding On (Just to Your Love)" — Sonny James
• "I Wouldn't Buy a Used Car From Him" — Norma Jean
• "If I Talk to Him" - Connie Smith
• "Kansas City Star" — Roger Miller
• "Meanwhile, Down at Joe's" — Kitty Wells
• "The Other Woman (in My Life)" — Ray Price
• "Queen of the House" — Jody Miller
• "Ten Little Bottles" — Johnny Bond
• "That Kind Of Girl\Together Forever" - Conway Twitty
• "Then and Only Then/Tiny Blue Transistor Radio" — Connie Smith
• "A Tombstone Every Mile" — Dick Curless
• "Truck Drivin' Son of a Gun" — Dave Dudley

[edit] Top new album releases

• Before You Go/No One But You - Buck Owens (Capitol)
• Behind the Tear - Sonny James (Capitol)
• Breakin' In Another Heart - Hank Thompson (Capitol)
• Bright Lights and Country Music - Bill Anderson (Decca)
• Chet Atkins Picks on the Beatles - Chet Atkins (RCA)
• Country Willie: His Own Songs - Willie Nelson (RCA)
• Cute 'n' Country - Connie Smith (RCA)
• Doodle oo Doo Doo - Del Reeves (United Artists )
• The Easy Way - Eddy Arnold (RCA)
• From This Pen - Bill Anderson (Decca)
• Girl On The Billboard - Del Reeves (United Artists)
• Golden Hits - Roger Miller (Smash)
• Here Comes My Baby - Dottie West (RCA)
• Hot Rod Lincoln - Johnny Bond (Starday)
• I Heard the Bluebirds Sing - The Browns (RCA)
• I Want to Live and Love - Carl Smith (Columbia)
• I'll Keep Holding On - Sonny James (Capitol)
• I've Got a Tiger By the Tail - Buck Owens (Capitol)
• The Instrumental Hits of Buck Owens and His Buckaroos - Buck Owens and the Buckaroos (Capitol)
• Kisses Don't Lie - Carl Smith (Columbia)
• Luckiest Heartache in Town - Hank Thompson (Capitol)
• Many Happy Hangovers - Jean Shepard (Capitol)
• My Favorite Guitars - Chet Atkins (RCA)
• My World - Eddy Arnold (RCA)
• Pretty Miss Norma Jean - Norma Jean (RCA)
• Sings Jim Reeves - Del Reeves (United Artists)
• Skeeter Sings Standards - Skeeter Davis (RCA)
• Ten Little Bottles - Johnny Bond (RCA)
• The Thin Man From West Plains - Porter Wagoner (RCA)
• Three Shades of Brown - The Browns (RCA)
• When Love is Gone - The Browns (RCA)
• You're the Only World I Know - Sonny James (Capitol)
• Your Favorite Country Hits - Hank Snow (RCA)

[edit] Births

• August 28 - Shania Twain, mega country star since the latter half of the 1990s.

[edit] Deaths

[edit] Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

• Ernest Tubb (1914-1984)

[edit] Major Awards

[edit] Grammy awards

[edit] Academy of Country Music

• Top Male Vocalist -- Buck Owens
• Top Female Vocalist -- Bonnie Owens
• Top Vocal Duo -- Merle Haggard und Bonnie Owens
• Top New Male Vocalist -- Merle Haggard
• Top New Female Vocalist -- Kaye Adams

[edit] Further reading

• Kingsbury, Paul, "The Grand Ole Opry: History of Country Music. 70 Years of the Songs, the Stars and the Stories," Villard Books, Random House; Opryland USA, 1995
• Kingsbury, Paul, "Vinyl Hayride: Country Music Album Covers 1947-1989," Country Music Foundation, 2003 (ISBN 0-8118-3572-3)
• Millard, Bob, "Country Music: 70 Years of America's Favorite Music," HarperCollins, New York, 1993 (ISBN 0-06-273244-7)
• Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs 1944-2005 - 6th Edition." 2005.