The 12 Best Country Songs of All Time

PJ Media ^ | January 19, 2019 | Chris Queen

[jeffersondem]

Sonny James - 26 number 1 hits, including 16 straight.

Married once, for life. I read he would not perform in a venue that sold alcohol.

Tremendous musical ability.

[sparklite2]

That would be ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU_8D5jBqd0

Young Love

[newfreep]

I’ve always liked “Jolene” - just a well crafted song.

Two notable covers are by:

Olivia Newton-John (surprisingly quite well sung): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESKwJAYtDkE

Matraca Berg (a great songwriter in her own right and in the Country Music Songwriters Hall of Fame) - a slower, more emotional cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ6xzYezalI

[Fiji Hill]

My grandmother used to date Arkie Shibley, the guy who wrote and recorded "Hot Rod Race". He was a disk jockey in nearby Bremerton, Washington and when the bars closed, he and friends would go to her place like an after hours club. This was around 1949, my mom was in high school at the time.

Wow! A wonderful story.

Meanwhile, Arkie continues the story of the famous Hot Rod Race with his follow-on to the original record:

Hot Rod Race No. 2--Arkie Shibley & His Mountain Dew Boys (1951)

[Albion Wilde]

I don’t like “Jolene,”

Me, either. I'd rather see Dolly Parton recognized for

Here You Come Again or

I Will Always Love You.

[Fiji Hill]

I Can't Help You, I'm Falling, Too--Skeeter Davis (1960)--The answer to Hank Locklin's Please Help Me, I'm Falling (1960).

[Fiji Hill]

Vera Lynn's singing career began in 1924. She began recording in 1935 and her recordings continue to be hot sellers. She is still alive and will turn 102 in two months. Here is one of her rare country-western recordings:

Hollywood Square Dance--Vera Lynn & Anne Shelton (1949)

[Tax-chick]

I like both of those better than “Jolene.” Don’t care for the theme.

[smalltownslick]

YESSS111

[Mr. Lucky]

Put Another Log on the Fire by Tompal Glaser retired the trophy. Everything else merely competes fot second place.

[BeadCounter]

No one doubts that she recorded a lot of songs, I think it means, her other hits do not seem to be very well known.

It’s the same for Bobbie Gentry, most people would know “Ode To Billy Joe” but not much more.

Per the billboard charts, they may have had some other successes but nothing like their signature hits.

That’s really not a knock on the artist, “greatest songs should mean greatest songs” of the genre, not, here are the biggest names in country music and this is their top hit.

BTW and this is to other posts, ‘Wichita Lineman’ would be Glenn’s top songs for me. Some of the others, ‘By the time I get to Phoenix’ or “Galveston’ are close. It’s almost a pick-em.

[PghBaldy]

You are very welcome. It is a wonderful song.

[Oorang]

Shame On The Moon, written by Rodney Crowell

[Fiji Hill]

BTW and this is to other posts, ‘Wichita Lineman’ would be Glenn’s top songs for me. Some of the others, ‘By the time I get to Phoenix’ or “Galveston’ are close. It’s almost a pick-em.

"By the Time I Get to Phoenix" describes a trip in which the narrator reaches Phoenix in the early morning, then Albuquerque, NM, later in the day. At night, he's in Oklahoma. However, the lyrics reveal no starting point. So where did the trip start?

I figure the starting point is Buckeye, Goodyear or Hassayampa in Maricopa County, Ariz. if he traveled by road. If he started from farther south, he would most likely have passed through Casa Grande instead of Phoenix, and if he started from farther north or west, he would have gone through Flagstaff.

In 1967, when much of the trip would have been over two-lane highways, he might have made it to Texola or Texhoma, Okla. by nightfall, but he would have had to step on the gas.

By the Time I Get to Phoenix--Vera Lynn