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.^{[citation needed]}
• December - George Jones, his agent and band members are held for questioning in connection with a Houston, Texas murder investigation.^{[citation needed]} Lie detector tests clear them all.^{[citation needed]}

[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.^{[citation needed]}
• 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.^{[citation needed]}} He also walked offstage in the middle of a song.^{[citation needed]}
• 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," an early response to the growing number of anti-Vietnam War protests.

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
• "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
• "Love Bug" - George Jones
• "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
• "Things Have Gone to Pieces" - George Jones
• "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.