1964 in country music
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in 1964.
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Events
- January 11 — Billboard increases the length of its Hot Country Singles chart to 50 positions, up from 30.
- February 1 — Buck Owens' mega-hit, "Love's Gonna Live Here," finishes its 16-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. To date, it is the most recent song to spend 10 or more weeks atop the chart.
- July 31 — A private aircraft piloted by Jim Reeves crashes during a thunderstorm near Nashville, Tennessee. Both Reeves and business partner Dean Manuel are killed in the crash; their bodies are found two days later following a massive search for the two missing men. Reeves, already a huge country star, would leave behind hundreds of un-released recordings; many of those songs became huge posthumous hits during the next decade. Reeves' death comes just 16 months after the airplane crash deaths of Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins and Cowboy Copas, leaving a huge void among country music fans.
- November 28 — "Once a Day," by Connie Smith, begins an eight-week stay at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. Until 2012, it is the longest-running No. 1 song by a solo female act, and will make the 23-year-old Smith — a native of Elkhart, Indiana — an overnight sensation.
Top hits of the year
Number one hits
United States
(as certified by Billboard)
| Date | Single Name | Artist | Wks. No.1 | CAN peak | Spec. Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 8 | Begging to You | Marty Robbins | 2 | — | [2]
|
| February 15 | B.J. the D.J. | Stonewall Jackson | 1 | — | [B]
|
| March 7 | Saginaw, Michigan | Lefty Frizzell | 4 | — |
|
| April 4 | Understand Your Man | Johnny Cash | 6 | — | |
| May 16 | My Heart Skips a Beat | Buck Owens | 7 | — | [1], [2]
|
| June 6 | Together Again | Buck Owens | 2 | — | |
| July 18 | Dang Me | Roger Miller | 6 | 3 | [A]
|
| August 29 | I Guess I'm Crazy | Jim Reeves | 7 |
| |
| October 17 | I Don't Care (Just as Long as You Love Me) | Buck Owens | 6 | ||
| November 28 | Once a Day | Connie Smith | 8 | — | [C]
|
- Notes
Canada
(as certified by RPM)
| Date | Single Name | Artist | Wks. No.1 | U.S. peak | Spec. Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 14 | I Guess I'm Crazy | Jim Reeves | 1 | [A] | |
| September 28 | I Don't Love You Anymore | Charlie Louvin | 1 | 4 | [C] |
| October 5 | I Don't Care (Just as Long as You Love Me) | Buck Owens | 2 | [2], [A]
| |
| October 12 | Please Talk to My Heart | Ray Price | 2 | 7 | [2], [A]
|
| November 9 | Give Me Forty Acres (To Turn This Rig Around) | Willis Brothers | 1 | 9 | <span id="ref_C />[C] |
| November 30 | The Lumberjack | Hal Willis | 1 | 5 | [A] |
| December 21 | Don't Come Crying | Ron McLeod | 3 | — | [C] |
- Notes
Other major hits
Singles released by American artists
| US | CAN | Single | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | — | Ask Marie | Sonny James |
| 8 | 5 | Bad News | Johnny Cash |
| 3 | 2 | The Ballad of Ira Hayes | Johnny Cash |
| 6 | — | Baltimore | Sonny James |
| 4 | — | Before I'm Over You | Loretta Lynn |
| 2 | — | Burning Memories | Ray Price |
| 17 | — | Chickashay | David Houston |
| 14 | — | Chit Akins, Make Me a Star | Don Bowman |
| 3 | 3 | Chug-a-Lug | Roger Miller |
| 7 | — | Circumstances | Billy Walker |
| 3 | 3 | The Cowboy in the Continental Suit | Marty Robbins |
| 2 | 5 | Cross the Brazos at Waco | Billy Walker |
| 9 | — | D.J. for a Day | Jimmy C. Newman |
| 13 | 4 | Dern Ya | Ruby Wright |
| 4 | 3 | Don't Be Angry | Stonewall Jackson |
| 14 | — | Easy Come, Easy Go | Bill Anderson |
| 9 | 2 | Finally | Kitty Wells and Webb Pierce |
| 5 | — | Five Little Fingers | Bill Anderson |
| 5 | — | 500 Miles Away from Home | Bobby Bare |
| 15 | — | Followed Closely by My Teardrops | Hank Locklin |
| 9 | 3 | Fort Worth, Dallas or Houston | George Hamilton IV |
| 15 | — | Girl from Spanish Town | Marty Robbins |
| 8 | — | Go Cat Go | Norma Jean |
| 8 | — | Gonna Get Along Without You Now | Skeeter Davis |
| 17 | — | He Says the Same Things to Me | Skeeter Davis |
| 19 | — | Helpless | Joe Carson |
| 10 | — | Here Comes My Baby | Dottie West |
| 19 | — | Howdy Neighbor Howdy | Porter Wagoner |
| 4 | — | I Love to Dance with Annie | Ernest Ashworth |
| 11 | — | I'll Go Down Swinging | Porter Wagoner |
| 14 | — | I'm Hanging Up the Phone | Carl Butler and Pearl |
| 13 | — | If the Back Door Could Talk | Webb Pierce |
| 13 | — | Invisible Tears | Ned Miller |
| 12 | — | Jealous Hearted Me | Eddy Arnold |
| 16 | — | Keep Those Cards and Letters Coming In | Johnny & Jonie Mosby |
| 5 | — | Keeping Up with the Joneses | Faron Young and Margie Singleton |
| 7 | — | Last Day in the Mines | Dave Dudley |
| 11 | — | Let's Go All the Way | Norma Jean |
| 14 | — | Lonely Girl | Carl Smith |
| 5 | — | Long Gone Lonesome Blues | Hank Williams, Jr. |
| 7 | — | Looking for More in '64 | Jim Nesbitt |
| 7 | — | Love Is No Excuse | Jim Reeves and Dottie West |
| 17 | — | Love Looks Good on You | David Houston |
| 6 | — | Mad | Dave Dudley |
| 8 | — | Me | Bill Anderson |
| 2 | — | Memory #1 | Webb Pierce |
| 4 | — | Miller's Cave | Bobby Bare |
| 5 | — | Molly | Eddy Arnold |
| 20 | — | Mother-in-Law | Jim Nesbitt |
| 11 | 4 | Mr. and Mrs. Used to Be | Ernest Tubb and Loretta Lynn |
| 11 | — | My Friend on the Right | Faron Young |
| 15 | — | My Tears Are Overdue | George Jones |
| 11 | — | Old Records | Margie Singleton |
| 11 | — | One If for Him, Two If for Me | David Houston |
| 8 | — | One of These Days | Marty Robbins |
| 4 | — | Password | Kitty Wells |
| 8 | — | Peel Me a Nanner | Roy Drusky |
| 14 | — | Petticoat Junction | Flatt & Scruggs |
| 13 | — | Pick of the Week | Roy Drusky |
| 17 | — | Pillow That Whispers | Carl Smith |
| 3 | — | The Race Is On | George Jones |
| 11 | 2 | Sam Hill | Claude King |
| 5 | — | Second Fiddle (To an Old Guitar) | Jean Shepard |
| 19 | — | Sing a Sad Song | Merle Haggard |
| 5 | — | Sorrow On the Rocks | Porter Wagoner |
| 15 | — | Take My Ring Off Your Finger | Carl Smith |
| 12 | — | Then I'll Stop Loving You | The Browns |
| 7 | — | This White Circle On My Finger | Kitty Wells |
| 13 | — | Timber I'm Falling | Ferlin Husky |
| 9 | — | Too Late to Try Again | Carl Butler and Pearl |
| 16 | — | Triangle | Carl Smith |
| 12 | — | Trouble in My Arms | Johnny & Jonie Mosby |
| 10 | — | A Week in the Country | Ernest Ashworth |
| 2 | — | Welcome to My World | Jim Reeves |
| 10 | — | Where Does a Little Tear Come From | George Jones |
| 19 | — | Widow Maker | Jimmy Martin |
| 3 | — | Wine Women and Song | Loretta Lynn |
| 12 | — | You Are My Flower | Flatt & Scruggs |
| 10 | — | You'll Drive Me Back (Into Her Arms Again) | Faron Young |
| 5 | — | Your Heart Turned Left (And I Was On the Right) | George Jones |
Singles released by Canadian artists
| US | CAN | Single | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | 4 | Biggest Hurt of All | Dianne Leigh |
| 11 | — | Breakfast with the Blues | Hank Snow |
| — | 5 | Crazy Arms | Lucille Starr |
| — | 5 | Deer Island | Henchmen |
| — | 8 | My Good Life | Cy Anders |
| — | 9 | Night on the Water | Sandy Selsie |
Top new album releases
- The Best of Buck Owens - Buck Owens (Capitol)
- Bill Anderson Showcase - Bill Anderson (Decca)
- Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian - Johnny Cash (Columbia)
- Eddy's Songs - Eddy Arnold (RCA)
- Folk Song Book - Bill Anderson (Decca)
- Grand Ole Opry Favorites - The Browns (RCA)
- Guitar Country - Chet Atkins (RCA)
- I Don't Care - Buck Owens (Capitol)
- Let's Go All the Way - Norma Jean (RCA)
- Johnny Bond's Best - Johnny Bond (Harmony)
- Oh Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison (Columbia)
- Orange Blossom Special – Johnny Cash (Columbia)
- Pop Hits From the Country Side - Eddy Arnold (RCA)
- Progressive Pickin' - Chet Atkins (RCA)
- The Return of Roger Miller - Roger Miller (Smash)
- Sometimes I'm Happy, Sometimes I'm Blue - Eddy Arnold (RCA)
- This Young Land - The Browns (RCA)
- Together Again/My Heart Skips a Beat - Buck Owens (Capitol)
Births
- January 30 — Patricia Conroy, Canadian country star of the 1990s.
- May 28 — Jimmy Rankin, member of the country pop group The Rankin Family, who began a solo career in the 2000s (decade).
- May 28 — Phil Vassar, singer-songwriter of the late 1990s and 2000s (decade).
- May 30 — Wynonna Judd, daughter half of The Judds, who became a solo star in her own right during the 1990s.
- September 19 — Trisha Yearwood, female vocalist active since the early 1990s, known for her close association with Garth Brooks.
- October 31 — Darryl Worley, singer-songwriter since the 2000s (decade), known for patriotic-themed songs ("Have You Forgotten?" and others)
Deaths
- June 9 - Alton Delmore, 55, one half of the old-time harmony duo Delmore Brothers.
- July 31 — Jim Reeves, 39, velvet-voiced singer and leading force in the Nashville Sound; many of his hits came posthumously. (plane crash)
Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees
- Tex Ritter (1905–1974)
Major awards
Grammy Awards
- Best Country and Western Vocal Performance, Female — "Here Comes My Baby," Dottie West
- Best Country and Western Vocal Performance, Male — "Dang Me," Roger Miller
- Best Country and Western Single — "Dang Me," Roger Miller
- Best Country and Western Song — "Dang Me," Roger Miller (Performer: Roger Miller)
- Best Country and Western Album — Dang Me/Chug-a-Lug, Roger Miller
- Best New Country and Western Artist — Roger Miller
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.
Other links
- Country Music Association
- Inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame