COUNTRY CHARTBEAT

[numberonecountryfan]

1. LADY A TIMES TWO: Lady Antebellum remains at #1 with Need You Now. It is their first multi week #1 hit. I Run To You reigned for seven days earlier this year.
2. A.M.A. CHART: This is where all the A.M.A. winners are in this week's chart:
8. Fifteen-Taylor Swift-Artist of the Year, Country Female, Pop Female, Adult Contemporary Artist, and Country Album
18. Why-Rascal Flatts-Country Group
32. 'Til Summer Comes Around-Keith Urban-Country Male
46. How Far Do You Wanna Go-Gloriana-Breakthrough Artist
3. VALORY'S #1 ARTISTS: Two chart topping artists on the Valory label are together on the charts. They are:
Jimmy Wayne-Sara Smile with Hall and Oates-#33
Justin Moore-Backwoods-#34
4. LOST IN THE 50S TONIGHT: These were the top hits during the last week of November in the 1950s:
1950: I'm Moving On-Hank Snow-RCA-the #1 hit of all time!
1951: Slow Poke-Pee Wee King-RCA
1952: Jambalaya On The Bayou-Hank Williams, Sr.-MGM
1953: There Stands The Glass-Webb Pierce-Decca
1954: More And More-Webb Pierce-Decca
1955: Love, Love, Love-Webb Pierce-Decca-a hat trick!
1956: Singing The Blues-Marty Robbins-Columbia
1957: Jailhouse Rock-Elvis Presley-RCA
1958: City Lights-Ray Price-Columbia
1959: Country Girl-Faron Young-Capitol
5. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: RCA Records already had a superstar male artist in Eddy Arnold. However, they had to wait until the mid 1960s to have a superstar female artist. Her name is Connie Smith and she had major hits for the label between the 1960s and 1970s. Her first hit was our #1 song 45 years ago this week and set two records (I will discuss it later). The song was Once A Day and unfortunately she NEVER had another #1 hit.
During the summer of 1963, she was doing a show and Bill Anderson was in the audience. With his help, she signed with RCA a year later and the rest is history. After Once A Day, she reeled off eleven consecutive top ten hits (her longest streak). They are:
1. Then And Only Then-1965-#4
2. I Can't Remember-1965-#9
3. If I Talk To Him-1965-#4
4. Nobody But A Fool Would Love You-1966-#4
5. Ain't Had No Lovin'-1966-#2
6. The Hurtin's All Over-1966-#3
7. I'll Come Runnin'-1967-#10
8. Cincinnati, Ohio-1967-#4
9. Burning A Hole In My Mind-1967-#5
10. Baby's Back Again-1968-#7
11. Run Away Little Tears-1968-#10
She had six more top tens between 1969-1973 including another #2 hit-Just One Time in 1971. She then signed with Columbia Records in 1972 and landed six major (top 20) hits. They are:
1. Ain't Love A Good Thing-1974-#10
2. I Never Knew What That Song Meant Before-1974-#13
3. I've Got My Baby On My Mind-1975-#13
4. Why Don't You Love Me-1975-#15
5. 'Til I Kissed You-1976-#10
6. I Don't Wanna Talk It Over Anymore-1976-#13
She landed one more major hit in 1978, this time on the Monument label: I Just Want To Be Your Everything (#14).
She has been a Grand Ole Opry member since 1971. She has been married to Marty Stuart for the last twelve years.
Because Once A Day spent eight weeks at #1 out of a total of 27 weeks in the top 40, Smith holds two records:
1. It is the biggest hit by a solo female artist.
2. It is the most successful debut single by a solo female artist.
After Smith, RCA would have to wait until the 1970s for their next female superstar: Dolly Parton. This is what the chart looked like back then:

BILLBOARD TOP TEN FOR WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 28, 1964:
1. ONCE A DAY-CONNIE SMITH-RCA
2. I Don't Care Just As Long As You Love Me-Buck Owens-Capitol
3. The Race Is On-George Jones-United Artists
4. Chug-A-Lug-Roger Miller-Smash
5. Don't Be Angry-Stonewall Jackson-Columbia
6. Mad-Dave Dudley-Mercury
7. Cross The Brazos At Waco-Billy Walker-Columbia
8. I Guess I'm Crazy-Jim Reeves-RCA
9. Finally-Kitty Wells and Webb Pierce-Decca
10. Go Cat Go-Norma Jean-RCA

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at Country ChartBeat!

[Razor X]

5. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: RCA Records already had a superstar male artist in Eddy Arnold. However, they had to wait until the mid 1960s to have a superstar female artist. Her name is Connie Smith and she had major hits for the label between the 1960s and 1970s.

What about Skeeter Davis? "The End of the World" was a huge smash in 1963, the year before Connie Smith released "Once A Day".

[JR Journey]

5. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: RCA Records already had a superstar male artist in Eddy Arnold. However, they had to wait until the mid 1960s to have a superstar female artist. Her name is Connie Smith and she had major hits for the label between the 1960s and 1970s.

What about Skeeter Davis? "The End of the World" was a huge smash in 1963, the year before Connie Smith released "Once A Day".

Skeeter Davis was more of a one-hit wonder though, wasn't she? I know she had a handful of songs go to the top 10, but I was always under the impression she never really did gain superstar status? And certainly, she never matched the success of 'End of the World', and was rarely seen inside the top 60 after 1970.

[Razor X]

I wouldn't call her a one-hit wonder. She had her first hit as one-half of the Davis Sisters in 1953, her first solo hit in 1958 and her final top 10 was in 1969. That's a pretty decent track record. She wasn't as big a star as some of the females that came after her, but she sold a ton of records for RCA before Connie Smith came along, which was my original point. Not to take anything away from Connie, of course.

[indulgedcountrymusic]

Skeeter is a pretty obscure name as is, but isn't it a guy's name?

[Razor X]

Skeeter is a pretty obscure name as is, but isn't it a guy's name?

It was a nickname.

[Rainbow]

The thing I remember Skeeter best for is her great version of Dolly's "Fuel To The Flame".

[numberonecountryfan]

1. THREE WORDS AND WEEKS AT #1: Lady Antebellum still has the #1 hit in America with Need You Now. This is the first time in two years that a group stayed at #1 that long. Rascal Flatts last did it in 2007 with Take Me There.
2. C.M.A. HOST AND HOSTESS: Brad Paisley gets the Most Increased Audience at #21 with American Saturday Night. Meanwhile, Carrie Underwood gets her second consecutive Hot Shot Debut from the Play On CD with Temporary Home at #48.
3. NOT ON LET IT GO: Tim McGraw collects his first top ten hit in nearly three years that is NOT on the Let It Go CD. Southern Voice, the title track of his current CD is at #10 this week. The hit before the Let It Go CD, My Little Girl from his second greatest hits CD, peaked at #3 in early 2007.
4. RUNAWAY TO DANCING: Love And Theft are debuting at #59 with Dancing In Circles. This is their second time on the charts, but first time with the Lyric Street label. They charted for the first time on the sister label Carolwood (which merged their operations with Lyric Street) with Runaway at #10. They join Rascal Flatts on the Lyric Street label. The A.M.A. Country Group of the Year is at #19 with Why.
5. THE TOP SELLERS ON THE 4S: These were the top selling albums in 2004, 1994, 1984, 1974, and 1964:
2004: Greatest Hits-Shania Twain-Mercury
1994: Lead On-George Strait-MCA
1984: City Of New Orleans-Willie Nelson-Columbia
1974: Merle Haggard Presents His 30th Album-Merle Haggard-Capitol
1964: Together Again/My Heart Skips A Beat-Buck Owens-Capitol
6. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: Billboard will be presenting a ton of awards this month celebrating the chart achievements over the past twelve months. However, it was 29 years ago this week that Ronnie Milsap collected his fourth #1 hit of 1980 and sixteenth overall with Smoky Mountain Rain. It helped him win Billboard's Country Singles Artist Award.
Milsap signed with RCA Records in 1973 and his debut single, I Hate You was his first top ten hit that year (#10). By the time he released his first greatest hits album in 1980 (where Smoky Mountain Rain first appeared), he amassed twenty top ten hits for the label. The track listing, years, and chart placements for the greatest hits album were:
1. Smoky Mountain Rain-1980-#1
2. I'd Be A Legend In My Time-1975-#1
3. I'm A Stand By My Woman Man-1976-#1
4. I Hate You-1973-#10
5. Pure Love-1974-#1-his first #1
6. It Was Almost Like A Song-1977-#1
7. Daydreams About Night Things-1975-#1
8. Let's Take The Long Way Around The World-1978-#1
9. Let My Love Be Your Pillow-1977-#1
10. Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends-1974-#1
11. Back On My Mind Again-1979-#2
12. What A Difference You've Made In My Life-1978-#1
As far as 1980 is concerned, his hit list was:
1. Why Don't You Spend The Night-#1
2. My Heart-#1-Billboard's #1 country hit for 1980
3. Cowboys And Clowns-#1-from the Bronco Billy soundtrack
4. Smoky Mountain Rain-#1
This was during Milsap's crossover era (1977-1985) and Smoky Mountain Rain reached #24 pop and #1 adult contemporary. On the pop charts, There's No Gettin' Over Me hit #5 (which made #2 A.C.) while on the A.C. charts, Any Day Now became his second and final A.C. chart topper (which made #14 pop). It was the biggest A.C. hit of 1982. Both titles topped the country charts in 1981 and 1982, respectively.
Smoky Mountain Rain was the fourth of ten consecutive chart toppers for Milsap (his longest streak). The six after were:
5. Am I Losing You-1981
6. There's No Gettin' Over Me-1981
7. I Wouldn't Have Missed It For The World-1982
8. Any Day Now-1982
9. He Got You-1982
10. Inside-1983
It was broken by the Grammy Award winning hit Stranger In My House (#5 in 1983). He would top the charts thirteen more times between 1983-1989 where A Woman In Love became his 35th and final #1 hit. While on RCA, he released two more greatest hits CDs (in 1985 and 1993, the year he left RCA). In the meantime, other Milsap surveys were released (Super Hits, 2 Essential Ronnie Milsap CDs (one 20 song CD and one 40 song CD), and 40 #1s).
He competed for sales and airplay with two other artist's greatest hits albums (Anne Murray's Could I Have This Dance and Kenny Rogers' Lady). In 2006, he re-signed with RCA for a one CD deal. He released his first gospel CD earlier this year and was mired in a battle with Capitol Records (he signed with them after his first RCA stint) over the song My First Ride with one of their artists, Trace Adkins. This is what the chart looked like back then:

BILLBOARD TOP TEN FOR WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 6, 1980:
1. SMOKY MOUNTAIN RAIN-RONNIE MILSAP-RCA
2. Lady-Kenny Rogers-Liberty
3. That's All That Matters-Mickey Gilley-Epic
4. Why Lady Why-Alabama-RCA
5. You Almost Slipped My Mind-Charley Pride-RCA
6. Take Me To Your Lovin' Place-the Gatlin Bros.-Columbia
7. One In A Million-Johnny Lee-Asylum
8. Lovers Live Longer-the Bellamy Bros.-Warner Bros.
9. The Best Of Strangers-Barbara Mandrell-MCA
10. A Bridge That Just Won't Burn-Conway Twitty-MCA

[JR Journey]

I love Ronnie Milsap.

[Razor X]

I love Ronnie Milsap.

I hear he's already spoken for.

[JR Journey]

I love Ronnie Milsap.

I hear he's already spoken for.

Aren't we all ... I should have worded that 'I love the music of Ronnie Milsap.'

[numberonecountryfan]

1. FOURTH AND ANTEBELLUM: Tell me if you heard this before, but Lady Antebellum has the #1 song with Need You Now. They join Jason Aldean's Big Green Tractor as the only two songs to spend a month at #1 this year. As far as 2008 is concerned, only Brad Paisley's Letter To Me reigned for that long. As far as country groups go, Rascal Flatts was last to have a four week #1 in 2006 with What Hurts The Most.
2. LAMBERT EQUALS JEWELL: Not THAT Lambert, but Miranda Lambert lands her second top ten hit with White Liar (#10 this week). It joins last year's Gunpowder And Lead (#7) as her other top ten hit. It marks the first time in five years that a Nashville Star contestant has that many top tens. Buddy Jewell was first with two #3 hits: Help Pour Out The Rain Lacey's Song (2003) and Sweet Southern Comfort (2004). However, the 2003 winner has nothing on the 2006 winner, Chris Young. He is the only winner with a #1 hit: Gettin' You Home The Black Dress Song. Young is at #44 with The Man I Want To Be.
3. CHRISTMAS IN THE COUNTRY: There are two Christmas songs on the charts. They are:
1. Camouflage And Christmas Lights-Rodney Carrington at #52 (Hot Shot Debut)
2. Candy Cane Christmas-Darius Rucker at #60
4. FAST MOVERS: There are two singles taking at least a ten spot leap up the charts. They are:
1. Highway 20 Ride-Zac Brown Band-45-35
2. Temporary Home-Carrie Underwood-48-36
5. PAST #1 HITS ON THE 4S: These were the top singles in 2004, 1994, 1984, 1974, and 1964:
2004: Nothing On But The Radio-Gary Allan-MCA
1994: If You've Got Love-John Michael Montgomery-Atlantic
1984: Chance Of Lovin' You-Earl Thomas Conley-RCA
1974: I Can Help-Billy Swan-Monument
1964: Once A Day-Connie Smith
6. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: In alphabetical order, the Class of 1989 in country music consists of Clint Black, Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, and Travis Tritt. It is appropriate that Brooks became the second artist in the group to land a #1 hit. He did it exactly twenty years ago this week with If Tomorrow Never Comes.
During their first year and a half on the charts together, it was definitely ALL Black. After all, he scored four #1 hits (A Better Man and Killin' Time from 1989 and Nobody's Home and Walkin' Away from 1990) and a platinum CD before 1989 was over (Killin' Time). He was the 1989 C.M.A. Horizon Award winner.
On the Brooks side, he scored a top ten hit in Much Too Young To Feel This Damn Old (#8 in 1989) followed by his first chart topper If Tomorrow Never Comes. A #2 hit followed in 1990 with Not Counting You. Then the roof started to come off with The Dance, his second #1 from 1990. It was the song that turned me on to Brooks. Even his debut CD (self-titled) only sold 250,000 copies after a year in release (in May, 1990). That is VERY low by the Brooks standards of today.
Then chapter two, otherwise known as No Fences started and Brooks was ahead of Black for good. Four #1 hits followed (1990's Friends In Low Places, 1991's Unanswered Prayers, Two Of A Kind, Workin' On A Full House, and The Thunder Rolls). He won C.M.A. Awards for Album, Single, Horizon, and Entertainer of the Year.
In 1991, Garthmania was kicked into even higher gear when the Ropin' The Wind CD entered BOTH country and top 200 charts at #1 (the first country CD to do so). Its hits were: Rodeo-#3 in 1991, Shameless-#1 in 1991, What She's Doing Now-#1 in 1992, Papa Loved Mama-#3 in 1992, and The River-#1 in 1992.
Other top selling CDs followed:
1. The Chase-1992
2. In Pieces-1993
3. The Hits-1994
4. Fresh Horses-1995
5. Sevens-1997
6. Double Live-1998
7. Scarecrow-2001
In 1999, he became the fourth recipient of the A.C.M. Artist of the Decade. In 2000, Capitol Records celebrated his 100 million CD sales.
In 2000, he announced he was divorcing his first wife Sandy after 14 years of marriage. Then he announced he was 'retiring' from the business. It lasted until 2005 when he announced his second boxed set (The Limited Series) would be sold exclusively at WalMart. His tribute to Chris LeDoux (mentioned in Much Too Young To Feel This Damn Old), Good Ride Cowboy made #3 in late 2005.
In 2005, he married Trisha Yearwood (happy fourth anniversary this month) and restated his desire to be 'retired'. It lasted until 2007 when he released his Ultimate Hits CD. He continued to make history when a new recording, More Than A Memory debuted at #1 (becoming his first #1 since To Make You Feel My Love in 1998). This year he announced he would play a series of concerts in Las Vegas at the Wynn Hotel. This is what the chart looked like back then:

BILLBOARD TOP TEN FOR WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 9, 1989:
1. IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES-GARTH BROOKS-CAPITOL
2. Two Dozen Roses-Shenandoah-Columbia
3. A Woman In Love-Ronnie Milsap-RCA
4. I've Been Loved By The Best-Don Williams-RCA
5. Out Of Your Shoes-Lorrie Morgan-RCA
6. The Lonely Side Of Love-Patty Loveless-MCA
7. There Goes My Heart Again-Holly Dunn-Warner Bros.
8. Who's Lonely Now-Highway 101-Warner Bros.
9. It's Just A Matter Of Time-Randy Travis-Warner Bros.
10. Till I Can't Take It Anymore-Billy Joe Royal-Atlantic

[numberonecountryfan]

1. TAKING THE FIFTH: Lady Antebellum has the #1 song for the fifth week in a row with Need You Now. It is the song that has spent more time at #1 than any other this year. The last song to spend this much time at #1 was Our Song by Taylor Swift. It was #1 for six weeks between December, 2007 to January, 2008. Rascal Flatts was the last group to have a five week #1 in 2005 with Bless The Broken Road (their biggest hit). Need You Now will be the 30th and final #1 for 2009.
2. #2 AGAIN: Reba McEntire has scored her biggest solo hit in four years with Consider Me Gone (#2 this week). Her last solo top ten hit was He Gets That From Me (#7 in 2005). She then scored two #2 duets: Because Of You with Kelly Clarkson in 2007 and Cowgirls Don't Cry with Brooks & Dunn this year.
3. IDOL COUNTRY: Danny Gokey becomes the eighth American Idol contestant to chart this week. He makes his debut at #55 with My Best Days Are Ahead Of Me (we hope so). He follows:
ARTIST-FIRST SINGLE:
1. Kelly Clarkson-A Moment Like This-2002-#58
2. Josh Gracin-I Want To Live-2004-#4
3. Carrie Underwood-Inside Your Heaven-2005-#52
4. Kellie Pickler-Red High Heels-2006-#15
5. Bucky Covington-A Different World-2007-#6
6. Phil Stacey-If You Didn't Love Me-2008-#28
7. Kristy Lee Cook-15 Minutes Of Shame-2008-#28
8. Danny Gokey-My Best Days Are Ahead Of Me-2009
4. ARISTA'S MOST SUCCESSFUL ARTIST: Alan Jackson makes his 77th appearance on the charts this week with It's Just that Way at #50.
5. MORE CHRISTMAS IN THE COUNTRY: Two more holiday flavored songs join this week's chart. They are:
1. Rockin' The Beer Gut Holla Day Version-Trailer Choir-#51
2. Merry Swiftmas Even Though I Celebrate Chanukah-Evan Taubenfeld-#59
6. GOING BACK IN TIME: Let us review the top hits in 2004, 1999, 1994, 1989, and 1984:
2004: Back When-Tim McGraw-Curb
1999: When I Said I Do-Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black-RCA
1994: Pickup Man-Joe Diffie-Epic
1989: Two Dozen Roses-Shenandoah-Columbia
1984: Nobody Loves Me Like You Do-Anne Murray and Dave Loggins-Capitol
7. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: Singles-wise, the most successful album in Conway Twitty's career was his 1979 release Cross Winds. Its third single release, Happy Birthday Darlin' was our #1 hit thirty years ago this week.
Considering his lengthy hit list, most Twitty albums ONLY have one or two major hits on them. Twitty was known to release multiple albums during a single year. In 1982, he released five different albums (Southern Comfort, Number Ones, Dream Maker, Conway's #1 Classics Vol. 1, and Conway's #1 Classics Vol. 2). Imagine that happening today with CD sales down and the singles chart moving as slow as it does.
Getting back to Twitty, as always, he was considering major changes in his career during the late 1970s (including changing his hairstyle from his long time 50s look to his world famous perm). He decided to produce his own records after a fourteen year run of hits with Owen Bradley. The last Bradley produced #1 hit was I've Already Loved You In My Mind in 1977. His next five hits were the last with Bradley behind the glass. They were:
1. Georgia Keeps Pulling On My Ring-1977-#3
2. The Grandest Lady Of Them All-1978-#16
3. From Seven Till Ten-with Loretta Lynn-1978-#6
4. Boogie Grass Band-1978-#2
5. Your Love Had Taken Me That High-1979-#3
He finally made his debut as a producer on the next hit, Don't Take It Away, his 26th #1 hit from 1979. It was the first single release from the Cross Winds album. He collected his 27th with I May Never Get To Heaven (#1 the week after he turned 46). Finally, he accomplished something he NEVER done before and he scored a hat trick with Happy Birthday Darlin' which was #1 during the last three weeks of 1979. It tied him with Eddy Arnold for the most chart topping hits. He was ahead of Arnold for good in 1980 with I'd Love To Lay You Down. He continued to have #1 hits until 1986 when Desperado Love became his 40th #1 hit. He continued to hold the record until his death in 1993 and thirteen years after when George Strait collected his 41st #1 hit, Give It Away in 2006. This is what the chart looked like back then:

BILLBOARD TOP TEN FOR WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 15, 1979:
1. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARLIN'-CONWAY TWITTY-MCA
2. Coward Of The County-Kenny Rogers-United Artists
3. Missin' You-Charley Pride-RCA
4. My World Begins And Ends With You-Dave & Sugar-RCA
5. Why Did You Have To Be So Good-Dave & Sugar-RCA
6. I've Got A Picture Of Us On My Mind-Loretta Lynn-MCA
7. Pour Me Another Tequila-Eddie Rabbitt-Elektra
8. I Cheated Me Right Out Of You-Moe Bandy-Columbia
9. Whiskey Bent And Hell Bound-Hank Williams, Jr.-Elektra
10. Help Me Make It Through The Night-Willie Nelson-Columbia

P.S.: The double-sided Dave & Sugar hit is being shown as taking up two positions, so I do not know who is really at #10.

[numberonecountryfan]

1. HAPPY 27TH ANNIVERSARY REBA: It has been about five and a half years since ANYONE could say the following, but: Reba McEntire has the #1 song in America with Consider Me Gone. The last time she had a #1 hit was in the summer of 2004 when she interrupted Tim McGraw's reign of Live Like You Were Dying (the year's biggest hit) with Somebody off her Room To Breathe CD. That ended a six year drought of #1s when If You See Him/If You See Her with Brooks & Dunn hit #1 in 1998.
About the title of this article, McEntire lands her 24th #1 exactly 27 years after her first, Can't Even Get The Blues in 1983. That is in the top five of those with the greatest spans of #1 hits:
1. 35 years-Dolly Parton-Joshua in 1971 to When I Get Where I'm Going with Brad Paisley in 2006.
2. 29 years-Johnny Cash-I Walk The Line in 1956 to Highwayman with Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and Willie Nelson in 1985.
3. 27 years, 9 months-Willie Nelson-Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain in 1975 to Beer For My Horses with Toby Keith in 2003.
4. 27 years-Reba McEntire-Can't Even Get The Blues in 1983 to Consider Me Gone in 2010.
5. 26 years, 7 months-George Strait-Fool Hearted Memory in 1982 to River Of Love in 2009.
McEntire becomes the third chart topping artist on the Valory label (her home since 2008). She follows:
1. Jimmy Wayne-Do You Believe Me Now-2008
2. Justin Moore-Small Town U.S.A.-2009
3. Reba McEntire-Consider Me Gone-2010
McEntire also scores a #1 hit for her third record label. Her breakdown:
1. Mercury-2-1983
2. MCA-20-1985-2004
3. Valory-1-2010
McEntire becomes the fourth artist to score #1 country hits in four consecutive decades. The others:
1. George Jones-1950s-1 #1 hit, 1960s-3, 1970s-5, and 1980s-4
2. Johnny Cash-1950s-5 #1 hits, 1960s-5, 1970s-3, and 1980s-1
3. Dolly Parton-1970s-11 #1 hits, 1980s-12, 1990s-1, and 2000s-1
4. Reba McEntire-1980s-14 #1 hits, 1990s-8, 2000s-1, and 2010s-1 (more we hope!)
This is the first time in about four and a half years that a solo female #1 was NOT scored by either Carrie Underwood or Taylor Swift. Sara Evans topped the charts in 2005 with A Real Fine Place To Start.
2010 marks the 35th anniversary of McEntire signing with Mercury Records. All of this success for McEntire: PRICELESS! It is well deserved!
2. A CAPITOL GATHERING: Capitol Records has three artists at the #2-#4 positions:
#2-Lady Antebellum-Need You Now
#3-Luke Bryan-Do I
#4-Dierks Bentley-I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes
3. THE THIRD WEEK OF CHRISTMAS: Gretchen Wilson has the sole new Christmas song debuting this week with I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas at #54. She is also at #49 with Work Hard, Play Harder.
4. THE TOP SELLERS: These were the top selling CDs in 2004, 1999, 1994, 1989, and 1984:
2004: Greatest Hits-Shania Twain-Mercury
1999: Come On Over-Shania Twain-Mercury
1994: The Hits-Garth Brooks-Capitol
1989: No Holdin' Back-Randy Travis-Warner Bros.
1984: Kentucky Hearts-Exile-Epic
5. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: I finally get to salute the artist who turned me on to country music: Marty Robbins. My first memories of listening to country music was listening to an eight track of his greatest hits (how many songs were on that anyway?). You have to admit he had a set of pipes and could sing ANYTHING! His masterpiece performance, El Paso was our #1 hit 50 years ago this week.
In 1952, Robbins signed with Columbia Records and though his first two single releases did not chart, his third I'll Go On Alone did hit #1 in January, 1953. His second #1 hit, Singing The Blues became his biggest hit in 1956, staying at the top of the charts for thirteen weeks and even crossing over to #17 on the pop charts. This was during his crossover era from 1956-1962. A competing version by Guy Mitchell was #1 on the pop charts for nine weeks. Undeterred and wanting a pop hit all to himself, Robbins collected his third #1 hit in 1957 with the perfect prom song: A White Sport Coat And A Pink Carnation. This time he went to #2 on the pop charts. He managed two more chart topping hits, both in 1958: The Story Of My Life and Just Married.
Then his singing cowboy era started in 1959 with The Hanging Tree (#15). Sensing a trend, he decided to write a tragic love story (the ultimate oxymoron if you were to ask me) about two men competing 'in love of a Mexican girl', Faleena and El Paso was born. It starts with one man killing the other for her love and escaping certain consequences. Then the killer misses her so much he returns to her, even if it means certain death. He did manage 'one little kiss' and told 'Faleena goodbye'. Robbins' backup singers were Tompall and the Glaser Brothers. This time, he enjoyed a double #1 hit on both country and pop charts. It was #1 on the country charts for seven weeks between December, 1959 to January, 1960. It was the first #1 pop hit in 1960 for two weeks. It became the longest song to date topping both charts at 4 minutes, 40 seconds. The second single from the Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs album, Big Iron made #5 in 1960. In the meantime, El Paso won the first Grammy Award for Best Country and Western Performance. His next #1 hit, Don't Worry became his second biggest hit being #1 for ten weeks in 1961 and claiming the #3 position on the pop charts. He would hit #1 six more times during the 1960s. Those hits were:
1. Devil Woman-1962
2. Ruby Ann-1963
3. Begging To You-1964
4. Ribbon Of Darkness-1965
5. Tonight Carmen-1967
6. I Walk ALone-1968
Then in 1969, he suffered the first of three heart attacks. It showed that 75% of his arteries were almost completely blocked. In 1970, he underwent open heart surgery and two months later, performed on the Grand Ole Opry (where he was a member since 1953). Two months later, he collected his 14th #1 hit, the Grammy Award winning My Woman, My Woman, My Wife. While he was charting with that song, he became the first recipient of the A.C.M. Artist of the Decade.
He made a short term move to MCA Records where Walking Piece Of Heaven became his biggest hit there (#6 in 1973). In the meantime, he was the last performer at the original Opry in 1974 and was the first at the new Opry.
He returned to Columbia Records during the bicentennial year were his 'comeback single', the sequel to El Paso, El Paso City was his 15th #1 hit. His last #1, Among My Souvenirs was a song he did not like at first (by the way, Connie Francis was in the pop top ten with her version at the same time El Paso was in that section of the chart). It was #1 in 1976.
Several pivotal events happened to Robbins during the 1980s. In 1981, he suffered his second heart attack and landed his first top ten hit in four years with Some Memories Just Won't Die (#10 in 1982). In October, 1982 Robbins was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In December, 1982 he suffered his third heart attack and died a week later. A Clint Eastwood film called Honkytonk Man was released with Robbins singing the title track (#10 in 1983).
You can certainly say that country music (and music in general) lost a TRUE original. When you listen to his ENTIRE catalog, you realize that NO ONE can touch his diversity of songs. This is what the chart looked like back then:

BILLBOARD TOP TEN FOR WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 21, 1959:
1. EL PASO-MARTY ROBBINS-COLUMBIA
2. The Same Old Me-Ray Price-Columbia
3. There's A Big Wheel-Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper-Hickory
4. Country Girl-Faron Young-Capitol
5. Under Your Spell Again-Ray Price-Columbia
6. The Last Ride-Hank Snow-RCA
7. Amigo's Guitar-Kitty Wells-Decca
8. Under Your Spell Again-Buck Owens-Capitol
9. He'll Have To Go-Jim Reeves-RCA
10. Scarlet Ribbons For Her Hair-The Browns-RCA

Merry Christmas from all of here at Country ChartBeat!

[Razor X]

He made a short term move to MCA Records where Walking Piece Of Heaven became his biggest hit there (#6 in 1973). In the meantime, he was the last performer at the original Opry in 1974 and was the first at the new Opry.

I thought George Morgan was the last performer at the Ryman before the Opry moved to its current location.

[numberonecountryfan]

According to Wikipedia (how reliable are they?), they claim that George Morgan was the last to perform at the old Opry and the first to perform at the new Opry. In the reference book I used, I will quote the source verbatim about Marty Robbins:
'Marty was the last performer to grace the stage of the Ryman Auditorium when the Grand Ole Opry left that venue on March 9, 1974, and the first to appear on the stage of the new Grand Ole Opry House on March 16 that year'.
The same source I used says nothing about Morgan's appearances. To quote the same source:
'In that time, George's youngest daughter, Lorrie, began to sing, singing Paper Roses on her Opry debut, and she sometimes went out on the road with her dad. Morgan experienced a heart attack in May, 1975 while repairing a TV antenna on the roof of his home. He returned to the Opry in late June and celebrated his fifty-first birthday but then passed away several days afterward'.
So, at this point in time, I AM leaning toward Robbins as being the last performer on the old Opry and the first at the new Opry. Maybe it was a twin billing between him and Morgan. I was trying to find supporting information, but could NOT find it. If ANYONE out there knows, please let Razor X and myself know. If my Milestone Top Ten Chart story has to be changed, I WILL do it for you! Thank you!

[Razor X]

According to Wikipedia (how reliable are they?), they claim that George Morgan was the last to perform at the old Opry and the first to perform at the new Opry.

Wikipedia isn't always reliable, but I'd heard that Morgan was the last to perform at the Ryman long before Wikipedia even existed. That's not to say that the story I heard is the correct one; I certainly wouldn't bet money on it.

[JR Journey]

According to Wikipedia (how reliable are they?), they claim that George Morgan was the last to perform at the old Opry and the first to perform at the new Opry.

Wikipedia isn't always reliable, but I'd heard that Morgan was the last to perform at the Ryman long before Wikipedia even existed. That's not to say that the story I heard is the correct one; I certainly wouldn't bet money on it.

I've always heard George Morgan was the last performer at the Ryman, before the Opry moved to its new complex. Lorrie Morgan says so in her book, and I think I've heard that elsewhere too. But Lorrie's book - Forever Yours, Faithfully - tells the story of George performing that night - and she claims he was the last performer to sing that night. Whether she's embellishing or not is certainly up for debate, but I would think she's probably telling the truth or someone would have called her on it by now.

Where's Paul Dennis when we need him? I bet he knows the answer to this bit of trivia.

[numberonecountryfan]

1. TWICE THE MCENTIRE: Reba McEntire is at #1 for the second week with Consider Me Gone. This is her sixth chart topper that has stayed at #1 for two weeks. The others:
1. Mind Your Own Business-with Hank Williams, Jr., Willie Nelson, Tom Petty, and the Reverend Ike-1986
2. For My Broken Heart-1991
3. Is There Life Out There-1992
4. The Heart Won't Lie-with Vince Gill-1993
5. If You See Him/If You See Her-with Brooks & Dunn-1998
McEntire has spent 31 weeks at #1 with her chart topping singles. That is in the top three of those female artists with the most time at #1:
1. Tammy Wynette-37 weeks
2. Dolly Parton-34 weeks
3. Reba McEntire-31 weeks
If Consider Me Gone spends a third week at #1, it will be McEntire's greatest hit EVER!
2. OUCH!: Sara Smile, the duet between Jimmy Wayne and Hall & Oates drops 14 to #50.
3. SHOW DOG-UNIVERSAL: This is the first week that the artists either signed to Show Dog or Universal South are showing as ONE label. This covers Toby Keith (at #15 with Cryin' For Me Wayman's Song) to Trailer Choir (at #52 with Rockin' The Beer Gut Holla Day Version).
4. THE FOURTH WEEK OF CHRISTMAS: Two more Christmas songs debut on this week's chart:
1. Baby, It's Cold Outside-Willie Nelson and Norah Jones at #55
2. Gold And Green-Sugarland at #60
5. A 40S LOOK: Since Billboard began publishing a country singles chart in January, 1944, I am only able to show you the top hits for six years during the last week in December.
1944: I'm Wastin' My Tears On You-Tex Ritter-Capitol
1945: Silver Dew On The Blue Grass Tonight-Bob Wills-Columbia
1946: Divorce Me C.O.D.-Merle Travis-Capitol
1947: I'll Hold You In My Heart Till I Can Hold You In My Arms-Eddy Arnold-RCA
1948: One Has My Name The Other Has My Heart-Jimmy Wakely-Capitol
1949: Mule Train-Tennessee Ernie Ford-Capitol
6. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: September 11, 2001. The question is: Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning? I will be ANY amount of money that after eight years, you can tell me what you did EVERY minute of that day (I know I can). I NEVER thought I would ever live to see the day where a quartet of airplanes would destroy the tallest buildings in New York City, damage the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and crash into a field in Pennsylvania.
EVERY American was moved (including Alan Jackson). The story goes that a month after the attacks, he woke up in the middle of the night and decided to write what he felt at the time. To say it was a masterpiece would be the ultimate understatement. It was what the country needed to hear at the time.
He debuted the song at the C.M.A. Awards and received a much deserved standing ovation. Arista decided to rush release the single and the upcoming CD Drive. Country radio (and EVEN some pop stations) started playing the live version the next day. Because of strong initial airplay, the single debuted at #25 on the 11-24-01 chart (Toby Keith, who had the #1 hit during 9-11 with I'm Just Talkin' About Tonight, had just nabbed another #1 that week with I Wanna Talk About Me). It took five weeks to hit #1 and stayed there for five weeks becoming Jackson's biggest hit to date. The Drive CD was released in January, 2002 where it debuted at #1 on BOTH country and top 200 charts. It yielded three other top ten hits:
1. Drive For Daddy Gene-#1 in 2002
2. Work In Progress-#3 in 2002
3. That'd Be Alright-#2 in 2003
Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning also appeared on the next release, Greatest Hits Volume II in 2003.
Jackson also shared chart space with two new patriotic songs: David Ball's Riding With Private Malone and Aaron Tippin's Where The Stars And Stripes And The Eagle Fly. Even Lee Greenwood made a second trip into the top 20 with God Bless The U.S.A..
Over the next several years, other country stars released patriotic songs that fit the mood at the time: Keith's Courtesy Of The Red, White, And Blue The Angry American and American Soldier. Darryl Worley offered Have You Forgotten?. Other country stars went the inspirational route: Randy Travis' Three Wooden Crosses and Diamond Rio's I Believe.
What should NEVER be forgotten is the following:
1. 3000 people lost their lives.
2. A New York skyline forever changed.
3. A Pennsylvania field scarred forever due to the selfless acts of passengers to avert more deaths and destruction.
4. A rebuilt Pentagon, showing the resolve of this great nation.
5. A new awareness that our enemies will do ANYTHING to destroy us.
The date September 11, 2001 is right up there with another date that will live in infamy, December 7, 1941. 'Faith, hope, and love are a few things He gave us and the greatest is love'. This is what the chart looked like back then:

BILLBOARD TOP TEN FOR WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 29, 2001:
1. WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THE WORLD STOPPED TURNING-ALAN JACKSON-ARISTA
2. I Wanna Talk About Me-Toby Keith-Dreamworks
3. Run-George Strait-MCA
4. Where The Stars And Stripes And The Eagle Fly-Aaron Tippin-Lyric Street
5. Good Morning Beautiful-Steve Holy-Curb
6. I'm Tryin'-Trace Adkins-Capitol
7. Riding With Private Malone-David Ball-Dualtone
8. Wrapped Up In You-Garth Brooks-Capitol
9. Wrapped Around-Brad Paisley-Arista
10. Bring On The Rain-Jo Dee Messina-Curb

Happy New Year from all of us here at Country ChartBeat!

[numberonecountryfan]

1. HAPPY 66TH BIRTHDAY BILLBOARD COUNTRY CHART!: This is the 66th anniversary of the country chart being published in 1944. From Pistol Packin' Mama by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters to Consider Me Gone by Reba McEntire, you can say that the best artists and songs spent time in the best place on Earth-the Billboard Country Chart!
2. REBA, REBA, REBA: Speaking of Consider Me Gone by Reba McEntire, it is now #1 for the third week, becoming her biggest hit to date. Here are the ten biggest hits of her career. First, by number of weeks at #1, followed by number of weeks in the top 40:
1. Consider Me Gone-2010-3-?
2. If You See Him/If You See Her-with Brooks & Dunn-1998-2-20
3. Is There Life Out There-1992-2-19
4. For My Broken Heart-1991-2-19
5. The Heart Won't Lie-with Vince Gill-1993-2-16
6. Mind Your Own Business-with Hank Williams, Jr., Willie Nelson, Tom Petty, and the Reverend Ike-1986-2-14
7. Somebody-2004-1-30
8. You Lie-1990-1-19
9. The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter-1995-1-17
10. How Was I To Know-1997-1-17
I would like to wish McEntire a very happy 55th birthday this upcoming March!
3. NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Carrie Underwood is at #17 with Temporary Home while Jason Michael Carroll is at #18 with Hurry Home.
4. THE BIGGEST LOSER: All but one song on this week's chart see audience gains. Smile by Uncle Kracker is the ONLY song to see a decrease in audience and is at #53.
5. NO CHRISTMAS THIS WEEK: As expected, there are NO Christmas songs on this week's chart. We will see them again in eleven months!
6. THE #1S ON THE ZEROS: These were the top hits in 2000, 1990, 1980, 1970, 1960, and 1950:
2000: Breathe-Faith Hill-Warner Bros.
1990: Who's Lonely Now-Highway 101-Warner Bros.
1980: Coward Of The County-Kenny Rogers-United Artists
1970: Baby, Baby I Know You're A Lady-David Houston-Epic
1960: El Paso-Marty Robbins-Columbia
1950: Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer-Gene Autry-Columbia
7. MILESTONE TOP TEN CHART: The question of the day is: Is country music really AMERICAN music? After all, Hank Snow, a Canadian has the #1 hit of ALL time with I'm Moving On (#1 for 21 weeks in 1950). Another Canadian, Shania Twain has the best selling country CD of ALL time with Come On Over (over 23 million sold). It was our #1 CD ten years ago this week.
Twain signed with Mercury Records in 1992 along with Toby Keith and Jon Brannen (you MUST remember J.B.!). They were packaged as 'Mercury's triple play'. While Brannen NEVER achieved the heights that Twain enjoyed, Twain did NOT achieve the 'right out of the box' success Keith had. Keith's debut CD (self-titled) went paltinum and yielded the following hits:
1. Should've Been A Cowboy-1993-#1 and the decade's most played song
2. He Ain't Woth Missing-1993-#5
3. A Little Less Talk And A Lot More Action-1994-#2
4. Wish I Didn't Know Now-1994-#2
On the Twain side, her self-titled debut CD yielded two #55 hits in 1993: What Made You Say That and Dance With The One That Brought You. It went gold after she hit it big with the next release, The Woman In Me. While her debut CD was spinning off those two singles, she met Robert John 'Mutt" Lange and married him just before year's end. He is known for producing such acts as Def Leppard, Foreigner, Bryan Adams, and Billy Ocean.
In 1994, they decided to work on her next CD. ALL twelve songs were written by BOTH Twain and Lange. The Woman In Me yielded the following hits:
1. Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under-1995-#11
2. Any Man Of Mine-1995-#1
3. The Woman In Me Needs The Man In You-1995-#14
4. If You're Not In It For Love I'm Outta Here-1996-#1
5. You Win My Love-1996-#1
6. No One Needs To Know-1996-#1
7. Home Ain't Where Is Heart Is Anymore-1996-#28
The Woman In Me went on to sell over 12 million copies and stayed at #1 on the country album chart for 29 weeks between 1995-1996. It reached #5 on the top 200 chart. How do you follow such a monster CD? By releasing the MOST successful CD ever and that is what Twain did during the fall of 1997.
The Come On Over Era (1997-2000) started and Twain rewrote ALL sorts of records. It should have been called her greatest hits CD because so many hits came off that CD. They were:
1. Love Gets Me Every Time-1997-#1-chart wise, her biggest hit
2. Don't Be Stupid You Know I Love You-1998-#6
3. You're Still The One-1998-#1
4. From This Moment On-with Bryan White-1998-#6
5. Honey, I'm Home-1998-#1
6. That Don't Impress Me Much-1998-#8
7. Man! I Feel Like A Woman!-1999-#4
8. You've Got A Way-1999-#13
9. Come On Over-1999-#6
10. Rock This Country!-2000-#30
11. I'm Holding On To Love To Save My Life-2000-#17
The Come On Over CD spent 50 weeks at #1 on the country album chart (a record) out of a total of three years on the charts. It remains the ONLY CD to spend time at #1 in four consecutive years. The breakdown:
1997-3 weeks
1998-19 weeks
1999-26 weeks
2000-2 weeks
The best selling country CD of all time peaked at #2 on the top 200 chart. During this time Twain received the C.M.A. Entertainer of the Year Award in 1999 and the A.C.M. Entertainer of the Year in 2000.
Since Come On Over, Twain has released two more CDs: Up! in 2002 and Greatest Hits in 2004. Come On Over was recently ranked as the #31 CD for the decade. Not bad for a twelve year old release!
Now, the question is: Who has the second best charted country album of all time? It is Randy Travis' Always & Forever CD. It spent 43 weeks at #1 between 1987-1988 out of a total of four years on the charts. Garth Brooks still has the second best selling CD of all time with No Fences. It is certified at 17 times platinum. This is what the chart looked like back then (remember, this is Twain's LAST week at #1):

BILLBOARD TOP TEN FOR WEEK ENDING JANUARY 8, 2000:
1. COME ON OVER-SHANIA TWAIN-MERCURY
2. Fly-the Dixie Chicks-Monument
3. Breathe-Faith Hill-Warner Bros.
4. The Magic Of Christmas-Garth Brooks-Capitol
5. A Place In The Sun-Tim McGraw-Curb
6. Le Ann Rimes-Le Ann Rimes-Curb
7. Under The Influence-Alan Jackson-Arista
8. Wide Open Spaces-the Dixie Chicks-Monument
9. So Good Together-Reba McEntire-MCA
10. Lonely Grill-Lonestar-BNA

P.S.: The BIG question is: When will Twain release her next CD?