Showing posts with label George Jones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label George Jones. Show all posts

Monday, June 29, 2026

The Top 100 Country Acts of All Time

Country:

Top 100 Acts

This list was compiled by averaging more than 50 lists of the best country acts of all-time. The top 50 were then re-ordered based on the acts’ overall status in Dave’s Music Database. After that, any act appearing on 9 or more lists was then re-ordered based on overall Dave’s Music Database to come up with 51-100.

See other Acts/Music Makers by Genre lists.


Johnny Cash

  1. Johnny Cash
  2. Dolly Parton
  3. Willie Nelson
  4. Kenny Rogers
  5. George Jones
  6. Garth Brooks
  7. Hank Williams
  8. Glen Campbell
  9. Eddy Arnold
  10. Loretta Lynn

  11. Alabama
  12. George Strait
  13. Alan Jackson
  14. Patsy Cline
  15. Merle Haggard
  16. Shania Twain
  17. Conway Twitty
  18. Tammy Wynette
  19. Kenny Chesney
  20. Tim McGraw

  21. Reba McEntire
  22. Waylon Jennings
  23. Buck Owens
  24. Carrie Underwood
  25. Ernest Tubb
  26. The Carter Family
  27. Dixie Chicks (aka “The Chicks”)
  28. Brooks & Dunn
  29. Toby Keith
  30. Jimmie Rodgers

  31. Kitty Wells
  32. Marty Robbins
  33. Charley Pride
  34. Emmylou Harris
  35. Vince Gill
  36. Kris Kristofferson
  37. Randy Travis
  38. Brad Paisley
  39. Tanya Tucker
  40. Ray Price

  41. Hank Williams, Jr.
  42. Bob Wills
  43. Keith Urban
  44. Lefty Frizzell
  45. Ricky Skaggs
  46. Roger Miller
  47. Faith Hill
  48. Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs
  49. Bill Monroe
  50. Dwight Yoakam

  51. Elvis Presley
  52. Taylor Swift
  53. Brenda Lee
  54. Jerry Lee Lewis
  55. Gene Autry
  56. John Denver
  57. Morgan Wallen
  58. Jim Reeves
  59. Kacey Musgraves
  60. Webb Pierce

  61. Ronnie Milsap
  62. Red Foley
  63. Roy Acuff
  64. Hank Snow
  65. Rascal Flatts
  66. Luke Combs
  67. Bill Anderson
  68. Tennessee Ernie Ford
  69. Blake Shelton
  70. Porter Wagoner

  71. Clint Black
  72. Charlie Daniels
  73. Faron Young
  74. Jason Aldean
  75. Mel Tillis
  76. Crystal Gayle
  77. Barbara Mandrell
  78. Bobby Bare
  79. Luke Bryan
  80. Charlie Rich

  81. Lynn Anderson
  82. Don Williams
  83. Tom T. Hall
  84. Eddie Rabbitt
  85. Hank Thompson
  86. Martina McBride
  87. Dottie West
  88. Connie Smith
  89. Don Gibson
  90. Chris Stapleton

  91. Oak Ridge Boys
  92. Dierks Bentley
  93. Ferlin Husky
  94. Roy Clark
  95. Jerry Reed
  96. Travis Tritt
  97. Trace Adkins
  98. Patty Loveless
  99. Trisha Yearwood
  100. John Anderson

Resources/Related Links:

First posted 4/11/2013; last updated 6/29/2026.

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Sunday, November 12, 2023

The Top 200 Country Songs of All Time

Country Music:

Top 200 Songs

The DMDB’s list of the top 100 country songs of all time was created by aggregating 90 best-of lists focused on country songs. This included awards for Best Song and/or Single from the Academy of Country Music, Country Music Association, the Grammys. See the resources at the bottom of this page. This was first posted on the DMDB Facebook page on April 3, 2011 and then on the blog on August 28, 2011.

Click here to see other genre-specific song lists.

1. Patsy Cline “Crazy” (1961)
2. George Jones “He Stopped Loving Her Today” (1980)
3. Tammy Wynette “Stand by Your Man” (1968)
4. Garth Brooks “Friends in Low Places” (1990)
5. Willie Nelson “Always on My Mind” (1982)
6. Randy Travis “Forever and Ever, Amen” (1987)
7. Johnny Cash “I Walk the Line” (1956)
8. Johnny Cash “Ring of Fire” (1963)
9. Lee Ann Womack with Sons of the Desert “I Hope You Dance” (2000)
10. Hank Williams “Your Cheatin’ Heart” (1953)

11. Marty Robbins “El Paso” (1959)
12. Charlie Daniels Band “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” (1979)
13. Roger Miller “King of the Road” (1965)
14. Kenny Rogers “The Gambler” (1978)
15. Tim McGraw “Live Like You Were Dying” (2004)
16. Lonestar “Amazed” (1999)
17. Hank Williams “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” (1949)
18. Conway Twitty “Hello Darlin’” (1970)
19. Dolly Parton “Jolene” (1973)
20. Loretta Lynn “Coal Miner’s Daughter” (1970)

21. Garth Brooks “The Dance” (1990)
22. Merle Haggard “Mama Tried” (1968)
23. Patsy Cline “I Fall to Pieces” (1961)
24. Dolly Parton “I Will Always Love You” (1974)
25. Glen Campbell “Rhinestone Cowboy” (1975)
26. Lady Antebellum “Need You Now” (2009)
27. Johnny Cash “Folsom Prison Blues” (1955)
28. Merle Haggard “Okie from Muskogee” (1969)
29. Carrie Underwood “Before He Cheats” (2006)
30. Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson “Mammas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” (1978)

31. Charlie Rich “Behind Closed Doors” (1973)
32. Jeannie C. Riley “Harper Valley P.T.A.” (1968)
33. Tennessee Ernie Ford “Sixteen Tons” (1955)
34. Willie Nelson “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” (1975)
35. Alan Jackson “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning” (2001)
36. Charley Pride “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’” (1971)
37. Kitty Wells “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky-Tonk Angels” (1952)
38. Waylon Jennings “Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)” (1977)
39. Ernest Tubb “Walking the Floor Over You” (1941)
40. Ray Price “For the Good Times” (1970)

41. Hank Williams “Hey, Good Lookin’” (1951)
42. Sammi Smith “Help Me Make It Through the Night” (1971)
43. Kenny Rogers with Dolly Parton “Islands in the Stream” (1983)
44. Jim Reeves “He’ll Have to Go” (1959)
45. Lynn Anderson “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden” (1970)
46. Billy Ray Cyrus “Achy Breaky Heart” (1992)
47. Faith Hill “Breathe” (1999)
48. Alan Jackson “Chattahoochee” (1992)
49. Eddy Arnold “Make the World Go Away” (1965)
50. Hank Williams “Lovesick Blues” (1949)

51. George Strait “Amarillo by Morning” (1983)
52. Faron Young “Hello Walls” (1961)
53. Florida Georgia Line with Nelly “Cruise” (2012)
54. Waylon Jennings with Willie Nelson “Good Hearted Woman” (1975)
55. Shania Twain “You’re Still the One” (1998)
56. Ray Price “Crazy Arms” (1956)
57. John Denver “Take Me Home, Country Roads” (1971)
58. Buck Owens “Act Naturally” (1963)
59. The Carter Family “Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By)” (1935)
60. Lee Greenwood “God Bless the U.S.A.” (1984)

61. LeAnn Rimes “Blue” (1996)
62. Roy Acuff & the Smoky Mountain Boys “Wabash Cannonball” (1938)
63. Glen Campbell “Wichita Lineman” (1968)
64. Crystal Gayle “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” (1977)
65. Tim McGraw with Faith Hill “It’s Your Love” (1997)
66. Reba McEntire “Fancy” (1991)
67. Deanna Carter “Strawberry Wine” (1996)
68. Johnny Horton “The Battle of New Orleans” (1959)
69. Brooks & Dunn “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” (1991)
70. Hank Snow “I’m Moving On” (1950)

71. Martina McBride “Independence Day” (1993)
72. Johnny Paycheck “Take This Job and Shove It” (1977)
73. The Oak Ridge Boys “Elvira” (1981)
74. Don Gibson “Oh Lonesome Me” (1958)
75. Ronnie Milsap “Smokey Mountain Rain” (1980)
76. Dixie Chicks “Wide Open Spaces” (1998)
77. Willie Nelson “On the Road Again” (1980)
78. John Michael Montgomery “I Swear” (1993)
79. Patsy Cline “Sweet Dreams of You” (1963)
80. Dolly Parton “Coat of Many Colors” (1971)

81. Patsy Cline “Walkin’ After Midnight” (1957)
82. Keith Whitley “When You Say Nothing at All” (1988)
83. Alan Jackson “Don’t Rock the Jukebox” (1991)
84. Johnny Cash “A Boy Named Sue” (live, 1969)
85. Buck Owens “I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail” (1965)
86. Bill Monroe “Blue Moon of Kentucky” (1947)
87. Freddy Fender “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” (1975)
88. The Statler Brothers “Flowers on the Wall” (1965)
89. Patti Page “Tennessee Waltz” (1950)
90. Jack Greene “There Goes My Everything” (1966)

91. Sons of the Pioneers “Tumbling Tumbleweeds” (1934)
92. The Carter Family “Wildwood Flower” (1928)
93. Leroy Van Dyke “Walk on By” (1961)
94. Tammy Wynette “D-I-V-O-R-C-E” (1968)
95. Taylor Swift “Love Story” (2008)
96. Faith Hill “This Kiss” (1998)
97. David Allen Coe “You Never Even Call Me by My Name” (1975)
98. Glen Campbell “Galveston” (1969)
99. Lefty Frizzell “Long Black Veil” (1959)
100. Ray Charles “I Can’t Stop Loving You” (1962)

101. Hank Locklin “Please Help Me, I’m Falling” (1960)
102. Jimmie Davis “You Are My Sunshine” (1940)
103. George Jones “She Thinks I Still Care” (1962)
104. Alan Jackson with Jimmy Buffett “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” (2003)
105. Randy Travis “On the Other Hand” (1985)
106. Miranda Lambert “The House That Built Me” (2010)
107. Rascal Flatts “Bless the Broken Road” (2004)
108. Hank Williams “Jambalaya on the Bayou” (1952)
109. Sugarland “Stay” (2007)
110. Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys “Faded Love” (1950)

111. George Strait “All My Ex’s Live in Texas” (1987)
112. Eric Church “Springsteen” (2011)
113. David Houston “Almost Persuaded” (1966)
114. Keith Urban “Somebody Like You” (2002)
115. Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash “Jackson” (1967)
116. Tanya Tucker “Delta Dawn” (1972)
117. Hank Williams “Cold, Cold Heart” (1951)
118. Gretchen Wilson “Redneck Woman” (2004)
119. Freddie Hart “Easy Loving” (1971)
120. The Band Perry “If I Die Young” (2010)

121. Dolly Parton “9 to 5” (1980)
122. Trisha Yearwood “She’s in Love with the Boy” (1991)
123. Bobbie Gentry “Ode to Billie Joe” (1967)
124. Osborne Brothers “Rocky Top” (1968)
125. Kenny Chesney “The Good Stuff” (2002)
126. Johnny Cash “Hurt” (2002)
127. Vince Gill “Go Rest High on That Mountain” (1994)
128. Hank Williams Jr. “Family Tradition” (1979)
129. Johnny Cash “Sunday Mornin’ Coming Down” (1970)
130. Jimmy Dean “Big Bad John” (1961)

131. Jimmie Rodgers “Blue Yodel #1 (T for Texas)” (1928)
132. The Highwaymen (Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, & Kris Kristofferson) “The Highwayman” (1984)
133. Eddy Arnold “Bouquet of Roses” (1948)
134. Rosanne Cash “Seven Year Ache” (1981)
135. Tom T. Hall “Old Dogs, Children, and Watermelon Wine” (1972)
136. Dwight Yoakam “Guitars, Cadillacs” (1986)
137. Alabama “Mountain Music” (1982)
138. Thomas Rhett “Die a Happy Man” (2015)
139. Johnny Lee “Lookin’ for Love” (1980)
140. Sam Hunt “Body Like a Back Road” (2017)

141. Hank Thompson “The Wild Side of Life” (1952)
142. Donna Fargo “The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A.” (1972)
143. Kenny Rogers “Lucille” (1977)
144. Loretta Lynn “Don't Come Home A’Drinkin’ with Lovin’ on Your Mind” (1967)
145. Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” (1950)
146. George Strait “Check Yes or No” (1995)
147. Kathy Mattea “Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses” (1988)
148. Patsy Cline “She’s Got You” (1962)
149. Brad Paisley with Alison Krauss “Whiskey Lullaby” (2004)
150. Connie Smith “Once a Day” (1964)

151. Darius Rucker “Wagon Wheel” (2013)
152. Kacey Musgraves “Follow Your Arrow” (2013)
153. Carrie Underwood “Jesus Take the Wheel” (2005)
154. Kenny Rogers “Coward of the County” (1979)
155. Zac Brown Band “Chicken Fried” (2008)
156. George Strait “Love Without End, Amen” (1990)
157. Eddy Arnold “The Cattle Call” (1945)
158. Alabama “Love in the First Degree” (1981)
159. Lefty Frizzell “If You’ve Got the Money, I’ve Got the Time” (1950)
160. Vince Gill “When I Call Your Name” (1990)

161. Patsy Montana & the Prairie Ramblers “I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart” (1936)
162. Vern Gosdin “Chiseled in Stone” (1988)
163. Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys “San Antonio Rose” (1939)
164. Hank Williams “Kaw-Liga” (1953)
165. Ray Price “Heartaches by the Number” (1959)
166. Dolly Parton “Here You Come Again” (1977)
167. Garth Brooks “If Tomorrow Never Comes” (1989)
168. C.W. McCall “Convoy” (1975)
169. John Denver “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” (1974)
170. Johnny Cash “Daddy Sang Bass” (1968)

171. Elvis Presley “Heartbreak Hotel” (1956)
172. Clint Black “A Better Man” (1989)
173. Little Big Town “Girl Crush” (2015)
174. The Everly Brothers “Bye Bye Love” (1957)
175. Kenny Rogers “Lady” (1980)
176. Gene Autry “Back in the Saddle” (1939)
177. Travis Tritt “Here’s a Quarter, Call Someone Who Cares” (1991)
178. Tim McGraw with Patty Loveless “Please Remember Me” (1999)
179. Glen Campbell “Gentle on My Mind” (1967)
180. Bebe Rexha with Florida Georgia Line “Meant to Be” (2017)

181. The Judds “Grandpa, Tell Me ‘Bout the Good Old Days” (1985)
182. Hank Williams “I Saw the Light” (1948)
183. Sonny James “Young Love” (1956)
184. The Judds “Mama He’s Crazy” (1984)
185. Don Gibson “I Can’t Stop Loving You” (1958)
186. Buck Owens “Together Again” (1964)
187. Hank Williams Jr. “A Country Boy Can Survive” (1981)
188. Carl Butler & Pearl “Don’t Let Me Cross Over” (1962)
189. Toby Keith “How Do You Like Me Now?!” (1999)
190. Charlie Rich “The Most Beautiful Girl” (1973)

191. Dan + Shay “Tequila” (2018)
192. Porter Wagoner “Green, Green Grass of Home” (1965)
193. Dixie Chicks “Cowboy Take Me Away” (1999)
194. Brooks & Dunn “My Maria” (1996)
195. Tex Williams “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)” (1947)
196. Merle Haggard & the Strangers “Today I Started Loving You Again” (1968)
197. Shania Twain “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” (1997)
198. Hunter Hayes “Wanted” (2011)
199. Roger Miller “Dang Me” (1964)
200. Randy Travis “Three Wooden Crosses” (2003)

Resources/Related Links:

First posted 8/3/2011; last updated 11/12/2023.

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Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Dave's Music Database Hall of Fame: Music Maker Inductees (September 2021)

Music Maker Inductees: September 2021

Top 20 Country Acts

Originally posted 9/22/2021.

January 22, 2019 marked the 10-year anniversary of the DMDB blog! To honor that, Dave’s Music Database announced its own Hall of Fame. This eleventh class of music maker inductees focuses on the top country acts of all time (see the full top 100 list here). These are the top 20 from that list, minus previous inductee Dolly Parton.

See the full list of music maker inductees here.

Alabama (active 1969-2006)

Inducted September 2021 as a “Top 20 Country Act”

This group from Fort Payne, Alabama, has been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. “Love in the First Degree” and “Mountain Music” rank amongst the top 200 country songs of all time. They won the Academy of Country Music Album of the Year award for Feels So Right, The Closer You Get (which also won the Country Music Association Album of the Year), and Roll On. They also won American Music Awards Country Album of the Year Awards for The Closer You Get, 40 Hour Week, and their first Greatest Hits collection. Read more.

Eddy Arnold (1918-2008)

Inducted September 2021 as a “Top 20 Country Act”

Country singer born in Henderson, TN. He has been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and is a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He ranked as the #1 country artist in the 8th edition of Joel Whitburn’s Billboard: Hot Country Songs book. “Cattle Call,” “Bouquet of Roses,” and “Make the World Go Away” all rank in the top 200 country songs of all time. The latter is also in the Grammy Hall of Fame and National Recording Registry. Read more.

Garth Brooks (1962-)

Inducted September 2021 as a “Top 20 Country Act”

Country singer born in Tulsa, OK. He has been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame. As of 2020, he has – according to the RIAA – sold more albums (156 million) than any other solo artist in the United States. “The Dance” and “Friends in Low Places” both rank in the top 200 country songs of all time. The latter song also ranks in the top 1% of all time. He has seven albums, including No Fences and Ropin' the Wind, which rank in the top 1000 albums of all time. Read more.

Glen Campbell (1936-2017)

Inducted September 2021 as a “Top 20 Country Act”

Country singer born in Billstown, AR. He has been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and is a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. “Gentle on My Mind,” “Wichita Lineman,” “Galveston,” and “Rhinestone Cowboy” rank in the top 200 country songs of all time. The latter two songs also rank in the top 1% of all time. “Gentle on My Mind,” “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” and “Wichita Lineman” are in the Grammy Hall of Fame. “Rhinestone Cowboy” won Single and Song of the Year from the Academy of Country Music as well as Song of the Year from the Country Music Association. Read more.

Johnny Cash (1932-2003)

Inducted September 2021 as a “Top 20 Country Act”

Country singer born in Kingsland, AR. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. “Folsom Prison Blues,” “I Walk the Line,” “Ring of Fire” and “Hurt” rank in the top 1% of all time. His live Live at Folsom Prison album is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Albums of All Time and is a DMDB Hall of Fame inductee. That album, as well as At San Quentin and American Recordings rank in the top 1000 albums of all time. Read more.

Patsy Cline (1932-1963)

Inducted September 2021 as a “Top 20 Country Act”

Country singer born in 1932 in Winchester, Virginia. Her recording of ““Crazy” is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era. It tops the list of the top 200 country songs of all time. That list also includes “Walkin’ After Midnight,” “I Fall to Pieces,” She’s Got You,” and “Sweet Dreams of You.” Her album 12 Greatest Hits ranks as one of the top 1000 albums of all time, one of the top 100 country albums of all time, and one of the top 100 compilations of all time. Inductee in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Read more.

Merle Haggard (1937-2016)

Inducted September 2021 as a “Top 20 Country Act”

Country singer born in 1937 in Oildale, California. He reached the country chart more than 100 times from 1963 to 2005, including 38 #1’s. “Mama Tried” and “Okie from Muskogee” both rank in the top 200 country songs of all time and are in the Grammy Hall of Fame “Mama Tried” is also in the National Recording Registry while “Okie” won Academy of Country Music’s Song of the Year and Country Music Association’s Single of the Year. Inductee in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a Kennedy Center Honoree. Read more.

Alan Jackson (1958-)

Inducted September 2021 as a “Top 20 Country Act”

Country singer born in Newnan, GA. He has been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame. “Don’t Rock the Jukebox,” “Chattahoochee,” “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning,” and “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” rank in the top 200 country songs of all time and each has won at least won award for Single or Song of the Year from the Academy of Country Music and/or Country Music Association. The latter two also won Grammys for Country Song of the Year. He won the Academy of Country Music Album of the Year award three times for Don’t Rock the Jukebox, A Lot About Livin' and a Little 'Bout Love, and Drive. Read more.

Waylon Jennings (1937-2002)

Inducted September 2021 as a “Top 20 Country Act”

Country singer born in 1937 in Littlefield, Texas. He reached the country charts 96 times from 1965 to 1991, including 15 #1’s. His songs “Good Hearted Woman,” “Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love),” and “Mammas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” were all named Country Song of the Year by Billboard magazine and rank in the top 200 country songs of all time. Inductee in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Read more.

George Jones (1931-2013)

Inducted September 2021 as a “Top 20 Country Act”

Country singer born in Saratoga, TX. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. “She Thinks I Still Care” and “He Stopped Loving Her Today” rank in the top 200 country songs of all time. The latter also ranks in the top 1% of all time. According to the 8th edition of Joel Whitburn’s Billboard: Hot Country Songs book, he has more entries on the country charts than any other performer. Read more.

Loretta Lynn (1935-)

Inducted September 2021 as a “Top 20 Country Act”

Country singer/songwriter born in 1935 in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky. Reached the country charts 79 times from 1960 to 2010, including #1 16 times. “Don't Come Home A-Drinkin’ with Lovin’ on Your Mind” and “Coal Miner’s Daughter” rank in the top 200 country songs of all time. The latter is in the Grammy Hall of Fame and National Recording Registry. The 1980 soundtrack for Coal Miner’s Daughter won the Country Music Association Award for Album of the Year and Van Lear Rose won the Grammy for Country Album of the Year. Inductee in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame. Recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a Kennedy Center Honoree. Read more.

Reba McEntire (1955-)

Inducted September 2021 as a “Top 20 Country Act”

Country singer born in 1955 in Chockie, Oklahoma. Reached the country chart 99 times from 1976 to 2011, hitting #1 24 times. “Fancy” ranks as one of the top 200 country songs of all time. She won the American Music Award for Country Album of the Year 3 times with Reba Live, For My Broken Heart, and Read My Mind. Inductee in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Recipient of the ASCAP Golden Note Award and a Kennedy Center Honoree. Read more.

Willie Nelson (1933-)

Inducted September 2021 as a “Top 20 Country Act”

Country singer born in Abbott, TX. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Songwriters Hall of Fame. Recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. His version of “Always on My Mind” is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era, as is “Crazy,” which was written by Nelson and recorded by Patsy Cline. The latter tops the list of the top 200 country songs of all time. That list also includes “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,” “Mammas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” “On the Road Again,” and “Always on My Mind.” Red Headed Stranger is one of the top 1000 albums of all time. Read more.

Kenny Rogers (1938-2020)

Inducted September 2021 as a “Top 20 Country Act”

The Country Music Hall of Fame inductee was born in Houston, TX. His songs “Lucille,” “The Gambler,” “Coward of the County,” “Lady,” and “Islands in the Stream” rank in the top 200 country songs of all time. The latter two also rank in the top 1% of all time and “Lady” is a DMDB Hall of Fame inductee. His albums The Gambler and his 1980 compilation Greatest Hits rank in the top 1000 albums of all time. Read more.

George Strait (1952-)

Inducted September 2021 as a “Top 20 Country Act”

Country singer born in 1952 in Poteet, Texas. He reached the country charts 117 times from 1981 to 2012, going to #1 44 times. His song “Love Without End, Amen” was Billboard magazine’s Country Song of the Year. Three of his songs (“Check Yes Or No,” “Give It Away,” and “Murder on Music Row”) have won Academy of Country Music and/or Country Music Association awards for Single or Song of the Year. He won Album of the Year awards from the Academy of Country Music (3 times) and the Country Music Association (5 times) as well as a Grammy for Country Album of the Year. Inductee in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Recipent of the Medal of Arts and ASCAP Golden Note Award. Read more.

Shania Twain (1965-)

Inducted September 2021 as a “Top 20 Country Act”

Country singer born in 1965 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Reached the country charts 33 times from 1993 to 2011, including seven #1 hits. “You’re Still the One” ranks in the top 1% of all time. Her album The Woman in Me won the Album of the Year from both the Grammys and the Academy of Country Music. Come on Over is one of the top ten bestsellers of all time with more than 40 million copies. Read more.

Conway Twitty (1933-1993)

Inducted September 2021 as a “Top 20 Country Act”

Country singer born in 1933 in Friars Point, Mississippi. Reached the country charts 98 times from 1966 to 2004, including 40 #1 songs. One of those, “Hello’ Darlin’,” is in the Grammy Hall of Fame. Inductee in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Read more.

Hank Williams (1923-1953)

Inducted September 2021 as a “Top 20 Country Act”

Country singer born in Mount Olive, AL. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Nine of his songs rank in the top 200 country songs of all time. Among them are “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” “Cold, Cold Heart,” and “Your Cheatin' Heart,” which also rate in the top 1% of all time. His 40 Greatest Hits compilation is one of the top 1000 albums of all time. Read more.

Tammy Wynette (1942-1998)

Inducted September 2021 as a “Top 20 Country Act”

Country singer born in 1942 in Tremont, Mississippi. Reached the country charts 72 times from 1966 to 1998, including 20 #1 hits. One of those, “Stand by Your Man,” ranks in the top 1% of all time and is in the Grammy Hall of Fame. Inductee in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Read more.
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Friday, April 26, 2013

George Jones – Top 50 Songs

image from georgejones.com

Farewell to the Possum (nicknamed because of the shape of his nose and facial features). Country singer/songwriter and guitarist George Jones is dead, age 81, from hypoxic respiratory failure. Born on 9/12/1931 in Saratoga, Texas, the man became regarded as one of the greatest country singers of all time (he ranks #6 according to the DMDB). Jones got his start singing on radio stations KTXJ in Jasper, TX, and KRIC in Beaumont, TX. He served in the U.S. Marines from 1950-52 and recorded rockabilly as Thumper Jones and Hank Smith. He joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1969, the same year he married country singer Tammy Wynette, his third of four wives.

He struggled with alcohol and drug abuse in his life, earning him the nickname “No Show Jones” for missed shows in the late 1970s. One of the famous stories about his alcoholism occurred when second wife, Shirley Corley, hid the car keys to keep him from driving to the liquor store so he hopped on a riding mower instead. However, fourth wife Nancy Sepulvado, to whom he was married from 1983 until his death, is credited with rescuing him from drinking and cocaine.

In honor of the country legend, here are his top 50 songs, according to the DMDB. As always, DMDB lists are determined by creating an aggregate list from multiple other best-of lists and factoring in chart success, sales, airplay, and awards. In addition, 13 George Jones best-of lists were figured into the mix. Also, the number of appearances on 7 different compilations of Jones’ music were factored in.

George Jones: His Top 50 Songs

1. He Stopped Loving Her Today (1980)
2. She Thinks I Still Care (1962)
3. The Grand Tour (1974)
4. White Lightning (1959)
5. Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes (1985)
6. Tender Years (1961)
7. A Good Year for the Roses (1970)
8. A Picture of Me without You (1972)
9. Still Doin’ Time (1981)
10. Why Baby Why (1955)

11. The Window Up Above (1960)
12. I Always Get Lucky with You (1983)
13. The Race Is On (1964)
14. The Door (1974)
15. If Drinkin’ Don’t Kill Me, Her Memory Will (1981)
16. Golden Ring (with Tammy Wynette, 1976)
17. She’s My Rock (1984)
18. Choices (1999)
19. Tennessee Whiskey (1983)
20. Bartender’s Blues (with James Taylor, 1978)

21. We’re Gonna Hold On (with Tammy Wynette, 1973)
22. The One I Loved Back Then (The Corvette Song) (1985)
23. Color of the Blues (1958)
24. Just One More (1956)
25. Walk Through This World with Me (1967)
26. I’ll Share My World with You (1969)
27. I Don’t Need Your Rockin’ Chair (1992)
28. We Can Make It (1972)
29. Aching Breaking Heart (1962)
30. When the Grass Grows Over Me (1968)

31. You Comb Her Hair (1963)
32. I’m Not Ready Yet (1980)
33. Take Me (1965)
34. Wine Colored Roses (1986)
35. Who Shot Sam (1959)
36. Near You (with Tammy Wynette, 1976)
37. Mr. Fool (1963)
38. Accidentally on Purpose (1960)
39. Love Bug (1965)
40. Yesterday’s Wine (with Merle Haggard, 1982)

41. I’m a People (1966)
42. The King Is Gone (So Are You) (1989)
43. A Girl I Used to Know (1962)
44. As Long As I Live (1968)
45. Once You’ve Had the Best (1973)
46. We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds (with Melba Montgomery, 1963)
47. These Days I Barely Get By (1975)
48. Her Name Is… (1976)
49. I Can’t Get There from Here (1967)
50. What My Woman Can’t Do (1973)

Awards:

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Friday, June 1, 2012

Country Music’s All-Time Classics According to the Classic Pop Yahoo Group

Classic Pop Yahoo Group: Country Music’s All Time Classics,

Top 100 Songs

Steve Sullivan was one of my early fans on my Dave’s Music Database Facebook page. I was delighted when I found out he did the research behind one of my music bibles – Pop Memories 1890-1954, published by Record Research.

His post on May 31 ranks more than 1000 all-time country and bluegrass songs. He taps more than 50 sources, including Billboard’s country charts from 1939 through 2011, the Grammy Hall of Fame, the National Recording Registry, country music awards, National Public Radio, the works of multiple music authors, and nearly every issue of the Journal of Country Music from 1970 through 2006. I’ve posted the top 100 songs from that list, but the links for all four parts of the list are posted below. Dave’s Music Database has done a list of the top 100 country songs of all time as well. You can check it out here.

Click here to see other genre-specific song lists.

1. Patsy Cline “Crazy” (1961)
2. Tammy Wynette “Stand by Your Man” (1968)
3. George Jones “He Stopped Loving Her Today” (1980)
4. Johnny Cash “I Walk the Line” (1956)
5. Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys “New San Antonio Rose” (1944)
6. Kitty Wells “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” (1952)
7. Hank Williams “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” (1949)
8. Roy Acuff “Wabash Cannonball” (1947)
9. Johnny Cash “Folsom Prison Blues” (1956)
10. Patsy Cline “I Fall to Pieces (1961)”

11. The Carter Family “Wildwood Flower” (1928)
12. Jimmie Rodgers “Blue Yodel (T for Texas)” (1928)
13. Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys “Blue Moon of Kentucky” (1946)
14. Loretta Lynn “Coal Miner’s Daughter” (1970)
15. Ray Price “Crazy Arms” (1956)
16. Hank Williams “Your Cheatin’ Heart” (1953)
17. Hank Snow “I’m Movin’ On” (1950)
18. Marty Robbins “El Paso” (1959)
19. Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” (1950)
20. The Carter Family “Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By)” (1935)

21. Tennessee Ernie Ford “Sixteen Tons” (1955)
22. Merle Haggard “Mama Tried” (1968)
23. Ernest Tubb “Walking the Floor Over You” (1941)
24. Roger Miller “King of the Road” (1965)
25. Sons of the Pioneers “Tumbling Tumbleweeds” (1934)
26. Hank Williams “Lovesick Blues” (1949)
27. Johnny Cash “Ring of Fire” (1963)
28. Dolly Parton “Coat of Many Colors” (1971)
29. Jimmie Davis “You Are My Sunshine” (1941)
30. Jim Reeves “He’ll Have to Go” (1960)

31. Willie Nelson “Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain” (1975)
32. Hank Thompson “The Wild Side of Life” (1952)
33. Gene Autry “Back in the Saddle Again” (1939)
34. Johnny Horton “The Battle of New Orleans” (1959)
35. Fiddlin’ John Carson “The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane” (1923)
36. Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys “Mule Skinner Blues” (1940)
37. Patsy Montana “I Want to Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart” (1935)
38. Bobbie Gentry “Ode to Billie Joe” (1967)
39. Sammi Smith “Help Me Make It Through the Night” (1971)
40. Willie Nelson “Always on My Mind” (1982)

41. George Jones “She Thinks I Still Care” (1962)
42. The Stanley Brothers “Rank Strangers” (1960)
43. Hank Williams “Jambalaya (On the Bayou)” (1952)
44. Charlie Rich “Behind Closed Doors” (1973)
45. Al Dexter “Pistol Packin’ Mama” (1943)
46. Eck Robertson “Sallie Gooden” (1922)
47. Sons of the Pioneers “Cool Water” (1941)
48. Faron Young “Hello Walls” (1961)
49. Hank Williams “Hey Good Lookin’” (1951)
50. Dolly Parton “I Will Always Love You” (1974)

51. Roy Acuff “The Great Speckled Bird” (1936)
52. Vernon Dalhart “The Prisoner’s Song” (1925)
53. Glen Campbell “Wichita Lineman” (1968)
54. Charlie Daniels Band “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” (1979)
55. Ted Daffan “Born to Lose” (1943)
56. Red Foley “There’ll Be Peace in the Valley” (1951)
57. Conway Twitty “Hello Darlin’” (1970)
58. Glen Campbell “Gentle on My Mind” (1967)
59. Ray Price “For the Good Times” (1970)
60. Webb Pierce “There Stands the Glass” (1953)

61. Glen Campbell “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” (1967)
62. Lefty Frizzell “If You’ve Got the Money, I’ve Got the Time” (1950)
63. Eddy Arnold “Bouquet of Roses” (1948)
64. Garth Brooks “The Dance” (1990)
65. Garth Brooks “Friends in Low Places” (1990)
67. Eddy Arnold “Make the World Go Away” (1965)
68. Lee Ann Womack with Sons of the Desert “I Hope You Dance” (2000)
69. Carl Perkins “Blue Suede Shoes” (1956)
70. Ray Charles “I Can’t Stop Loving You” (1962)

71. The Everly Brothers “Bye Bye Love” (1957)
72. Hank Snow “I Don’t Hurt Anymore” (1954)
73. Randy Travis “Forever and Ever, Amen” (1987)
74. Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” (1978)
75. Eddy Arnold “The Cattle Call” (1944/1955)
76. Vernon Dalhart “The Wreck of the Old ‘97” (1924)
77. Patti Page “Tennessee Waltz” (1950)
78. Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys “Steel Guitar Rag” (1936)
79. Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs “Earl’s Breakdown” (1951)
80. Webb Pierce “Slowly” (1954)

81. Hank Williams “Cold, Cold Heart” (1951)
82. Emmett Miller & His Georgia Crackers “Lovesick Blues” (1928)
83. Gid Tanner & Skillet Lickers “Soldier’s Joy” (1929)
84. Elton Britt “There’s a Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere” (1943)
85. Roy Rogers & Dale Evans “Happy Trails” (1952)
86. George Jones “The Grand Tour” (1974)
87. Willie Nelson “On the Road Again” (1980)
88. Gene Autry “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1949)
89. Ray Price “City Lights” (1958)
90. Jimmie Rodgers “In the Jailhouse Now” (1928)

91. The Carter Family “Keep on the Sunny Side” (1928)
92. The Delmore Brothers “Blues Stay Away from Me” (1949)
93. Buck Owens “I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail” (1965)
94. Charlie Poole “Don’t Let Your Deal Do Down Blues” (1925)
95. The Flying Burrito Brothers “Sin City” (1969)
96. Jimmie Rodgers “Waiting for a Train” (1928)
97. Elvis Presley “Don’t Be Cruel” (1956)
98. Tex Williams “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)” (1947)
99. Merle Travis “Dark As a Dungeon” (1946)
100. Woody Guthrie “This Land Is Your Land” (1944)

Resources and Related Links:

Steve Sullivan Song Lists:

First posted 6/1/2012; last revised 12/16/2022.

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Tuesday, March 6, 2012

The 2012 Inductees for the Country Music Hall of Fame

2012 Country Music Hall of Fame inductees
Hargus “Pig” Robbins, Connie Smith, and Garth Brooks (left to right)



The Country Music Hall of Fame announced its 2012 inductees today (See the full list of all inductees here). They include:

Garth Brooks will be inducted into the Country Hall of Fame in the “Modern Era Artist” category. His 1989 self-titled debut album with Capitol Records produced #1 songs “If Tomorrow Never Comes” and the career-defining ballad “The Dance.” He amassed 19 #1 songs, including the iconic “Friends in Low Places.” Third album, 1991’s Ropin’ the Wind, was the first country album in history to debut atop the Billboard Top 200 album chart. CM With more than 128 million albums sold, Brooks is the top-selling artist of the Soundscan era, which covers from 1991 to present. TN In 2007, he was named the best-selling solo artist in American music history. CM

During the ‘90s, Brooks was named CMA Entertainer of the Year four times. He retired from touring in 2000 (although he has since returned for limited runs) to move back home to Oklahoma with his daughters. Brooks said, “I feel honored and it’s kind of a mixed emotion of joy and a little bit of guilt…I’m very happy because I didn’t expect it. I was stunned, I guess because if they just got around to Reba last year I thought it was going to be another 10 or 15 years and deservedly so before my name ever came up, if it ever did.” TN He went on to specifically cite Randy Travis and Keith Whitley as contemporaries who should have been inducted before him. TN





Connie Smith is being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in the “Veterans Era Artist” category, which is open to a singer 45 years after initial national prominence. She was born in 1941 and discovered at age 22 after winning a talent contest which gave her a chance to sing on an Opry-troupe concert. In 1964, Bill Anderson, the headliner of that concert, invited her to sing on Ernest Tubb’s Midnite Jamboree. That same year she signed to RCA Victor Records. Her first single, “Once a Day,” went to #1. She went on to rack up 30 top 20 hits on the country charts and recorded gospel as well. Dolly Parton once said of Smith, “You know, there’s really only three female singers in this world…Barbra Streisand, Linda Ronstadt and Connie Smith. The rest of us are only pretending.” TN





Hargus “Pig” Robbins, a session pianist, is the third inductee for the Country Music Hall of Fame, entering in the “Recording and/or Touring Musician Active Prior to 1980” category. Robbins, who has been blind since 4 because of a knife accident, learned to play piano at age seven when he attended the Nashville School for the Blind. The focus was on classical music, but Robbins integrated his own style of rhythm & blues and country in the style of artists such as Ray Charles and Floyd Cramer. CM His nickname, “Pig,” came from him sneaking through a fire escape at school and playing when he wasn’t supposed to. Robbins’ supervisor said, he got as dirty as a pig. CM

In 1959, he played on his first of hundreds of professional recordings – George Jones’ “White Lightning”, his first #1 hit. Robbins went on to work with Patsy Cline, Porter Wagoner, Ray Price, Dolly Parton, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan (on the classic Blonde on Blonde album), Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, Travis Tritt, and his fellow hall inductee Connie Smith. TN He has played on classic hits such as Charlie Rich’s “Behind Closed Doors” and Crystal Gayle’s “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue.” In 1976, Robbins won the CMA Instrumentalist of the Year award and in 2000 he received the CMA Musician of the Year Award. In 2007, he was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame. Veteran producer Billy Sherrill, who discovered Tammy Wynette and worked on legendary tracks such as “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” has said Robbins “was probably the best musician I ever worked with.” TN

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