Simply Country wishes to share one of it's favorite country songs of all time. Hard times can happen to anyone and those who have experienced them can relate to this masterpiece.

"Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" is a song written by Kris Kristofferson that was recorded in 1969 by Ray Stevens before becoming a number one hit on the Billboard US Country chart for Johnny Cash.

Stevens' version of the song reached number 55 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and number 81 on the Hot 100 pop chart in 1969. It also appeared on the author's own album Kristofferson.

In a 2013 interview, Kristofferson said the song "opened up a whole lot of doors for me. So many people that I admired, admired it. Actually, it was the song that allowed me to quit working for a living."

The biggest success on disc for the song came from a Johnny Cash performance that had been taped live at the Ryman Auditorium during a taping of The Johnny Cash Show as part of a "Ride This Train" segment, with filmed background visuals showing a down-and-out wanderer roaming around the Public Square area of Shelbyville, Tennessee. Cash introduced the song with the following monologue:

"You know, not everyone who has been on 'the bum' wanted it that way. The Great Depression of the 30s set the feet of thousands of people—farmers, city workers—it set 'em to ridin' the rails. My Daddy was one of those who hopped a freight train a couple of times to go and look for work. He wasn't a bum. He was a hobo but he wasn't a bum. I suppose we've all....all of us 'been at one time or another 'drifter at heart', and today like yesterday there's many that are on that road headin' out. Not searchin' maybe for work, as much as for self-fulfillment, or understanding of their life...trying to find a *meaning* for their life. And they're not hoppin' freights much anymore. Instead they're thumbin' cars and diesel trucks along the highways from Maine to Mexico. And many who have drifted...including myself...have found themselves no closer to peace of mind than a dingy backroom, on some lonely Sunday morning, with it comin' down all around you."

With the monologue edited off, the recording would appear on the soundtrack LP The Johnny Cash Show the following year, as well as being issued as a single (Columbia Records 4-45211). Cash's version won the Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year in 1970 and hit number one on the country chart.

This version was used in the Columbo episode Swan Song in 1974, in which Cash performed it during a garden party.

According to Kristofferson, Cash was told to change the line "I'm wishing Lord that I was stoned" when he performed it on his TV show, but he refused to comply.

Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are the songs "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night", all of which were hits for other artists. Kristofferson composed his own songs and collaborated with Nashville songwriters such as Shel Silverstein.

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"Come Monday" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. It was first released on his 1974 album Living & Dying in ¾ Time.

Buffett wrote the song to his wife while he was on tour. At a live performance in 1974, Buffett mentioned that he had written the song heading out to California the previous year, meaning that it would have been written as he was "heading up to San Francisco for the Labor Day Weekend show" in 1973. The single version replaces the third line, "I've got my Hush Puppies on," with "I've got my hiking shoes on."

It is one of Buffett's more popular songs, and is part of "The Big 8" that he has played at almost all of his concerts, typically changing the line "I just can't wait to see you again" to "It's so nice to be in...(location of show)...again".

"Come Monday" was Buffett's first Top 40 hit single, reaching No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as No. 3 Easy Listening and No. 58 Country.

James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter,[10] musician, author, actor, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett has recorded hit songs including "Margaritaville" (ranked 234th on the Recording Industry Association of America's list of "Songs of the Century") and "Come Monday". He has a devoted base of fans known as "Parrotheads".

Aside from his career in music, Buffett is also a bestselling author and was involved in two restaurant chains named after two of his best-known songs; he currently owns the Margaritaville Cafe restaurant chain and co-developed the now defunct Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant chain. Buffett is one of the world's richest musicians, with a net worth of $550 million.

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"Let Your Love Flow" is a pop song written by Larry E. Williams which was recorded in the autumn of 1975 by country music duo the Bellamy Brothers for whom it afforded an international hit in 1976.

"Let Your Love Flow" reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated 1 May 1976, also crossing-over to the Billboard chart rankings for Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks with a peak of #2, and also for Hot Country Singles with a peak of #21. According to David Bellamy (quote): "There were a couple of guys from Holland [ie. the Netherlands] who were in town when the single was released, and our record company gave it to them to take home and they also sent it to Germany", and "Let Your Love Flow" would in fact debut at #22 on the Dutch Top 30 chart dated 6 March 1976, the same date as the track's Billboard Top 40 debut at #38: the track would eventually peak at #6 on both the Dutch chart and Belgium's Flemish chart. In June and July 1976 "Let Your Love Flow" spent five weeks at #1 in Germany and also in Switzerland, while the track would be ranked at #1 on the monthly Austrian hit parades dated the 15th of August, September and October. "Let Your Love Flow" was afforded further European success with a seven-week tenure at #2 in both Norway and Sweden, while in the British Isles the track achieved chart peaks of #7 in the UK and #3 in Ireland. "Let Your Love Flow" also reached #1 on the hit parade for South Africa, #2 in New Zealand and #6 in Australia.

The Bellamy Brothers are an American pop and country music duo consisting of brothers David Milton Bellamy (born September 16, 1950) and Homer Howard Bellamy (born February 2, 1946), from Darby, Florida. The duo had considerable musical success in the 1970s and 1980s, starting with the release of their crossover hit "Let Your Love Flow" in 1976, a Number One single on the Billboard I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO THIS VIDEO. NO INFRINGEMENT INTENDED. FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY!Hot 100.

"He Stopped Loving Her Today" is a song recorded by American country music artist George Jones. It has been named in several surveys as the greatest country song of all time. It was released in April 1980 as the lead single from the album I Am What I Am. The song was Jones's first solo No. 1 single in six years. The melancholy song was written by Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman. The week after Jones' death, the song re-entered the Hot Country Songs chart at No. 21. As of November 13, 2013, the single has sold 521,000 copies in the United States. Since 2008 it has been preserved by the Library of Congress into the National Recording Registry. The song was No. 275 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Alan Jackson sang the song during George Jones' funeral service on May 2, 2013. George Strait and Jackson sang the song as a tribute during the 2013 CMA Awards on November 6, 2013.

By 1980, Jones had not had a number one single in six years and many critics began to write him off. However, the music industry was stunned in July when "He Stopped Loving Her Today" shot to number one on the country charts. The song was written by Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman and tells the story of a friend who has never given up on his love; he keeps old letters and photos from their previous romance and hangs on to hope that she would "come back again". The song reaches its peak in the chorus, revealing that he indeed stopped loving her when he died and the woman does return—for his funeral.

The success of "He Stopped Loving Her Today" led CBS Records to renew Jones' recording contract and sparked new interest in the singer. Jones earned the Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 1980. The Academy of Country Music awarded the song Single of the Year and Song of the Year in 1980. It also became the Country Music Association's Song of the Year in both 1980 and 1981. The song was ranked number 275 by Rolling Stone on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and number 4 on its list of the 100 greatest country songs of all time.

George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", as well as his distinctive voice and phrasing. For the last two decades of his life, Jones was frequently referred to as the greatest living country singer. Country music scholar Bill Malone writes, "For the two or three minutes consumed by a song, Jones immerses himself so completely in its lyrics, and in the mood it conveys, that the listener can scarcely avoid becoming similarly involved." Waylon Jennings expressed a similar opinion in his song "It's Alright": "If we all could sound like we wanted to, we'd all sound like George Jones.

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"When I Get Where I'm Going'" is a song written by George Teren and Rivers Rutherford, and recorded by American country music artist Brad Paisley. It was released in October 2005 as second single from his album Time Well Wasted and is his 14th career single (not counting album cuts). The song features harmony vocals from Dolly Parton. The song was Parton's 25th Billboard No. 1 (and her first since 1991's "Rockin' Years"), and Paisley's fifth.

The video of this song was directed by Jim Shea, and features footage of Paisley singing in a forest, as well as home movies of himself with his grandfather, Warren L. Jarvis. He also holds up photos of himself with Jarvis and his aunt Rita Takach. The video was filmed in Northern California. The extended version of the video ends with Jarvis in a home movie saying "Come on in and rock a while!" and Paisley smiling when he looks up from his guitar playing and sees this. It also features many different people holding photographs of loved ones who have presumably died. Two notable people featured in this video are Michael Reagan, who is shown holding a photograph of his father Ronald Reagan, and Teresa Earnhardt, who is shown sitting in front of a painted portrait of her husband, NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt. Although she does vocals on the song, Dolly Parton is not shown singing in the video. However, she is shown holding a picture of her grandfather, Rev. Jake Owens, who'd died a few years earlier. She kisses her hand then touches the photograph in this scene. Figure Skater Scott Hamilton is shown holding a picture of his mother. John Carter Cash is featured holding a photo of his parents, Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. Also in the video is Pixar director John Lasseter holding up a picture of co-director and fellow CalArts alumnus Joe Ranft who suddenly died in 2005 in a car accident. Various unknown people hold up photos of relatives who have passed on throughout as well. In 2007, after the Virginia Tech massacre, the last slide was dedicated to those lost with the VT emblem shining brightly. On tour in 2008, Paisley also added a picture of late actor Heath Ledger.

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"Remember When" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Alan Jackson. Released in October 2003 as the second and final single from his compilation album, Greatest Hits Volume II, it spent two weeks at number 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in February 2004 and peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In "Remember When", Jackson looks back on his life with his wife. He describes their love from their first time together, through raising their children, and describes how he and his wife will "remember when" the children were young after they are grown.

Billboard called the single "the most poignant, well written country song to hit the format in a long time."

"Remember When" debuted at number 45 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of November 8, 2003, and reached number one on the chart. The song was certified Gold by the RIAA on January 31, 2005, and has sold 1,571,000 copies in the United States as of November 2016.

Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter. He was known for blending traditional honky-tonk and mainstream country pop sounds (for a style widely regarded as “neotraditional country”), as well as penning many of his own songs. Jackson recorded 16 studio albums, three greatest hits albums, two Christmas albums, and two gospel albums.

Jackson was one of the best-selling music artists of all-time, having sold over 75 million records worldwide, with 44 million sold in the United States alone. He had 66 songs appear on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart; of the 66 titles, and six featured singles, 38 have reached the top five and 35 have claimed the number one spot. Out of 15 titles to reach the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, nine have been certified multi-platinum. He was the recipient of two Grammy Awards, 16 CMA Awards, 17 ACM Awards and nominee of multiple other awards. He was a member of the Grand Ole Opry, and was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2001. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2017 by Loretta Lynn and into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018.

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"Okie from Muskogee" is a song recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers, which Haggard co-wrote with drummer Roy Edward Burris. "Okie" is a slang name for someone from Oklahoma, and Muskogee (population 40,000) is the 11th largest city in the state. The song was released in September 1969 as first single and title track from the album Okie from Muskogee, and was one of the most famous songs of Haggard's career.

Haggard told The Boot that he wrote the song after he became disheartened watching Vietnam War protests and incorporated that emotion and viewpoint into song. Haggard says, "When I was in prison, I knew what it was like to have freedom taken away. Freedom is everything. During Vietnam, there were all kinds of protests. Here were these [servicemen] going over there and dying for a cause—we don't even know what it was really all about. And here are these young kids, that were free, bitching about it. There's something wrong with that and with [disparaging] those poor guys." He states that he wrote the song to support the troops. "We were in a wonderful time in America, and music was in a wonderful place. America was at its peak, and what the hell did these kids have to complain about? These soldiers were giving up their freedom and lives to make sure others could stay free. I wrote the song to support those soldiers."

In an interview with American Songwriter, Haggard called the song a "character study," his 1969 self being the character: "It was the photograph that I took of the way things looked through the eyes of a fool... and most of America was under the same assumptions I was. As it’s stayed around now for 40 years, I sing the song now with a different attitude onstage... I’ve become educated... I play it now with a different projection. It’s a different song now. I’m different now."

Critic Kurt Wolff wrote that Haggard always considered what became a redneck anthem to be a spoof, and that today fans—even the hippies who are derided in the lyrics—have taken a liking to the song and find humor in some of the lyrics. Cover versions of the song were recorded by such countercultural acts as the Grateful Dead, The Beach Boys, Phil Ochs, The Flaming Lips, The String Cheese Incident, and Hank Williams III backed by seminal stoner metal band The Melvins, all of which are and/or were avid users of marijuana, LSD, and other psychedelic plants and chemicals.

Written by Haggard and Roy Edward Burris (drummer for Haggard's backing band, and The Strangers) during the height of the Vietnam War, "Okie from Muskogee" grew from the two trading one-liners about small-town life, where conservative values were the norm and outsiders with ideals contrary to those ways were unwelcome. Here, the singer reflects on how proud he is to hail from Middle America, where its residents were patriotic, and didn't smoke marijuana, take LSD, wear beads and sandals, burn draft cards or challenge authority.

While it can be viewed as a satire of small-town America and its reaction to the antiwar protests and counterculture seen in America's larger cities, Allmusic writer Bill Janovitz writes that the song also "convincingly (gives) voice to a proud, strait-laced truck-driver type.... (I)n the end, he identifies with the narrator. He does not position the protagonist as angry, reactionary, or judgmental; it is more that the guy, a self-confessed 'square,' is confused by such changes and with a chuckle comes to the conclusion that he and his ilk have the right sort of life for themselves."

"Okie from Muskogee" immediately broke in popularity when released in late September 1969. By November 15, it reached No. 1 on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart, where it remained for four weeks. It also became a minor pop hit as well, reaching number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The version of "Okie from Muskogee" that reached No. 1 was the studio recording. After the song became widely popular, a live concert recording was issued and although that version never charted, it became very popular as well. The live version's distinguishing characteristics include an enthusiastic crowd and Merle responding with his own quips at the end of at least two verses. The most popular live version, and the only live version released as a single, was recorded during a 1970 Haggard concert in Philadelphia that became the live album The Fightin' Side of Me. The song was included on a couple of Haggard's other live albums from the era, notably "Okie From Muskogee", released in 1969 and "I Love Dixie Blues", released in 1973. However, these recordings are not the live version the general public is familiar with.

"Okie from Muskogee"—along with the album, Okie From Muskogee—was named the Country Music Association Single and Album of the Year in 1970.

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Favorite Songs of All is Phillips, Craig and Dean's sixth album and first greatest hits collection. No songs from Where Strength Begins or Repeat the Sounding Joy were included. In addition, two new songs, "Freedom of the Sea" and "No Matter How Long" were added to the album.

Phillips, Craig and Dean (rendered as Phillips, Craig & Dean on albums) is a contemporary Christian music trio composed of pastors Randy Phillips, Shawn Craig, and Dan Dean. Since forming in 1991, the group has sold over two million units. They have also received ten GMA Dove Award nominations, winning four, including Praise and Worship Album of the Year in 2007 for Top of My Lungs, and Inspirational Album of the Year in 2010 for Fearless.

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"I Believe" is a song written by Skip Ewing and Donny Kees, and recorded by American country music band Diamond Rio. It was released in November 2002 as the second single from their album Completely. The song became Diamond Rio's fifth and final No. 1 single on the Billboard Country Songs chart in 2003.

The song's music video takes place in an area where many bad incidents are happening and a man is coping with losing his wife by finding comfort in angels. But at the end, she awakens. It was directed by Deaton Flanigen and premiered on January 8, 2003 on CMT.

This song debuted at No. 58 on the Billboard Country Songs chart dated November 23, 2002. The song climbed to No. 1 on the chart dated May 31, 2003, where it held for 2 weeks, marking the group's fifth and final No. 1 single. The song also peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Diamond Rio is an American country music band. The band was founded in 1982 as an attraction for the Opryland USA theme park in Nashville, Tennessee, and was originally known as the Grizzly River Boys, then the Tennessee River Boys. It was founded by Matt Davenport, Danny Gregg, and Ty Herndon, the last of whom became a solo artist in the mid-1990s. After undergoing several membership changes in its initial years, the band has consisted of the same six members since 1989: Marty Roe (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Gene Johnson (mandolin, guitar, fiddle, tenor vocals), Jimmy Olander (lead guitar, banjo), Brian Prout (drums), Dan Truman (keyboards), and Dana Williams (bass guitar, baritone vocals).

After assuming the name Diamond Rio, the band was signed to Arista Nashville and debuted in 1991 with the single "Meet in the Middle", which made them the first band ever to send a debut single to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. The band charted 32 more singles between then and 2006, including four more that reached No. 1: "How Your Love Makes Me Feel" (1997), "One More Day" (2001), "Beautiful Mess" (2002), and "I Believe" (2003).

Diamond Rio has recorded nine studio albums, four Greatest Hits compilations, and an album of Christmas music. Three of the band's albums have achieved RIAA platinum certification in the United States. In addition, Diamond Rio has received four Group of the Year awards from the Country Music Association, two Top Vocal Group awards from the Academy of Country Music, and one Grammy Award. The band is known for its vocal harmonies, varied instrumentation, and near-exclusive use of only its own membership on recordings instead of session musicians. Their sound was originally defined by mainstream country, bluegrass, and rock influences, but later albums drew more influence from Christian country music and country pop.

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"Harper Valley P.T.A." is a country song written by Tom T. Hall which in 1968 became a major international hit single for country singer Jeannie C. Riley. The song was originally recorded by Margie Singleton, on Ashley Records A 5000 in July, 1968. Riley's record sold over six million copies as a single. It was Riley's debut hit and only chart topper, making her the first woman to top both the Billboard Hot 100 and the U.S. Hot Country Singles charts with the same song, a feat that would not be repeated until Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" 13 years later in 1981.

Riley sings a story about Mrs. Johnson, a "Harper Valley widowed wife" whose teenage daughter, a student at the junior high school, comes home one day with a note for her mother signed by the PTA secretary, in which they scold her for "wearing your dresses way too high", for reports about her drinking and running around with multiple men, and that she shouldn't be raising her daughter that way. Outraged, Mrs. Johnson decides to pay an unannounced visit to the PTA, who happened to be holding a meeting that afternoon.

To the PTA's surprise, Mrs. Johnson, again wearing a miniskirt, walks in and addresses the meeting, exposing a long list of indiscretions on the part of the members, most of whom were in attendance:

Bobby Taylor, who had asked Mrs. Johnson for a date seven times. (she also mentions Bobby's wife, who "seems to use a lot of ice" in his absence, suggesting she is either an alcoholic, or she uses it to treat injuries from abuse); Mr. Baker, whose secretary had to leave town for an undisclosed reason (the implication being that she was pregnant with his child). Widow Jones, whom Mrs. Johnson reveals is an exhibitionist; Mr. Harper, who was absent from the meeting because "he stayed too long at Kelly's Bar again"; and
Shirley Thompson, who also has a drinking problem, as evidenced by gin on her breath. Mrs. Johnson then rebukes them for having the audacity to declare her an unfit mother, referring to the town as "a little Peyton Place" and labeling the PTA a bunch of hypocrites.

In the final stanza of the song, Riley states that the story is true, and in the final line identifies herself as the daughter of Mrs. Johnson when she sings, "...the day my mama socked it to the Harper Valley PTA".

The song makes two references to short hemlines ("you're wearing your dresses way too high"; "wore her miniskirt into the room") in reference to the miniskirt and the minidress, which had been gaining popularity in the four years since they were first introduced.

The expression "This is just a little Peyton Place" is a reference to the Peyton Place television show based on the earlier novel and film of the same name where a small town hides scandal and moral hypocrisy behind a tranquil facade. The show, then in the top 20 of Nielsen ratings, was in its fourth season when "Harper Valley P.T.A." was released.

The final line of the song ("..the day my mama 'socked it to' the Harper Valley PTA") was a reference to "Sock it to me!", a very popular catch-phrase frequently used in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. According to producer Shelby Singleton, this line was changed at the last minute at the suggestion of his "wife at the time."

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"Redneck Yacht Club" is a song written by Thom Shepherd and Steve Williams, and recorded by American country music singer Craig Morgan. It was released in May 2005 as the second single from his album My Kind of Livin'. It peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, behind "Better Life" by Keith Urban. The song was certified Gold by the RIAA for sales of 500,000 and was also certified GOLD for digital downloads.

The video takes place out on Percy Priest Lake in Davidson County, TN, where Morgan and some of his buddies are having fun, such as soaking up the sun and boat-riding. Some scenes of the video feature Morgan riding on a boat, singing on the deck, and on a flotation device out in the middle of the lake. Country music singer Blake Shelton also makes a cameo appearance along with Aaron Tippin. The party that the group of diehard friends is having symbolizes the fun that they have on the lake, "all summer long". The video was directed by Peter Zavadil.

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"King of the Road" is a song written by country singer Roger Miller, who first recorded it in November 1964. The lyrics tell of the day-to-day life of a hobo who, despite being poor (a "man of means by no means"), revels in his freedom, describing himself humorously and cynically as the "king of the road". It was Miller's fifth single for Smash Records.

The popular crossover record hit No. 1 on the US Country chart, No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and No. 1 on the Easy Listening surveys. It was also No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart, and in Norway. Miller recalled that the song was inspired when he was driving and saw a sign on the side of a barn that read, "Trailers for sale or rent". This would become the opening line of the song.

The song has been covered by many other artists, including George Jones, Dean Martin, Val Doonican, Jack Jones, James Booker, The Fabulous Echoes, Boney M., R.E.M., Johnny Paycheck, Glen Campbell, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Boxcar Willie, Randy Travis, Rangers, James Kilbane, John Stevens, the Statler Brothers, Rufus Wainwright & Teddy Thompson, Giant Sand, Peligro, The Proclaimers, Ray Conniff Singers, The Reverend Horton Heat, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Jim White. James "The King" Brown (an Elvis impersonator) performed the song for a 2001 Audi commercial on German TV.

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"Streets of Bakersfield" is a 1973 song written by Homer Joy and popularized by Buck Owens. In 1988, Owens recorded a duet version with country singer Dwight Yoakam, which became one of Yoakam's first No. 1 Hot Country Singles hits.

Homer Joy, the song's writer, was approached in 1972 by representatives from Buck Owens' studio in Bakersfield, California, about recording a "Hank Williams Sr. soundalike-album". Joy initially refused, saying "I don't want be like Hank, I just want to be me!" Eventually, he agreed to come in and record it, on the condition that he would also get to record some of his own songs as well. After the recording, however, the studio manager told Joy that he'd forgotten that the Buckaroos (Buck Owens' band) were practicing for an upcoming tour, and that Joy would have to wait to record his original songs.

Refusing to back down, Joy would show up at the studio at 8 AM every morning, only to be told that the Buckaroos were busy and that he would still have to wait. One night, Joy decided to take a walk around downtown Bakersfield, only to have the brand-new cowboy boots he'd been wearing give him blisters all over his feet: "I barely made it back to the car, and on top of that, I was still upset about everything, and I went back to my hotel room and wrote "Streets of Bakersfield"".

As usual, Joy went to the studio at 8 AM the following morning, and the studio manager, out of frustration, grabbed a guitar off of the wall and gave it to Joy, saying, "Sing me one of the songs that you'd record if we could get some time to record it." As kind of an "in-your-face" gesture, Joy performed his eight-hour-old "Streets of Bakersfield". Afterward, the studio producer went into the back of the studio, brought out Buck Owens, and had Joy play it again. Owens then said to the manager, "The Buckaroos have the day off, but you call them and tell them that we're going to do a recording session on Homer this afternoon."

Buck Owens released a recording of the song in 1973, and while that version wasn't a major hit, the re-recording he did with Dwight Yoakam in 1988 (with slightly changed lyrics) reached #1 on the Billboard Country Music charts.

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Wave on Wave" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Pat Green. It was released in May 2003 as the first single and title track from his album Wave on Wave. It reached #3 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart in the United States, and peaked at #39 on the Billboard Hot 100. It became his first and, to date, only Top 10 hit. The song was written by Green, David Neuhauser and Justin Pollard.

The song was featured during campaign rallies for then-U.S. President George W. Bush during his 2004 reelection campaign. It is currently used by the Washington Nationals during their "Wave your caps" salute. "Wave On Wave" was performed at halftime on the University of Iowa Football Team's home field, Kinnick Stadium, at halftime of the Hawkeye game versus Northern Iowa. Pat Green and a combined ensemble of performers from the University of Iowa Hawkeye Marching Band and the University of Northern Iowa Panther Marching Band joined together to perform the song at halftime. The University of Iowa Football team has been known for starting "The Wave," a tradition of turning toward the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital at the end of the first quarter to wave at the child patients and their families.

"Wave on Wave" was named Country Song of the Year by the Society of European Stage Authors & Composers (SESAC) in 2003. In addition, it was honored by Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) for one million spins on radio. "Wave on Wave" was also nominated for a Grammy Award in 2004 for Best Country Song. The song has sold 450,000 copies in the U.S. as of October 2014.

Patrick Craven Green (born April 5, 1972, in San Antonio, Texas) is an American Texas Country artist. Active since 1995, he has recorded a total of seven studio albums, including several independent works, three for Republic Records and two for BNA. Fifteen of his singles have charted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, of which the highest-peaking is the No. 3 "Wave on Wave" from his gold-certified album of the same name.

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Hiram King "Hank" Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, Williams recorded 35 singles (five released posthumously) that reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, including 11 that ranked number one (three posthumously).

Many artists covered songs Williams wrote and recorded. He influenced Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bob Dylan, George Jones, Charley Pride, and The Rolling Stones, among others. Williams was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame (1961), the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1970), and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1987). The Pulitzer Prize jury in 2010 awarded him a posthumous special citation "for his craftsmanship as a songwriter who expressed universal feelings with poignant simplicity and played a pivotal role in transforming country music into a major musical and cultural force in American life."

"Lovesick Blues" is a show tune written by Cliff Friend and Irving Mills. The song first appeared in the 1922 musical Oh, Ernest. It was recorded by Emmett Miller in 1925 and 1928, and later by country music singer Rex Griffin. The recordings by Griffin and Miller inspired Hank Williams to perform the song during his first appearances on the Louisiana Hayride radio show in 1948. Receiving an enthusiastic reception from the audience, Williams decided to record his own version despite initial push back from his producer Fred Rose and his band.

MGM Records released "Lovesick Blues" in February 1949, and it became an overnight success, quickly reaching number one on Billboard's Top C&W singles and number 24 on the Most Played in Jukeboxes list. The publication named it the top country and western record of the year, while Cashbox named it "Best Hillbilly Record of the Year".

Several cover versions of the song have been recorded. The most popular, Frank Ifield's 1962 version, topped the UK Singles Chart. In 2004, Williams' version was added to the National Recording Registry.

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"Rhinestone Cowboy" is a song written by Larry Weiss and most famously recorded by American country music singer Glen Campbell. When released in 1975, it enjoyed huge popularity with both country and pop audiences.

Released in May 1975, "Rhinestone Cowboy" immediately caught on with both country and pop audiences. The song spent that summer climbing both the Billboard Hot Country Singles and Billboard Hot 100 charts before peaking at No. 1 by season's end – three nonconsecutive weeks on the country chart, two weeks on the Hot 100. Billboard ranked it as the No. 2 for 1975. It also topped the charts in Canada and several other countries.

During the week of September 13 – the week the song returned to No. 1 on the Billboard country chart, after having been nudged out for a week by "Feelins'" by Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn – "Rhinestone Cowboy" topped both the country and Hot 100 charts simultaneously. This was the first time a song had accomplished the feat since November 1961, when "Big Bad John" by Jimmy Dean did so.

"Rhinestone Cowboy" was one of six songs released in 1975 that topped both the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Country Singles charts. The other songs were "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" by Freddy Fender, "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" by B. J. Thomas, "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" and "I'm Sorry"/"Calypso," both by John Denver, and "Convoy" by C. W. McCall.

The song was also the sole Glen Campbell track in a promotional-only compilation album issued by Capitol records titled The Greatest Music Ever Sold (Capitol SPRO-8511/8512), that was distributed to record stores during the 1976 holiday season as part of Capitol's "Greatest Music Ever Sold" campaign, which promoted 15 "Best Of" albums released by the record label.

After Glen Campbell died in August 2017, "Rhinestone Cowboy" charted in Country Digital Song chart at No. 12. The song has sold a total of 368,000 downloads in the digital era in the United States as of August 2017.

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"My Heart Is Lost to You" is a song written by Connie Harrington and Brett Beavers, and recorded by American country music duo Brooks & Dunn. It was released in April 2002 as the fourth single from their album Steers & Stripes. It peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

Brooks & Dunn is an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. The duo was founded in 1990 through the suggestion of Tim DuBois. Before the foundation, both members were solo recording artists. Both members charted two solo singles apiece in the 1980s, with Brooks also releasing an album for Capitol Records in 1989 and writing hit singles for other artists.

Founded in 1991, the duo signed to Arista Nashville that year. They have recorded eleven studio albums and five compilation albums for the label. They also have released 50 singles, of which 20 went to No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs charts and 19 more reached Top 10. Two of these No. 1 songs, "My Maria" (a cover of the B.W. Stevenson song) and "Ain't Nothing 'bout You", were the top country songs of 1996 and 2001, respectively, according to the Billboard Year-End charts. The latter is also the duo's longest-lasting No 1 single on that chart at six weeks. Several of their songs have also reached the Billboard Hot 100, with the No. 25 peaks of "Ain't Nothing 'bout You" and "Red Dirt Road" being their highest there. Brooks & Dunn also won the Country Music Association Vocal Duo of the Year award every year between 1992 and 2006, except for 2000. Two of their songs won the Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal: "Hard Workin' Man" in 1994 and "My Maria" in 1996. All but two of the duo's studio albums are certified platinum or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America; their highest-certified is their 1991 debut album, Brand New Man, which is certified sextuple-platinum for shipments of six million copies.

The duo's material is known for containing influences of honky-tonk, mainstream country, and rock, as well as the contrast between Brooks' and Dunn's singing voices and on-stage personalities, although some of their music has also been criticized as formulaic. Their 1992 single "Boot Scootin' Boogie" helped re-popularize line dancing in the United States, and 2001's "Only in America" was used by both George W. Bush and Barack Obama in their respective presidential campaigns. Brooks & Dunn has collaborated with several artists, including Reba McEntire, Vince Gill, Sheryl Crow, Mac Powell, Billy Gibbons, and Jerry Jeff Walker among others.

After announcing their retirement in August 2009, they performed their final concert on September 2, 2010, at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Both Brooks and Dunn have continued to record for Arista Nashville as solo artists. Dunn released a self-titled album in 2011, which included the Top 10 country hit "Bleed Red", while Brooks released New to This Town in September 2012. The duo reunited in 2015 for a series of concerts with Reba McEntire in Las Vegas. In 2019, the duo was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

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"Matches" is a song recorded by American country music artist Sammy Kershaw. It was released in March 1998 as the second single from the album Labor of Love. The song reached #22 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. The song was written by Skip Ewing and Roger Springer.

The song is a ballad, in which the narrator goes home to find his home empty and the matchbook from his first date laying on the floor. He proceeds to take the matchbook to the Broken Spoke restaurant, in which he burns down.

The music video was directed by Michael Salomon, and it begins with a male coming into his home which has been stripped of his possessions, and seeing the matchbook from his first date laying on the floor. The man then goes to The Broken Spoke, which he lights the matches and breaks various liquor bottles behind the bar and lights the matchbook on fire. As the man and the patrons evacuate the bar as it is engulfed in flames, the man is arrested as his ex-lover appears to survey the damage.

Samuel Paul Kershaw (born February 24, 1958) is an American country music artist. He has released 16 studio albums, with three RIAA platinum certifications and two gold certifications among them. More than 25 singles have entered Top 40 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including his only number one hit "She Don't Know She's Beautiful" and 10 more Top 10 hits: "Cadillac Style", "Anywhere but Here", "Haunted Heart", "Queen of My Double-Wide Trailer", "I Can't Reach Her Anymore", "National Working Woman's Holiday", "Third Rate Romance", "Meant to Be", "Vidalia", and "Love of My Life".

Sammy Kershaw was born in the Acadiana town of Kaplan, located in South Louisiana. He is the third cousin of singers Rusty and Doug Kershaw. When he was 11, his grandfather gave him his first guitar. But his father died that year, so Sammy started to work a variety of day jobs while playing roadhouses at night to support his family. He began performing in Acadiana with Louisiana legend J.B. Pere. At the age of 12, Kershaw was playing in a variety of honky-tonks and beer joints, and when he was 14 he met George Jones, his lifelong idol. Subsequently, he opened shows for Ray Price, Merle Haggard, and George Jones while still barely into his teens. When the pressures of growing up fast took their toll in the form of a serious drug and alcohol problem, he quit his bad habits in 1988. He took a break from the music world to work as a remodeling supervisor at Wal-Mart.

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"As Good as I Once Was" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Toby Keith that reached the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. This song and his 2003 single "Beer for My Horses" are both his longest-running Number One hits, each having spent six weeks at Number One. "As Good As I Once Was" was released in May 2005 as the second single from Keith's album Honkytonk University. Keith wrote the song with Scotty Emerick.

The song was named BMI's song of the Year for 2006. It has since become one of Keith's signature songs, as well as one of his most successful.

The music video was directed by Michael Salomon and premiered on May 16, 2005. It follows the narrative of the song and features Annie Sorrell and Alicia Loren as the frisky twins. In the video Toby Keith gets punched by a man and then the nurse knocks him out by putting an IV in his arm.

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"Folsom Prison Blues" is a song written in 1953 and first recorded in 1955 by American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash. The song combines elements from two popular folk styles, the train song and the prison song, both of which Cash continued to use for the rest of his career. It was one of Cash's signature songs. It was the eleventh track on his debut album With His Hot and Blue Guitar and it was also included (same version) on All Aboard the Blue Train. A live version, recorded among inmates at Folsom State Prison itself, became a No. 1 hit on the country music charts in 1968. In June 2014, Rolling Stone ranked it No. 51 on its list of the 100 greatest country songs of all time.

Cash was inspired to write this song after seeing the movie Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison (1951) while serving in West Germany in the United States Air Force at Landsberg, Bavaria (itself the location of a famous prison). Cash recounted how he came up with the line "But I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die": "I sat with my pen in my hand, trying to think up the worst reason a person could have for killing another person, and that's what came to mind."

The song was recorded at the Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee on July 30, 1955. The producer was Sam Phillips, and the musicians were Cash (vocals, guitar), Luther Perkins (guitar), and Marshall Grant (bass). Like other songs recorded during his early Sun Records sessions, Cash had no drummer in the studio, but replicated the snare drum sound by inserting a piece of paper (like a dollar bill) under the guitar strings and strumming the snare rhythm on his guitar.

Cash opened almost all of his concerts with "Folsom Prison Blues," after greeting the audience with his trademark introduction, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash," for decades. Cash performed the song at Folsom Prison itself on January 13, 1968, which was recorded and later released as a live album titled At Folsom Prison. That opening version of the song is more up-tempo than the original Sun recording. According to Michael Streissguth, the cheering from the audience following the line "But I shot a man in Reno / just to watch him die" was added in post-production. According to a special feature on the DVD release of the 2005 biopic Walk the Line, the prisoners avoided cheering at any of Cash's comments about the prison itself, fearing reprisal from guards. The performance again featured Cash, Perkins and Grant, as on the original recording, together with W.S. Holland (drums).

Released as a single, the live version reached number 1 on the country singles chart, and number 32 on the Hot 100, in 1968. Pitchfork Media placed this live version at number 8 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s." The live performance of the song won Cash the Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance, Male, the first of four he won in his career, at the 1969 Grammy Awards.

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"The Battle of New Orleans" is a song written by Jimmy Driftwood. The song describes the Battle of New Orleans from the perspective of an American soldier; the song tells the tale of the battle with a light tone and provides a rather comical version of what actually happened at the battle. It has been recorded by many artists, but the singer most often associated with this song is Johnny Horton. His version scored number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959 (see 1959 in music). Billboard ranked it as the No. 1 song for 1959, it was very popular with teenagers in the late 50s/early 60s in an era mostly dominated by rock and roll music.

Horton's version began with the quoting of the first 12 notes of the song "Dixie", by Daniel Emmett. It ends with the sound of an officer leading a count off in marching, as the song fades out.

In Billboard magazine's rankings of the top songs in the first 50 years of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, "The Battle of New Orleans" was ranked as the 28th song overall and the number-one country music song to appear on the chart.

Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.

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Simply Country is proud to present its first video from none other than the King of Country, George Strait!

"Heartland" is a song written by Steve Dorff and John Bettis, and recorded by American country music artist George Strait. It was released in January 1993 as the second single from his soundtrack album Pure Country. The song reached the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) chart.

George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. George Strait is known as the "King of Country" and is considered one of the most influential and popular recording artists of all time. He is known for his neotraditionalist country style, cowboy look, and being one of the first and most prominent country artists to bring country music back to its roots and away from the pop country era in the 1980s.

Strait's success began when his first single "Unwound" was a hit in 1981. During the 1980s, seven of his albums reached number one on the country charts. In the 2000s, Strait was named Artist of the Decade by the Academy of Country Music, was elected into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and won his first Grammy award for the album Troubadour. Strait was named CMA Entertainer of the Year in 1989, 1990 and 2013, and ACM Entertainer of the Year in 1990 and 2014. He has been nominated for more CMA and ACM awards and has more wins in both categories than any other artist.

By 2009, he broke Conway Twitty's previous record for the most number-one hits on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart when his 44 number one singles surpassed Twitty's 40. Counting all music charts, Strait has amassed a total of 60 number-one hits, breaking a record also previously set by Twitty, giving him more number one songs than any other artist in any genre of music.

Strait is also known for his touring career when he designed a 360-degree configuration and introduced festival style tours. For example, the Strait Tours earned $99 million in three years. His concert at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, in June 2014 drew 104,793 people, marking a new record for largest indoor concert in North America.

Strait has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His certifications from the RIAA include 13 multi-platinum, 33 platinum, and 38 gold albums. His best-selling album is Pure Country (1992), which sold 6 million (6× platinum). His highest certified album is Strait Out of the Box (1995), which sold 2 million copies (8× Platinum due to being a box set with four CDs). According to the RIAA, Strait is the 12th best-selling album recording artist in the United States overall.

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