1960 in country music

"See also:"
1959 in country music,
1960 in music,
other events of 1960,
1961 in country music and the List of years in Country Music

Events

* March 29 — Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, destined to become one of the most prominent of the honky tonk bars in Nashville, Tennessee, opens.
* August 27 - The Louisiana Hayride put on its final performance
* November 5 - Johnny Horton is killed in a car accident near Milano, Texas, while returning from a concert in nearby Austin. Other passengers in his car - manager Tillman Franks and guitarist Tommy Tomlinson - are injured but survive.

No dates

*Just four songs - five, if one counts "El Paso" by Marty Robbins, which spent five of its seven weeks at No. 1 in 1960 - ascend to the No. 1 spot on Billboard magazine's Hot C&W Sides chart. Those songs - listed below - would spend 14, 14, 12 and 10 weeks at No. 1.: Compare that to 10 No. 1 songs in 1959 and eight for all of 1961. Just a quarter of a century later, it was common for 50 songs per year to play musical chairs atop Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart.
*"The Porter Wagoner Show," one of the most successful country music television programs, premieres late in the year. Norma Jean (Beasler) and comedian Speck Rhodes were the regulars, with guest performers appearing each week. The show ran in syndication for 21 years, and at its peak ran in more than 100 markets, and is largely credited for breaking the career of a young singer named Dolly Parton (who replaced Norma Jean in 1967).

Top hits of the year

Number one hits

"(As certified by Billboard magazine)"
*February 8 - "He'll Have to Go" - Jim Reeves
*May 16 - "Please Help Me, I'm Falling" - Hank Locklin
*August 22 - "Alabam" - Cowboy Copas
*November 14 - "Wings of a Dove" - Ferlin Husky

Other major hits

*"Above and Beyond" - Buck Owens
*"Am I That Easy to Forget" - Skeeter Davis
*"Amigo's Guitar" - Kitty Wells
*"Another" - Roy Drusky
*"Anymore" - Roy Drusky
*"Big Iron" - Marty Robbins

*"Each Moment Spent With You" - Ernest Ashworth
*"Excuse Me (I Think I've Got a Heartache)" - Buck Owens
*"Fallen Angel" - Webb Pierce
*"Family Bible" - Claude Gray
*"Heart to Heart Talk" - Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
*"He'll Have to Stay" - Jeanne Black
*"Honky Tonk Girl" – Loretta Lynn
*"Hot Rod Lincoln" - Charlie Ryan
*"(I Can't Help You) I'm Falling Too - Skeeter Davis
*"I Know One" - Jim Reeves
*"I Missed Me" - Jim Reeves
*"I'm Getting Better" - Jim Reeves

*"Just One Time" - Don Gibson
*"The Key's in the Mailbox" - Freddie Hart
*"Left to Right" - Kitty Wells
*"Let's Think About Living" - Bob Luman
*"Miller's Cave" - Hank Snow
*"No Love Have I" - Webb Pierce
*"The Old Lamplighter" – The Browns
*"One More Time" - Ray Price
*"Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair)" - The Browns
*"Sink the Bismark" - Johnny Horton
*"A Six Pack to Go" - Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys
*"Stuck On You" - Elvis Presley
*"The Tip of My Fingers" - Bill Anderson
*"Wishful Thinking" – Wynn Stewart
*"You Can't Pick a Rose in December" - Ernest Ashworth
*"Your Old Used to Be" - Faron Young
*"You're the Only Good Thing (That's Happened to Me)" – George Morgan

Top new album releases

*"Blood on the Saddle" – Tex Ritter (Capitol)
*"Dutchman's Gold" - Walter Brennan (Dot)
*"Eddy Arnold Sings Them Again" - Eddy Arnold (RCA)
*"Goldie Hill" - Goldie Hill (Decca)
*"I'll Sing You A Song – and Harmonize Too" – Skeeter Davis (RCA)
*"Johnny Horton Makes History" – Johnny Horton (Columbia)
*"Midnight Jambouree" – Ernest Tubb & His Texas Trubadors, featuring Various Artists (Decca)
*"More" - Eddy Arnold (RCA)
*"The Other Chet Atkins" - Chet Atkins (RCA)
*"Seasons of My Heart" - Kitty Wells (Decca)
*"Sixteen Tons" – Tennessee Ernie Ford (Capitol)
*"Smoke, Smoke, Smoke" – Tex Williams (Capitol)
*"Teensville" - Chet Atkins (RCA)
*"Town and Country" - The Browns
*"A Tribute to the Delmore Brothers" - Louvin Brothers (Capitol)

Births

Deaths

*January 19 - Ralph Peer, 67, pioneer in record engineering and production (pneumonia).
*May 13 - Gid Tanner, 74, fiddler and leader of pioneering country group the Skillet Lickers.
*November 5 - Johnny Horton, 35, "The Singing Fisherman" and best known for his Americana-styled hits (car accident).
*November 7 - A.P. Carter, 68, a member of The Original Carter Family, one of country music's all-time pioneers (heart disease).

Major Awards

Grammy awards

*Best Country and Western Performance - "El Paso," Marty Robbins

Further reading

*Kingsbury, Paul, "The Grand Ole Opry: History of Country Music. 70 Years of the Songs, the Stars and the Stories," Villard Books, Random House; Opryland USA, 1995
*Kingsbury, Paul, "Vinyl Hayride: Country Music Album Covers 1947-1989," Country Music Foundation, 2003 (ISBN 0-8118-3572-3)
*Millard, Bob, "Country Music: 70 Years of America's Favorite Music," HarperCollins, New York, 1993 (ISBN 0-06-273244-7)
*Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs 1944-2005 - 6th Edition." 2005.

Other links

*Country Music Association