2019 Country Hits

He started out with Elvis Presley on the Sun label and jumped from rockabilly stardom to the status of a country legend. Johnny Cash began performing concerts at prisons starting in the late 1950s. Although Cash cultivated a romantic outlaw image, he never served a prison sentence. Cash's record, "Folsom Prison Blues", made the country Top 5. His "I Walk the Line" became No. 1 on the country charts and entered the pop charts Top 20. "Home of the Blues" followed, recorded in July 1957. That same year, Cash became the first Sun artist to release a long-playing album. His single "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" became one of his biggest hits.

80's Big Country Hits contains the definitive Artists & Country, Rock. The Best hits from Tanya Tucker, GENE WATSON, Bellamy Brothers and many more.

This release continues the series of 4-CD sets which comprises selected annual collections of the biggest US country hits of each year. This great-value 113-track collection covers the year of 1961, during which time Billboard published a country Top 30 called Hot C&W Sides, and it comprises every record which appeared in the top 22 places in that chart during the year, excluding one or two records which are unavailable for copyright reasons. Despite the fact that the pop landscape had been transformed over the preceding years by rock ‘n’ roll and its aftermath, and with the new decade the British Invasion was only a couple of years away, the charts still had a familiar look about them for country fans, with many traditional established country stars well-represented, like Ernest Tubb, Webb Pierce, Kitty Wells and Ray Price. However, the smoother Nashville sound certainly characterised many of the hits and there was more than a smattering of artists who enjoyed big crossover hits, notably Leroy Van Dyke returning to the charts with his long-running No. 1 “Walk On By”, as well as Jim Reeves, Marty Robbins, Hank Locklin, and Faron Young.

The top of the country charts features a surprising mix of material. Billboard Top Country Hits is a series of compilation albums released by Rhino Records, each featuring ten hit country music recordings from a specific year, mostly number ones on the Billboard country singles chart.

It’s for good reason that Chet Atkins remains one of the most revered names not only in country music but in American music itself. A producer, A&R man, songwriter, sometimes-vocalist, and above all, a guitarist par excellence, Atkins defined the sound of country with his championing of RCA’s lush Nashville Sound. A Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Country Music Hall of Fame inductee and a 14-time Grammy winner (including a Lifetime Achievement Award), Atkins recorded three albums of Christmas music throughout his lengthy career. Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records’ 2-CD set The Complete RCA Victor and Columbia Christmas Recordings is packed with almost 50 vintage holiday tunes from this legendary musician originally released between 1953 and 1996 on both of those labels.

Country Music Shindig is a departure for the Three Suns in that their typical instrumental medley style is applied to a program of country songs – 34 of them in total. The selections seem to reveal a thorough knowledge of country music. For example, the set includes songs that wouldn't be readily identified with country music today, like "Jingle Bell Rock," "Crying in the Chapel," and "Blue Suede Shoes," all of which were country hits. Then there are obscurities like the Sons of the Pioneers' "Roses" alongside crossover hits and an occasional oddball like the Broadway tune "Wagon Wheels." The album is heavier on electric guitar than some of the Suns' earlier efforts, and is also the last album they recorded with longtime producer and conductor Al Nevins, who died shortly afterward.

“Having travelled across Australia many, many times I always remember the miles in a car or truck or bus the fondest because I always had music on in the background to help paint the pictures of the landscape on my way through or had a set of headphones on in a greyhound bus heading to some musical adventure that I organised. These songs represent movement in wherever you go, you can always have music with you. So, whether you’re in a car just about to start a six-hour drive, or you are an interstate truck driver about to do a lot of miles, or you’ve simply just got a caravan on the back of your car and you’re driving until you feel like pulling over somewhere to take in a part of this incredible country, this album is perfect! This collection of songs played in a simple acoustic manner, some of them with my daughter, can help paint the picture while you are making your own memories out on the road somewhere, or you could be sitting at home dreaming up where to go next. I hope these songs give you some ideas of where to take those dreams. Please enjoy 50 Songs 50 Towns.”

Toby Keith is one of the most successful country artists, and artists in general, of all time. He has sold over 40 million albums in the US alone in his career. At radio he's had some staggering numbers. Toby has had 32 #1 songs and has had a #1 every year for 20 straight years amassing 50 million spins between 2000 and 2010 and has racked up 90 million performances. His successes don't stop there as he has won; 11 ACM Awards, 2 ACA Awards, 3 AMA Awards, 4 Billboard Awards, a People's Choice Award, been inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame, received the NSAI Songwriter of the Decade Award and was the top earning country musician for 2013 and 2014. In addition to all of that and his acting roles, he also held the #1 Comedy Album for 11 weeks for Bus Songs. Toby Keith's Greatest Hits: The Show Dog Years features 4 new songs, including "Don't Let The Old Man In" from the movie The Mule directed by and featuring Clint Eastwood.