1965 in country music

"See also:"
1964 in country music,
1965 in music,
other events of 1965,
1966 in country music and the List of years in Country Music

Events

* January - Leo Fender, founder of Fender Guitars, sells his company to a subsidiary of Columbia Records for $13 million.
* February 17 – "The Tennessee Waltz" is declared the state song of Tennessee.
* October - Country Music Association president Tex Ritter awards Leo Fender the President's Award for "outstanding contributions to the sound of country music."
* October 5 - Johnny Cash is arrested in El Paso, Texas on federal drug charges. He pleads guilty and is given a 30-day suspended sentence and fined $1,000.Fact|date=May 2008
* December - George Jones, his agent and band members are held for questioning in connection with a Houston, Texas murder investigation.Fact|date=May 2008 Lie detector tests clear them all.Fact|date=May 2008

No dates

* Rock singer Conway Twitty makes his county music debut. His first few country singles and albums were met with "some" country DJs refusing to play them because he was a well known rock-n-roll singer.Fact|date=May 2008
* Johnny Cash is banned from the Grand Ole Opry after an infamous concert where - in a drug-induced haze - he used a microphone to smash the floodlights.Fact|date=May 2008} He also walked offstage in the middle of a song.Fact|date=May 2008
* The Vietnam War, which by now was making daily headlines, brings about the second wave of patriotic-themed songs. One of the first big songs was Johnnie Wright's "Hello Vietnam," a No. 1 hit in October. Late in the year, Dave Dudley records and releases "What We're Fighting For," an early response to the growing number of anti-Vietnam War protests.:The trend continues through the rest of the 1960s and early 1970s, with songs such as "Distant Drums" by Jim Reeves; "Ballad of the Green Berets" by Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler; "Dear Uncle Sam" by Loretta Lynn; and others. By the late 1960s, the tone of the songs became darker, most notably the Mel Tillis-penned "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" (first a hit for Johnny Darrell, but more famously in 1969 by Kenny Rogers and the First Edition).

Top hits of the year

Number one hits

"(As certified by Billboard magazine)"
*January 23 - "You're the Only World I Know" - Sonny James
*February 20 - "I've Got a Tiger By the Tail" - Buck Owens
*March 27 - "King of the Road" - Roger Miller
*May 1 - "This is It" - Jim Reeves
*May 15 - "Girl on the Billboard" - Del Reeves: "This is It" by Jim Reeves returns to No. 1 on May 29"
*June 5 - "What's He Doing In My World" - Eddy Arnold
*June 19 - "Ribbon of Darkness" (Gordon Lightfoot) - Marty Robbins
*June 26 - "Before You Go" - Buck Owens
*August 7 - "The First Thing Ev'ry Morning (and the Last Thing Ev'ry Night)" - Jimmy Dean
*August 21 - "Yes, Mr. Peters" - Roy Drusky and Priscilla Mitchell
*September 4 - "The Bridge Washed Out" - Warner Mack
*September 11 - "Is it Really Over" - Jim Reeves
*October 2 - "Only You (Can Break My Heart)" - Buck Owens
*October 9 - "Behind the Tear" - Sonny James
*October 23 - "Hello Vietnam" - Johnnie Wright: "Behind the Tear" by Sonny James returns to No. 1 on November 13"
*November 20 - "May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose" - Little Jimmy Dickens
*December 4 - "Make the World Go Away" - Eddy Arnold
*December 25 - "Buckaroo" - Buck Owens and the Buckaroos

Other major hits

*"Blue Kentucky Girl" — Loretta Lynn
*"A Dear John Letter" — Bobby Bare and Skeeter Davis
*"Don't You Ever Get Tired Of Hurting Me?" — Ray Price
*"Engine Engine #9" — Roger Miller
*"(From Now On All My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers" — Roy Drusky
*"(From Now On All My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers" — Merle Haggard
*"Green, Green Grass of Home" — Porter Wagoner
*"I Can't Remember" - Connie Smith
*"I'll Keep Holding On (Just to Your Love)" — Sonny James
*"I Wouldn't Buy a Used Car From Him" — Norma Jean
*"If I Talk to Him" - Connie Smith
*"It's Alright" - Bobby Bare
*"Kansas City Star" — Roger Miller
*"Love Bug" - George Jones
*"Meanwhile, Down at Joe's" — Kitty Wells
*"One Dyin' and a Buryin'" - Roger Miller
*"The Other Woman (in My Life)" — Ray Price
*"Queen of the House" — Jody Miller
*"Ten Little Bottles" — Johnny Bond
*"That Kind Of GirlTogether Forever" - Conway Twitty
*"Then and Only Then/Tiny Blue Transistor Radio" — Connie Smith
*"Things Have Gone to Pieces" - George Jones
*"A Tombstone Every Mile" — Dick Curless
*"Truck Drivin' Son of a Gun" — Dave Dudley

Top new album releases

*"Before You Go/No One But You" - Buck Owens (Capitol)
*"Behind the Tear" - Sonny James (Capitol)
*"Breakin' In Another Heart" - Hank Thompson (Capitol)
*"Bright Lights and Country Music" - Bill Anderson (Decca)
*"Chet Atkins Picks on the Beatles" - Chet Atkins (RCA)
*"Country Willie: His Own Songs" - Willie Nelson (RCA)
*"Cute 'n' Country" - Connie Smith (RCA)
*"Doodle oo Doo Doo" - Del Reeves (United Artists )
*"The Easy Way" - Eddy Arnold (RCA)
*"From This Pen" - Bill Anderson (Decca)
*"Girl On The Billboard" - Del Reeves (United Artists)
*"Golden Hits" - Roger Miller (Smash)
*"Here Comes My Baby" - Dottie West (RCA)
*"Hot Rod Lincoln" - Johnny Bond (Starday)
*"I Heard the Bluebirds Sing" - The Browns (RCA)
*"I Want to Live and Love" - Carl Smith (Columbia)
*"I'll Keep Holding On" - Sonny James (Capitol)
*"I've Got a Tiger By the Tail" - Buck Owens (Capitol)
*"The Instrumental Hits of Buck Owens and His Buckaroos" - Buck Owens and the Buckaroos (Capitol)
*"Kisses Don't Lie" - Carl Smith (Columbia)
*"Luckiest Heartache in Town" - Hank Thompson (Capitol)
*"Many Happy Hangovers" - Jean Shepard (Capitol)
*"My Favorite Guitars" - Chet Atkins (RCA)
*"My World" - Eddy Arnold (RCA)
*"Pretty Miss Norma Jean" - Norma Jean (RCA)
*"Sings Jim Reeves" - Del Reeves (United Artists)
*"Skeeter Sings Standards" - Skeeter Davis (RCA)
*"Ten Little Bottles" - Johnny Bond (RCA)
*"The Thin Man From West Plains" - Porter Wagoner (RCA)
*"Three Shades of Brown" - The Browns (RCA)
*"When Love is Gone" - The Browns (RCA)
*"You're the Only World I Know" - Sonny James (Capitol)
*"Your Favorite Country Hits" - Hank Snow (RCA)

Births

*August 28 - Shania Twain, mega country star since the latter half of the 1990s.

Deaths

Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

*Ernest Tubb (1914-1984)

Major Awards

Grammy awards

Academy of Country Music

*Top Male Vocalist -- Buck Owens
*Top Female Vocalist -- Bonnie Owens
*Top Vocal Duo -- Merle Haggard und Bonnie Owens
*Top New Male Vocalist -- Merle Haggard
*Top New Female Vocalist -- Kaye Adams

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.