Billboard Top Country Singles of 1966
This is a list of Billboard magazine's ranking of the top country singles of 1966.[1]
"Swinging Doors" by Merle Haggard ranked as the year's No. 1 single, despite its having peaked at No. 5 on the weekly charts.
"Almost Persuaded" by David Houston, which spent a record nine weeks in the No. 1 spot, ranked as the year's No.2 single.
| Rank | Peak[note 1][2] | Title | Artist(s) | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Swinging Doors" | Merle Haggard | Capitol |
| 2 | 1 | "Almost Persuaded" | David Houston | Epic |
| 3 | 4 | "I Love You Drops" | Bill Anderson | Decca |
| 4 | 2 | "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man)" | Loretta Lynn | Decca |
| 5 | 1 | "Think of Me" | Buck Owens | Capitol |
| 6 | 2 | "Tippy Toeing" | The Harden Trio | Columbia |
| 7 | 1 | "Take Good Care of Her" | Sonny James | Capitol |
| 8 | 2 | "Don't Touch Me" | Jeannie Seely | Monument |
| 9 | 1 | "Distant Drums" | Jim Reeves | RCA Victor |
| 10 | 5 | "Would You Hold It Against Me" | Dottie West | RCA Victor |
| 11 | 2 | "A Million and One" | Billy Walker | Monument |
| 12 | 1 | "Waitin' in Your Welfare Line" | Buck Owens | Capitol |
| 13 | 1 | "I Want to Go with You" | Eddy Arnold | RCA Victor |
| 14 | 1 | "Blue Side of Lonesome" | Jim Reeves | RCA Victor |
| 15 | 2 | "Room in Your Heart" | Sonny James | Capitol |
| 16 | 5 | "Streets of Baltimore" | Bobby Bare | RCA Victor |
| 17 | 2 | "The One on the Right Is on the Left" | Johnny Cash | Columbia |
| 18 | 1 | "Giddyup Go" | Red Sovine | Starday |
| 19 | 5 | "Evil on Your Mind" | Jan Howard | Decca |
| 20 | 2 | "Snowflake" | Jim Reeves | RCA Victor |
| 21 | 5 | "Standing in the Shadows" | Hank Williams, Jr. | M-G-M |
| 22 | 8 | "The Lovin' Machine" | Johnny Paycheck | Little Darlin |
| 23 | 3 | "Talkin' to the Wall" | Warner Mack | Decca |
| 24 | 3 | "The Shoe Goes On the Other Foot Tonight" | Marty Robbins | Columbia |
| 25 | 1 | "Open Up Your Heart" | Buck Owens | Capitol |
| 26 | 3 | "The Bottle Let Me Down" | Merle Haggard | Capitol |
| 27 | 1 | "I Get the Fever" | Bill Anderson | Decca |
| 28 | 2 | "Ain't Had No Lovin' | Connie Smith | RCA Victor |
| 29 | 6 | "Put It Off Until Tomorrow" | Bill Phillips | Decca |
| 30 | 7 | "A Way to Survive" | Ray Price | Columbia |
| 31 | 4 | "Nobody But a Fool (Would Love You)" | Connie Smith | RCA Victor |
| 32 | 2 | "The Last Word in Lonesome Is Me" | Eddy Arnold | RCA Victor |
| 33 | 6 | "I'm a People" | George Jones | Musicor |
| 34 | 3 | "True Love's a Blessing" | Sonny James | Capitol |
| 35 | 6 | "(Yes) I'm Hurting" | Don Gibson | RCA Victor |
| 36 | 3 | "Skid Row Joe" | Porter Wagoner | RCA Victor |
| 37 | 8 | "Someone Before Me | The Wilburn Brothers | Decca |
| 38 | 3 | "The Tip of My Fingers" | Eddy Arnold | RCA Victor |
| 39 | 7 | "Baby" | Wilma Burgess | Decca |
| 40 | 8 | "The Company You Keep" | Bill Phillips | Decca |
| 41 | 12 | "Don't Touch Me" | Wilma Burgess | Decca |
| 42 | 10 | "If Teardrops Were Silver" | Jean Shepard | Capitol |
| 43 | 2 | "History Repeats Itself" | Buddy Starcher | Boone |
| 44 | 4 | "It Takes a Lot of Money" | Warner Mack | Decca |
| 45 | 7 | "Walking on New Grass" | Kenny Price | Boone |
| 46 | 4 | "What Kinda Deal Is This" | Bill Carlisle | Hickory |
| 47 | 2 | "Flowers on the Wall" | The Statler Brothers | Columbia |
| 48 | 9 | "I'm Living in Two Worlds" | Bonnie Guitar | Dot |
| 49 | 4 | "Dear Uncle Sam" | Loretta Lynn | Decca |
| 50 | 5 | "Four-O-Thirty-Three" | George Jones | Musicor |
| 51 | 2 | "The Ballad of the Green Berets" | Barry Sadler | RCA Victor |
| 52 | 5 | "Husbands and Wives" | Roger Miller | Smash |
| 53 | 9 | "(That's What You Get) For Lovin' Me" | Waylon Jennings | RCA Victor |
| 54 | 10 | "Back Pocket Money" | Jimmy C. Newman | Decca |
| 55 | 13 | "At Ease Heart" | Ernest Ashworth | Hickory |
| 56 | 4 | "Sweet Thang" | Nat Stuckey | Paula |
| 57 | "Make the World Go Away" | Eddy Arnold | RCA Victor | |
| 58 | 9 | "Early Morning Rain" | George Hamilton IV | RCA Victor |
| 59 | 10 | "The World Is Round" | Roy Drusky | Mercury |
| 60 | 9 | "I'll Take the Dog" | Jean Shepard and Ray Pillow | Capitol |
| 61 | 15 | "Steel Rail Blues" | George Hamilton IV | RCA Victor |
| 62 | 13 | "Many Happy Hangovers to You" | Jean Shepard | Capitol |
| 63 | 6 | "Almost Persuaded No. 2" | Ben Colder | M-G-M |
| 64 | "Born to Be in Love with You" | Van Trevor | Band Box | |
| 65 | 15 | "Stop the Start (Of Tears in My Heart)" | Johnny Dollar | Columbia |
| 66 | 7 | "If You Can't Bite, Don't Growl" | Tommy Collins | Columbia |
| 67 | 3 | "Sittin' On a Rock (Crying in a Creek)" | Warner Mack | Decca |
| 68 | 11 | "Golden Guitar | Bill Anderson | Decca |
| 69 | "It's Only Love" | Jeannie Seely | Monument | |
| 70 | 12 | "Blues Plus Booze (Means I Lose)" | Stonewall Jackson | Columbia |
| 71 | 13 | "I Can't Keep Away from You" | The Wilburn Brothers | Decca |
| 72 | 13 | "Lonelyville" | Dave Dudley | Mercury |
| 73 | 4 | "What We're Fighting For" | Dave Dudley | Mercury |
| 74 | 17 | "Time to Bum Again" | Waylon Jennings | RCA Victor |
| 75 | "Anita You're Dreaming" | Waylon Jennings | RCA Victor | |
| 76 | 14 | "It's All Over (But the Crying)" | Kitty Wells | Decca |
| 77 | 3 | "England Swings" | Roger Miller | Smash |
| 78 | 10 | "Giddyup Go – Answer" | Minnie Pearl | Starday |
| 79 | 12 | "A Born Loser" | Don Gibson | RCA Victor |
| 80 | 20 | "Rainbows and Roses" | Roy Drusky | Mercury |
| 81 | 15 | "A Woman Half My Age" | Kitty Wells | Decca |
| 82 | 12 | "Viet Nam Blues" | Dave Dudley | Mercury |
| 83 | 8 | "Take Me" | George Jones | Musicor |
| 84 | 13 | "Catch a Little Raindrop" | Claude King | Columbia |
| 85 | 18 | "I've Cried a Mile" | Hank Snow | RCA Victor |
| 86 | 16 | "I'd Just Be Fool Enough" | The Browns | RCA Victor |
| 87 | 10 | "Bad Seed" | Jan Howard | Decca |
| 88 | "I Just Came to Smell the Flowers" | Porter Wagoner | RCA Victor | |
| 89 | 15 | "Baby Ain't That Fine" | Gene Pitney and Melba Montgomery | Musicor |
| 90 | 14 | "Count Me Out" | Marty Robbins | Columbia |
| 91 | 9 | "Women Do Funny Things to Me" | Del Reeves | United Artists |
| 92 | "Touch My Heart" | Ray Price | Columbia | |
| 93 | 11 | "Don't You Ever Get Tired (Of Hurting Me)" | Ray Price | Columbia |
| 94 | 15 | "Long Time Gone" | Dave Dudley | Mercury |
| 95 | 1 | "Somebody Like Me" | Eddy Arnold | Capitol |
| 96 | 14 | "Day for Decision" | Johnny Sea | Warner Bros. |
| 97 | 18 | "I'm a Nut" | Leroy Pullins | Kapp |
| 98 | 17 | "The Twelfth of Never" | Slim Whitman | Imperial |
| 99 | 17 | "I Hear Little Rock Calling" | Ferlin Husky | Capitol |
| 100 | 18 | "Guess My Eyes Were Bigger Than My Heart" | Conway Twitty | Decca |
See also
- List of Hot Country Singles number ones of 1966
- List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1966
- 1966 in country music
Notes
- ^ This column recites the record's peak position on Billboard's weekly charts.
References
- ^ "Top Country Singles" (PDF). The Billboard. December 24, 1966. p. 35.
- ^ Joel Whitburn (1995). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits. Billboard Books. ISBN 0823076326.