List of Hot Country Singles number ones of 1966

Buck Owens had four number ones in 1966.

Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 1966, 13 different singles topped the chart, then published under the title Hot Country Singles, in 53 issues of the magazine, based on playlists submitted by country music radio stations and sales reports submitted by stores.^[1]

At the start of the year the number one single was "Buckaroo" by Buck Owens and his Buckaroos, which had been at the top spot since the issue of Billboard dated December 25, 1965.^[2] It retained the number one position for one week in 1966 before being replaced by "Giddyup Go" by Red Sovine, the first of a number of sentimental songs about the truck-driving industry for which the singer would become known.^[3] After Sovine's six-week run at number one, Owens returned to the top with "Waitin' in Your Welfare Line", the first of three chart-toppers from his album "Open Up Your Heart".^[4] One of the most successful recording artists of the mid-1960s,^[5] Owens spent the highest number of weeks at number one in 1966, occupying the top spot for a total of 18 weeks with his four chart-topping singles. Only two other artists took more than one single to number one in 1966. Eddy Arnold, one of the biggest country music stars of the 1940s and early 1950s, had revitalised his somewhat declining career in the mid-1960s by embracing the "Nashville sound", a newer style of country music which eschewed elements of the earlier honky-tonk style in favour of smooth productions which had a broader appeal.^[6][7] In 1965 Arnold had gained his first number one hit since Billboard combined country music sales and airplay into a single chart in 1958,^[8] and his success continued into 1966, when he reached the top spot twice and spent a combined total of ten weeks at number one. Jim Reeves also achieved two chart-toppers in 1966, both of which were posthumous; the singer had been killed in a plane crash two years earlier.^[9]

Two vocalists topped the chart for the first time in 1966. In August David Houston reached the top spot for the first time with "Almost Persuaded",^[10] and remained atop the chart for nine consecutive weeks. There would not be another unbroken run of this length at the top of the Hot Country chart until 2012, when Taylor Swift had a nine-week run at number one with "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together".^[11] In December, Jack Greene reached the top of the chart for the first time with "There Goes My Everything",^[12] which was the final number one of the year.

Chart history

David Houston spent nine consecutive weeks at number one with "Almost Persuaded". The next unbroken run at number one of this length would not occur until 2012.

Eddy Arnold had two number ones in 1966.

Jack Greene ended the year at number one.

See also

• 1966 in music
• 1966 in country music
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. country chart

References