The Top 20 Country Love Songs of All Time - Number 4

by Jim Poulton

Conway Twitty - Hello Darlin'

Photo courtesy of Last.fm.

Recorded in 1969, Conway Twitty’s Hello Darlin’ became one of the most recognizable standards of country music. Part of the reason: Twitty’s decision to begin the song with spoken words. As he was recording the song, Twitty initially tried to sing the opening line (‘Hello darlin’, nice to see you’), but found it wasn’t working. When he switched to speaking the line, and then coming in with the power of his classic country voice on the second line (‘It’s been a long time’), the result was a powerful hook that immediately draws the listener into the song’s story - a man runs into an old flame and bravely tries to claim he’s fine (‘How am I doin’? I’m doin’ all right, except I can’t sleep, I cry all night ‘til dawn’).

Twitty, in case you didn’t know, was one of the most successful artists of the 20^th century. He had more singles reach number one than Elvis, Frank Sinatra, the Beatles or Garth Brooks. His #1 singles total (55) has only recently been surpassed by George Strait.

Visit a website honoring Twitty (1933-1993) here.

Purchase Hello Darlin' from iTunes or Amazon MP3.

The Top 20 Country Love Songs of All Time - Number 5

by Jim Poulton

Tammy Wynette - Stand By Your Man

Photo courtesy of IDanceRecords.com

Stand By Your Man is an understated and uncluttered song, surprisingly short, offering straightforward advice about how to survive a relationship with a man. The song is sung as though from a meditation – especially at first, when the unembellished clarity of Wynette’s voice offers us a thoughtful woman musing on how she has made a sometimes difficult relationship work. As the song crescendos, though, Wynette’s voice shifts to a gear with a good deal more emotional torque, and we then hear the power she was capable of as she sings of loyalty and passion. The effect is of sudden acceleration - going from a contemplative standstill to a surge of high RPM emotion. In other words, the song goes from A to Zowie in a short 2 minutes. In our view, this is one of the main reasons the song was such a hit.

Wynette recorded Stand By Your Man in 1968. It reached the top of the charts in the US Country singles, the Canadian Country tracks, and the British, Irish and Dutch charts. Although the song has been controversial (it was derided by the feminist movement, for fairly obvious reasons), in recent years it has come to be accepted as a legitimate part of the country music oeuvre. In 2003, it was rated the number one song of the 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music by Country Music Television.

Purchase Stand By Your Man at ITunes or Amazon MP3.

The Top 20 Country Love Songs of All Time - Number 6

Randy Travis - Forever and Ever Amen

Photo courtesy of MyKindofCountry

A superbly produced song, with great balance between Travis’s singing and the instrumentation, Forever and Ever Amen hit country music like a locomotive: The song was Travis’s third #1 single, and garnered a Grammy for Best Country and Western Song and an Academy of Country Music award for Song of the Year. If that isn’t enough, the album that contained the song – Always and Forever – was number one for 43 weeks. It isn’t stretching too far to say the song put Country Music on the map for a lot of people who hadn’t listened to it before. Want it put in more authoritative words? According to CountryMusicPerformers.com, Forever and Ever Amen ‘arguably launched the neotraditionalist country era, boosting the popularity of country music beyond its traditional fan base.’

We just like the song.

Here's Travis singing Forever and Ever Amen live:

See Travis’ official video of Forever and Ever Amen here: 

Travis’ website is here.

The Top 20 Country Love Songs of All Time - Number 7

by Jim Poulton

Hank Williams - I Can't Help It If I'm Still In Love With You

Image courtesy of Last.fm.

Hank Williams was a master of expressing a universe of feeling within the confines of a simple 8-bar verse. You might say he was as much of a painter as he was a singer: close your eyes and listen to the lyrics of this song, and see if you don’t get a vivid and dramatic picture of Hank and the woman he’s lost. The song is simple, with straightforward chording and unembellished accompaniment - but front-lined by Williams’ lovesick voice and southern drawl, it’s a masterpiece.

Williams died at the age of 29 – likely a result of mixing alcohol and drugs. Williams’ alcoholism was legendary – his friend and idol, Roy Acuff, once said to him ‘You’ve got a million-dollar voice, son, but a ten-cent brain.’ Wish Hank had listened.

Purchase albums and other items at Lost Highway Records

The Top 20 Country Love Songs of All Time - Number 8

by Jim Poulton

Patsy Cline - Sweet Dreams

Photo courtesy of Last.fm

Well, here she is again - Patsy Cline. I told you we'd see her again in the top 10. And, not to speak out of school, but expect to run into her still one more time. She really knew what she was doing. In fact, I think (and I'm not alone) that Patsy Cline was a genius - about singing in general, but particularly about selecting songs that suited her voice and her persona. Word has it that she was pretty single-minded in making sure that the song and its production matched her vision. Today's song is no exception.

Written by Don Gibson (who, you might recall, also wrote I Can't Stop Loving You), Sweet Dreams has a rare history in Country Music. When Cline recorded it in 1963 (just before her death), her version was the third to reach the Country Hits top ten (Faron Young's 1956 version was the first, and Gibson's own 1960 version was the second). Since then, Sweet Dreams has reached the top 20 three more times, from recordings by three different artists: Tommy McLain, Reba McEntire, EmmyLou Harris (Harris' 1976 version hit number one). That is a song with staying power.

Our favorite version, though, is Cline's. As always, she treats it with such emotional expressiveness that you can almost feel it is your own story. The song's introduction is a bit cheesy (cascading violins - to represent falling into dreamland???), but the rest is pure gold.