In the 2 decade period 1960 to 1979, Sonny James spent more time in the # 1 position than any other artist in country music - a total of 57 weeks, including the 5 year period of 16 Consecutive #1 Singles, a feat never before accomplished by any solo artist in Country Music, Pop or Rock ‘n Roll. If incorporating the same criteria used today for determining #1 singles, James would have had an unbelievable 25 consecutive # 1 hits. His fanbase (absolutely not teenagers but mostly their parents in suburbia) could depend on him to deliver the type of music they wanted.
Following on from yesterday's 'There'll Never Be Another You', 'A World of Our Own' is a 1965 single also written by Tom Springfield and was another international hit for the Seekers, who went to England as a folk group, only to find the folk craze had subsided, but were fortunate to collaborate with Springfield. Springfield gave the old folk melodies he found a modern pop beat and lyrics to match, perfect for the times. James again uses his flat-top guitar picking to full effect on this, which reached # 1 in 1968. Springfield only heard James cover after it became a hit and was so impressed that he met up with James and wrote several songs specifically for him, who included them on subsequent albums -
Country runs the gamut, from basking in the reflecting glory of romantic love to sinking into the pit of unquenchable despair. This song is exemplary of the former - there's not a whole lot of Sonny James songs that weren't of a cheerful nature, and like his greatly gifted contemporary, Slim Whitman (see posts 252-254), he refused to record any cheatin' or drinkin' songs (a pity - cheatin' and drinkin' songs are mostly my country favourites). This hit # 1 for Sonny in 1968 - and was then covered by Slim Whitman -
Still in 1968 and another of those peaceful, restful feeling songs of domestic bliss that appeal so much to a certain type -
On to 1969 and more # 1's. Here is what Sonny James said about 'Only The Lonely' - "This again fit my style of guitar playing and also the repeats in the background. They were just perfect for using the sounds that I use on record and this was a case of I was really looking for material to fit this style and about that time I wanted to do a song that really did fit me. Of course the song was written by two ... one I've known for years since Odessa Texas, Roy Orbison ... and it had never been a Country record and I just applied it to my style of singing. Where Roy, when they were doing it they used kind of a big drum sound ... it was definitely pointed toward the Pop Rock field and I just figured the song was so good that it would be a Country record and it turned out that way." -
'Running Bear', about a Native American love affair doomed by too many obstacles, was written by Jiles Richardson (aka The Big Bopper) and sung most famously by Johnny Preston in 1959. But I think Sonny had the better version that went # 1 in 1969 -
So we leave off for now in 1969 with Sonny James having now just surpassed Buck Owens to be the biggest contemporary star in country music.
Following on from yesterday's 'There'll Never Be Another You', 'A World of Our Own' is a 1965 single also written by Tom Springfield and was another international hit for the Seekers, who went to England as a folk group, only to find the folk craze had subsided, but were fortunate to collaborate with Springfield. Springfield gave the old folk melodies he found a modern pop beat and lyrics to match, perfect for the times. James again uses his flat-top guitar picking to full effect on this, which reached # 1 in 1968. Springfield only heard James cover after it became a hit and was so impressed that he met up with James and wrote several songs specifically for him, who included them on subsequent albums -
Country runs the gamut, from basking in the reflecting glory of romantic love to sinking into the pit of unquenchable despair. This song is exemplary of the former - there's not a whole lot of Sonny James songs that weren't of a cheerful nature, and like his greatly gifted contemporary, Slim Whitman (see posts 252-254), he refused to record any cheatin' or drinkin' songs (a pity - cheatin' and drinkin' songs are mostly my country favourites). This hit # 1 for Sonny in 1968 - and was then covered by Slim Whitman -
Still in 1968 and another of those peaceful, restful feeling songs of domestic bliss that appeal so much to a certain type -
On to 1969 and more # 1's. Here is what Sonny James said about 'Only The Lonely' - "This again fit my style of guitar playing and also the repeats in the background. They were just perfect for using the sounds that I use on record and this was a case of I was really looking for material to fit this style and about that time I wanted to do a song that really did fit me. Of course the song was written by two ... one I've known for years since Odessa Texas, Roy Orbison ... and it had never been a Country record and I just applied it to my style of singing. Where Roy, when they were doing it they used kind of a big drum sound ... it was definitely pointed toward the Pop Rock field and I just figured the song was so good that it would be a Country record and it turned out that way." -
'Running Bear', about a Native American love affair doomed by too many obstacles, was written by Jiles Richardson (aka The Big Bopper) and sung most famously by Johnny Preston in 1959. But I think Sonny had the better version that went # 1 in 1969 -
So we leave off for now in 1969 with Sonny James having now just surpassed Buck Owens to be the biggest contemporary star in country music.