Top Country Music Songs Of 1969

WINSLOW HOMER:

The wonderful world of Entertainment in 1969 saw the Smithsonian Institute display artwork by Winslow Homer, who was highly regarded as one of the most prominent 19th Century American Painters, and was most famous for his landscapes, marine subjects, and watercolors. Winslow Homer has also had Commemorative Stamps of his “Breezing Up” oil painting and his “Boys In A Pasture” oil painting issued by the United States Post Office.

SATURDAY EVENING POST:

The final edition of The Saturday Evening Post bimonthly magazine was issued. The Saturday Evening Post would commence publishing again as a quarterly publication in 1971 and then as a bimonthly publication in the 2000s.

THE BEATLES:

The Beatles performed their last public show from the roof of the Apple Records label building in London, England.

ELVIS PRESLEY:

Elvis Presley recorded his Comeback Sessions for the albums Back In Memphis and From Elvis In Memphis that provided the monstrous Smash Hits “In The Ghetto,” “Kentucky Rain,” and “Suspicious Minds”.

LED ZEPPELIN:

Derived from remnants of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame English Rock Band known as The Yardbirds, that began the careers of Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, and consisted of John Paul Jones on the bass, John Bunham on the drums, Robert Plant on vocals, and Jimmy Page who founded the Group, Led Zeppelin’s self titled and debut album on the Atlantic Records label was released and would become the Number 29 ranked album on Rolling Stone Magazine’s List of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and would later be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. This album featured a Cover picture of the Hindenburg that was destroyed by fire on May 6, 1937 while landing at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in Manchester Township, New Jersey.

THE GODFATHER:

Mario Puzo’s Crime Novel known as The Godfather was originally published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Book Publishers in New York City.

MIDNIGHT COWBOY:

Starring Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman the American Dramatic motion picture known as Midnight Cowboy was released by United Artists and won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Director. Midnight Cowboy is the only X-rated motion picture to ever win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Midnight Cowboy was also preserved in the Library of Congress’s United States National Film Registry and won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Theme and the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for Harry Nilsson for the Hit “Everybody’s Talkin'”.

WOODSTOCK:

Known as “An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace and Music the Woodstock Music and Art Fair was held on the 600 acre dairy farm of Max B. Yasgur in Bethel, New York and became regarded as the defining moment in Popular Music’s history with Jimi Hendrix, and his psychedelic version of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” closing the musical portion of the festival. Other Top Named Performers who played Woodstock included Richie Valens who opened the performance, Melanie, Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez, Santana, The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Sly and the Family Stone, Jefferson Airplane, The Who, Blood Sweat and Tears, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and several others.

SCOOBY DOO:

The first Hanna-Barbera Saturday Morning Cartoon Series known as Scooby Doo, Where Are You was shown on CBS Television. Created by Ken Spears and Joe Ruby the program ran for 25 episodes and had Writers Bill Lutz, Tom Dogenais, and Larz Bourne for all the scripts.

INJUN TROUBLE:

Injun Trouble, the very last Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes cartoon featuring Cool Cat was shown by Warner Brothers. The Series had begun in 1930 and no more cartoons from them would be released until 1988’s Night of the Living Duck starring Daffy Duck.

ABBEY ROAD:

The Beatles released their Abbey Road album that featured the Double A-Sided Single “Something/Come Together,” a long medley of their songs, the controversial Paul McCartney song “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer,” and John Lennon not recording on several of the album’s tracks and leaving The Beatles before the album was released. Abbey Road also possessed the often copied and famous Cover photo of The Beatles walking across a zebra crossing outside the Abbey Road Studios.

THE BRADY BUNCH:

The Situation Comedy known as The Brady Bunch, created by Sherwood Schwartz who had also created the Hit television program Gilligan’s Island, originally aired on ABC Television and led to several Spin-Offs including The Brady Bunch Hour, The Brady Girls Get Married, The Brady Brides, The Bradys, and A Very Brady Sequel, as well as the three motion pictures known as A Very Brady Christmas, The Brady Bunch In The White House, and The Brady Bunch Movie.

BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID:

The American Western motion picture known as Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, that won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, was released by 20th Century Fox.

MONTY PYTHON:

The British Sketch Comedy Series known as Monty Python’s Flying Circus debuted and created the word “Pythonesque” to describe the show’s otherwise uncategorizable brand of humor. The show’s theme song was John Philip Sousa’s “The Liberty Bell” and the show contained just a few recurring characters mostly played by Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, and Terry Jones, with Ian MacNaughton, Carol Cleveland, Neil Innes, Ian Davidson, and Connie Booth in supporting roles, and the Fred Tomlinson Singers providing musical numbers.

SESAME STREET:

The National Education Television Network debuted Sesame Street, with the Jim Henson Muppets, that would become the winningest Emmy Awarded show in television history.

ROCK AND ROLL’S WORST DAY:

Intended to be the “Woodstock of the West” the Altamont Speedway Free Festival Rock Concert was held between Tracy and Livermore in Northern California. The show became well known for its violence including the death of 18 year old Meredith Curly Hunter Junior who was stabbed by Hells Angel Member Alan Passaro after he had rushed the stage for the second time with a revolver in his hand, two hit-and-run car accident fatalities, and one accidental drowning in an irrigation canal. Stolen cars, many fans injured, and extensive property damages were other results of the unusual amount of violence at the show that became regarded as “Rock and Rolls Worst Day” according to Rolling Stone Magazine. The violence was so bad that The Grateful Dead, who were major organizers of the festival, refused to play their set. Popular Rock Performers who did play were The Flying Burrito Brothers, Santana, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, Jefferson Airplane, and The Rolling Stones as the Final Act. Many stories surrounding the events of that day have since surfaced that allegedly claim the Hells Angels had been hired by The Rolling Stones Management Team to provide security for the festival for 500 dollars worth of beer.

HEE HAW:

The wonderful world of Country Music in 1969 saw Charley Pride and Loretta Lynn as the first Guest Performers on the CBS Television Summer Replacement Series known as Hee Haw. Kornfield Kounty, and this extremely popular show, would then air for 23 years, mostly in syndication.

CMA AWARDS:

The Country Music Association would air its awards show live for the first time on NBC Television and become one of the most highly anticipated events in Country Music annually thereafter.

SHEL SILVERSTEIN:

Johnny Cash recorded his second live album at San Quentin State Prison and the show would become his famous At San Quentin album on the Columbia Records label. Among the album’s many Hits was the Sheldon Alan “Shel” Silverstein-written song known as “A Boy Named Sue”. Shel Silverstein would also write “Put Another Log On The Fire” for Tompall Glaser, “One’s On The Way” for Loretta Lynn, “25 Minutes To Go” for Johnny Cash, “Father Of A Boy Named Sue” that he performed on The Johnny Cash Show, and many other popular Hits for Bobby Bare, Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, Waylon Jennings, Gordon Lightfoot and several other Performers. Shel Silverstein also wrote original music for several motion pictures including Ned Kelly and Postcards From The Edge, staged the off-Broadway Play known as Look Charlie: A Short History Of The Pratfall, wrote children’s poetry, drew popular cartoons including Now Here’s My Plan: A Book Of Futilities, was one of Playboy Magazine’s leading Cartoonists, and is a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

JOHNNY CASH SHOW:

The Johnny Cash Show’s 58-episode series, that was taped at the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville, debuted on ABC Television and featured June Carter Cash, The Statler Brothers, The Tennessee Three, Carl Perkins, The Carter Family, and several Guest performances by such Country Music Stars as Tammy Wynette, Kris Kristofferson, and Merle Haggard, as well as Special Appearances by Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Louis Armstrong, and others.

GLEN CAMPBELL:

The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour debuted on CBS Television and featured “Gentle On My Mind” as its theme song.

TAMMY WYNETTE:

The album known as Tammy’s Greatest Hits made Tammy Wynette the first female Country Music Performer to sell more than 1,000,000 copies of a single recording.

POPULAR PERFORMERS:

The Billboard Number 1 Country Music songs of 1969 were being recorded by Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Sonny James, Johnny Cash, Jack Greene, Tammy Wynette, Conway Twitty, Charley Pride, Loretta Lynn, Bill Anderson, Glen Campbell, and Jerry Lee Lewis.

BUCK OWENS:

“Who’s Gonna Mow Your Grass”
“Johnny B. Goode,”
“Tall Dark Stranger”

MERLE HAGGARD:

“Hungry Eyes”
“Workin’ Man’s Blues”
“Okie From Muskogee”

SONNY JAMES:

“Only The Lonely”
“Running Bear”
“Since I Met You Baby”

JOHNNY CASH:

“Daddy Sang Bass”
“A Boy Named Sue”

JACK GREENE:

“Until My Dreams Come True”
“Statue Of A Fool”

TAMMY WYNETTE:

“Singing My Song”
“The Ways To Love A Man”

CONWAY TWITTY:

“I Love You More Today”
“To See My Angel Cry”

CHARLEY PRIDE:

“All I Have To Offer You Is Me”
“(I’m So) Afraid Of Losing You Again”

LORETTA LYNN:

“Woman Of The World (Leave My World Alone)”

BILL ANDERSON:

“My Life (Throw It Away If I Want To)”

GLEN CAMPBELL:

“Galveston”

JERRY LEE LEWIS:

“To Make Love Sweeter For You”

CONTACT:

This Feature was written by Staff Writer Patrick McDaniels who can be contacted on Facebook@Classic Country Music Gold Nashville. Patrick McDaniels always welcomes comments from the many fans and readers of our website.