David Cantwell returns to blogging the records that hit number one on the country charts during the Nashville Sound era. We started with “Don’t Be Cruel,” proceded to “Singing the Blues,” and now, at last, turn to… 

A bit of trivia to amaze your friends: Between 1964 and 1973, who had the most number one singles on the Billboard country chart?

That’s a golden age of country music, an era when the charts were filled with hits by Johnny Cash, Buck Owens, Charley Pride, Jerry Lee Lewis, George Jones, Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, and Tammy Wynette, among other legends. The answer to the question, though, pictured above, is…Sonny James? 

Actually, it’s not even close. During that ten year span, James topped the country charts 19 times, compared to Hag’s 14 and Buck’s, Conway’s and Charley Pride’s 13 apiece. No one else even had ten. (Loretta is next with eight number ones). 

This is why Sonny James, perhaps to the amazement of many and the frustration of some others, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006 Amazement, because James is one of those country stars with virtually zero name recognition beyond country music’s core audience. Frustration, because…well, because he is simply nowhere near as impressive or important a talent as all of those contemporaries I listed above, as well as not a few others I didn’t. 

The Southern Gentleman’s many hits (between ’53 and ’83, he charted 72 times, a number that far outpaces the career track records of hipper and better known acts—for instance, in the former category, Charlie Rich and Johnny Paycheck, or in the latter, Vince Gill and the Oak Ridge Boys. How did he do it? James is never an arresting singer—I rarely feel like he’s present in the lyric and his phrasing is predictable. His mature low tenor is, on the other hand, highly competent and always pleasant, fun and, important I think, easy to sing along with. Ultimately, James is the kind of middle-of-the-road performer upon which the Nashville Sound’s rep’ for blandness is based. On the other hand, I’ll take him over Jim Reeves. 

Maybe James greatest gift was his ear for a great song, though he didn’t exactly go digging for them. His chart toppers from that ’64 to ’72 run, for instance, include revivals pop hits like Roy Orbison’s “Only the Lonely” and the Seekers’ “I’ll Never Find Another You.” He was especially good at identifying R&B melodies that would hold up to his countrypolitan treatments: “Bright Lights, Big City,” for instance, and “Since I Met You Baby” and “It’s Just a Matter of Time.” Indeed, in 1976, James took his version of Sam and Dave’s “When Something Is Wrong with My Baby” into the country top ten. It doesn’t really sound like anything is wrong with either him or his baby, but that melody and lyric weren’t going to make anyone change the station. 

James is at his expressive best on “Young Love,” a country smash that also topped the pop charts for a week in February, 1957. It’s a perfect, and perfectly Jamesian, record: an almost but not quite soaring vocal and a truly undenaible melody combine to nail a simple but sweet and universal human sentiment. It’s the sort of ballad that James’ immediate predecessors atop the country chart, Elvis Presley and Marty Robbins, might have done, and done better. But James nails it, all the same. And if you want to be reminded that there’s an important distinction to be made between good singing and outright incompetence, I recommend you check out (well, actually I don’t recommend but you’re a grown up and can make your own decisions…) the singers and records which sandwiched James at the top of the pop charts: Pat Boone’s “Don’t Forbid Me” and Tab Hunter’s stercoraceous rendition of “Young Love.” 

“Young Love” is also the most important record James ever cut. Like “Don’t Be Cruel” and Singing the Blues,” it’s another example of a record that meets all of the criteria of the Nashville Sound but beats all of the usual contenders for first Nashville Sound recording. The success of James’ “Young Love,” combined with that of “Don’t Be Cruel,” provided the incentive—and the model—for country to keep crossing over. 

***** 

I’ve started blogging for No Depression. Please head over and check it out.

*****

Sonny James “Young Love” (Capitol, 1956) 

This entry was posted on Friday, June 13th, 2008 at 12:42 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.