Issue #64: This Week In Country Chart History - The Chicks, Hank Williams and Buck Owen's Monster Song

They were simpler times, and country-wise often better times

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By Natalie

We’re heading back into the archives to see what kind of country anomalies we can find (and glories we can be reminded of)! We’ve done this twice before, so you know the drill :) Buckle up and get ready to listen to some weird and good country tunes.

75 years ago: August 6, 1949

In a lot of ways, this looks like a current country chart — a whole lot of familiar white guys. Not that I’m trying to argue with Hank: “Lovesick Blues” was his first No. 1 song, and wound up spending 42 weeks (!) on the “Most Played Jukebox (Country & Western) Records” chart. A classic, obviously, and one whose place in country history belies its origins. “Lovesick Blues” was written not by Williams himself, or even those songwriters who were in the process of creating Music Row as we know it, but more than 25 years before this recording by Irving Mills and Cliff Friend — two denizens of the original hit factory, Tin Pan Alley. Granted, it’s almost unrecognizable in its original vaudevillian form — consider this version, recorded by Irving Kaufman (a Russian Jewish immigrant) under the name Jack Shea (lol). It was countrified in the intervening years, first by a minstrel singer named Emmett Miller in 1925 and then, more dramatically, by Rex Griffin in 1939. Of course Hank’s take is definitive, but! It was also the product of the zeitgeist :)

Besides Hank, we’ve got a ton from our old friends Eddy Arnold and Red Foley (“Two Cents, Three Eggs and a Postcard” needs a cover…is that barrel organ?!), the ascendance of the massive hit “Slipping Around,” the second-ever release from Little Jimmy Dickens, and a little iconic Bill Monroe. Absolutely does not get old.

50 years ago: August 3, 1974

I’m living and learning with this one. We’ve got a fully wild array of mid-’70s pop country magic, with barely an outlaw to be found but plenty of other notable entries ranging from silly to horny to schlocky to (in some cases) all three. Here are some highlights:

No. 1: “Rub It In,” Billy “Crash” Craddock — Is this the first beach country hit??? I had not heard this song before, that’s why we do this column. It’s got a real New Orleans feel to it (that opening riff is giving me serious Dr. John deja vu), and is certainly…something! It became the Glade jingle. Seriously. A moment for the cover:

No. 4: “The Man That Turned My Mama On,” Tanya Tucker — Apologies for saying there were no outlaws when we have Tanya right here at the top, the ultimate boundary pusher. I love this song so much, and the first time I heard it well…I felt very seen! Imagine hearing a wah-wah pedal on a 2024 country song. It was written by Ed Bruce, who had a good thing going with mom songs: He also wrote "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys."

No. 10: “Marie Laveau,” Bobby Bare — Shel Silverstein via Bobby Bare? I’ll take it every time. Also, continuing with the New Orleans theme; also, just have to reiterate that this was a country *hit*. Hard to fathom!!

No. 11: “Makin’ The Best Of A Bad Situation,” Deena Kaye Rose: Another Deena Kaye hit! Unlikely and funny, this is a slice of the kind of country music that rarely gets its due.

No. 22: “Boogie Woogie (A.K.A. T.D.’s Boogie Woogie),” Charlie McCoy: An instrumental blues jam featuring the HARMONICA was a top 40 hit on the country chart. In the ‘70s, truly anything was possible.

No. 31: “Sexy Lady,” Freddy Weller: Extremely weird, as one might expect — “the devil taught you how to love a man” etc. Need you all to help me understand how the aforementioned sexy lady makes anatomical sense…is her neck really long??

No. 43: “Restless,” Crystal Gayle — If you listen to one song from this chart, it should probably “Restless.” What a cool, creative cut!

No. 47: “(It’s A) Monster’s Holiday,” Buck Owens — I thought this might be a wordplay thing, but no it’s just a literal “Monster Mash” type moment (one that’s random enough for Rolling Stone to have written a post about it). Why was it on the chart in August? These are the kinds of questions I cannot answer.

No. 82: “Super Kitten,” Connie Cato — Hell yeah, this one rocks. I gotta check out more Connie Cato — straight country with an edge.

No. 89: “Honky Tonk Amnesia,” Moe Bandy — With a title like that, what else do you need to know?

No. 91: “Between Lust And Watching TV,” Cal Smith — Another all-time title, and I think this actually expresses a pretty common sentiment…? Perhaps not as gracefully as one would hope for, but…

No. 93: “Fairytale,” The Pointer Sisters — I swear I don’t plan these things! But that’s just the glory of the ‘70s — sometimes you’ll have the Pointer Sisters on the country chart. An all-time classic, a pioneering hit, a must-listen if you haven’t! It won a (country!) Grammy and reached No. 13 on the Hot 100! What a moment.

25 years ago: August 7, 1999

Every time, the ‘90s are just glorious — we’ve got Shania, Faith, Alan, George, Kenny, Trisha, Alison freakin’ Krauss…you name ‘em, they’re on here. There’s near-gender parity in the top ten. Dwight Yoakam in the top 20 with a Queen cover (??). A song from Shane McAnally. Lee Ann Womack with an airplay gainer!!! Is it a fever dream? No, it’s just 1999. (Also — if you can believe it — a cover of “Rub It In”!!! Perhaps to celebrate the 25th anniversary…)

This chart is from just a few weeks before the release of Fly (do we need to do an anniversary piece…almost certainly). For context, Wide Open Spaces was still at No. 2 on the country albums chart — in its 78th week (the album was certified diamond by the RIAA in 2003). This was ostensibly the calm before the storm, and there are still three Chicks songs on this chart. “Tonight The Heartache’s On Me” and “Let ‘Er Rip” are both from Wide Open Spaces; “Let ‘Er Rip” wasn’t even released as a single. The people just love to hear Lloyd Maines shred that much!! “Ready To Run,” the lead single from Fly, had received its Runaway Bride bump (released July 30, 1999) and was climbing.

Anyway! This issue includes a great little interview from the legendary Chet Flippo with Martie Maguire. Imagine if it had been called Sin Wagon…

Ok this made me fully freak out: Sheryl saying “You Were Mine” is “one of the best songs ever written”!! Before performing it with the Chicks! While playing accordion!!