Country Music

Classic Country Music Hits

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35 NUMBER-ONE COUNTRY HITS BETWEEN 1973 AND 1992 — AND HE NEVER SAW A SINGLE ONE OF THEM. Ronnie Milsap was born blind, in a small cabin in Robbinsville, North Carolina. The woman who put him on those charts never sang a note and never took a bow. He met Joyce Reeves in 1964, at a dinner given by her cousin. She dared him to a foot race. He accepted, ran straight into an open car door, and fell. She circled back laughing. They married on October 30, 1965. That same year he turned down a law school scholarship to play nightclubs instead. For years she hauled his keyboard to those gigs in a Volkswagen. Then came October 16, 1972. They were sitting at home in Memphis with the CMA Awards on television. Charley Pride won Male Vocalist of the Year. Joyce watched it and told Ronnie they were moving to Nashville. He said he had no job there. They went anyway, the week after Christmas. He signed with a manager on January 3, 1973 — one week in town. By January 1974 he was on stage beside Charley Pride. Joyce died on September 6, 2021. They had been married almost 56 years.

Ronnie Milsap, Joyce Reeves, and the Quiet Force Behind 35 Country No. 1 Hits

Ronnie Milsap’s story has always sounded bigger than music. Born in Robbinsville, North Carolina, and blind from early childhood, he grew up with obstacles that might have stopped someone else before the first song ever reached a microphone. But Ronnie Milsap kept going, and by the 1970s he was turning determination into hit records, one after another.

What often gets missed in the telling is the steady hand beside him. Joyce Reeves was not a singer, not a publicist, and not someone who stood under the stage lights. Yet she helped shape the life that made those lights possible. Ronnie Milsap met Joyce Reeves in 1964 at a dinner given by her cousin, and the two married on October 30, 1965. In the early years, she was part partner, part road crew, and part believer, hauling his keyboard to gigs in a Volkswagen while he chased the next chance to perform.

That kind of support matters more than most people ever see. In the years before Nashville fully opened its doors, Ronnie Milsap was still figuring out the path forward. He had turned down a law school scholarship to pursue music, choosing the uncertain road of nightclubs instead. Joyce Reeves did not make that choice for him, but she stood with him after it was made.

The turning point came in the early 1970s, when Joyce Reeves watched the CMA Awards on television and saw Charley Pride win Male Vocalist of the Year. That moment pushed the family toward Nashville, even though Ronnie Milsap did not yet have a job waiting there. They moved anyway. He signed with a manager shortly after arriving, and the momentum began to build.

From there, the hits came in waves. Ronnie Milsap became one of country music’s defining voices, and his chart success stretched across the years that followed. By the early 1990s, he had amassed an extraordinary run of No. 1 country songs, a career total that places him among the most successful artists in the format’s history.

Joyce Reeves never sang a note on the radio, but her presence helped carry the music farther.

Joyce Reeves died on September 6, 2021, after nearly 56 years of marriage. By then, the story was already written in the records and the memories: Ronnie Milsap was the voice, but Joyce Reeves helped build the life around it. In country music, that kind of love does not always get credit. It should.

 

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LORETTA LYNN GREW UP LISTENING TO ERNEST TUBB ON THE RADIO. IN 1964, HE CHOSE HER TO SING BESIDE HIM. Long before Loretta Lynn became one of country music’s biggest stars, Ernest Tubb was already one of the voices she listened to back home. So when Tubb chose her as a duet partner, it meant more than another recording session. He praised Loretta as an honest country performer who sang with “heart and soul.” On March 10, 1964, they recorded “Mr. and Mrs. Used to Be” in Nashville. The song told a simple, painful story: two people who had once been husband and wife looking back at a love that was gone. The single reached No. 11 on Billboard’s country chart, becoming their biggest hit together. Their first full duet album followed in 1965. For Loretta, there was something especially meaningful about it: the man she once heard through a radio was now standing beside her at the microphone.

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TWENTY-ONE YEARS AFTER DON RICH DIED, BUCK OWENS WAS STILL THINKING ABOUT HAVING HIM BESIDE HIM IN DEATH. Don Rich died in a motorcycle crash in 1974, at only 32 years old. For Buck Owens, the loss never became just another sad chapter from the past. In a 1995 interview, Buck talked about preparing a family burial place for the future. Then he mentioned Don. Buck said he wanted Don Rich moved there too, because he believed Don would want to be with him. That one detail said more than any long tribute could. Don had been Buck’s guitarist, harmony singer, bandleader and musical partner during the years that made the Buckaroos famous. But to Buck, he had become something closer to family. More than two decades after the accident, Buck was still imagining a final resting place with Don nearby. Some partnerships end when the music stops. Buck never seemed to believe theirs did.

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BUCK OWENS SANG THE HITS. BUT TWO OF HIS NO. 1 SONGS CARRIED DON RICH’S NAME AS A SONGWRITER. Most fans remember Don Rich standing beside Buck Owens with a Telecaster, adding the bright guitar and high harmony that helped define the Buckaroos. But Don was doing more than backing Buck. He helped write “Before You Go,” which became a No. 1 country hit for Buck in 1965. Then Don and Estella Olson wrote “Think of Me,” another Buck Owens recording that reached No. 1 in 1966. By then, Don was Buck’s bandleader, guitarist, fiddler, harmony singer — and an important part of the Bakersfield sound. The name on the front of the record was Buck Owens. But listen closely to those great years, and Don Rich is everywhere.

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35 NUMBER-ONE COUNTRY HITS BETWEEN 1973 AND 1992 — AND HE NEVER SAW A SINGLE ONE OF THEM. Ronnie Milsap was born blind, in a small cabin in Robbinsville, North Carolina. The woman who put him on those charts never sang a note and never took a bow. He met Joyce Reeves in 1964, at a dinner given by her cousin. She dared him to a foot race. He accepted, ran straight into an open car door, and fell. She circled back laughing. They married on October 30, 1965. That same year he turned down a law school scholarship to play nightclubs instead. For years she hauled his keyboard to those gigs in a Volkswagen. Then came October 16, 1972. They were sitting at home in Memphis with the CMA Awards on television. Charley Pride won Male Vocalist of the Year. Joyce watched it and told Ronnie they were moving to Nashville. He said he had no job there. They went anyway, the week after Christmas. He signed with a manager on January 3, 1973 — one week in town. By January 1974 he was on stage beside Charley Pride. Joyce died on September 6, 2021. They had been married almost 56 years.

Chưa phân loại

LORETTA LYNN GREW UP LISTENING TO ERNEST TUBB ON THE RADIO. IN 1964, HE CHOSE HER TO SING BESIDE HIM. Long before Loretta Lynn became one of country music’s biggest stars, Ernest Tubb was already one of the voices she listened to back home. So when Tubb chose her as a duet partner, it meant more than another recording session. He praised Loretta as an honest country performer who sang with “heart and soul.” On March 10, 1964, they recorded “Mr. and Mrs. Used to Be” in Nashville. The song told a simple, painful story: two people who had once been husband and wife looking back at a love that was gone. The single reached No. 11 on Billboard’s country chart, becoming their biggest hit together. Their first full duet album followed in 1965. For Loretta, there was something especially meaningful about it: the man she once heard through a radio was now standing beside her at the microphone.

Chưa phân loại

TWENTY-ONE YEARS AFTER DON RICH DIED, BUCK OWENS WAS STILL THINKING ABOUT HAVING HIM BESIDE HIM IN DEATH. Don Rich died in a motorcycle crash in 1974, at only 32 years old. For Buck Owens, the loss never became just another sad chapter from the past. In a 1995 interview, Buck talked about preparing a family burial place for the future. Then he mentioned Don. Buck said he wanted Don Rich moved there too, because he believed Don would want to be with him. That one detail said more than any long tribute could. Don had been Buck’s guitarist, harmony singer, bandleader and musical partner during the years that made the Buckaroos famous. But to Buck, he had become something closer to family. More than two decades after the accident, Buck was still imagining a final resting place with Don nearby. Some partnerships end when the music stops. Buck never seemed to believe theirs did.

Chưa phân loại

BUCK OWENS SANG THE HITS. BUT TWO OF HIS NO. 1 SONGS CARRIED DON RICH’S NAME AS A SONGWRITER. Most fans remember Don Rich standing beside Buck Owens with a Telecaster, adding the bright guitar and high harmony that helped define the Buckaroos. But Don was doing more than backing Buck. He helped write “Before You Go,” which became a No. 1 country hit for Buck in 1965. Then Don and Estella Olson wrote “Think of Me,” another Buck Owens recording that reached No. 1 in 1966. By then, Don was Buck’s bandleader, guitarist, fiddler, harmony singer — and an important part of the Bakersfield sound. The name on the front of the record was Buck Owens. But listen closely to those great years, and Don Rich is everywhere.