ROOTS of Country Music

15 Songs That Should Have Been No. 1 

Here is our list of the top-15  No. 2 country music songs of all time, as compiled from Joel Whitburn's Top Country Singles, 1944-2001. These songs are listed in order of the most weeks at Billboard chart position N. 2. 

There are several country music artists who never earned a Billboard No. 1 hit, but who are typically regarded as a major recording artist. Two of those artists made this list and are noted by an * next to their name. By any measure, the success of these recording artist  stands among the greatest in the history of popular music. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1. Makin' Believe 

Peak Chart Position, No. 2, 1955 

Artist: Kitty Wells 

15 Weeks at No. 2 in 1955 

Making Believe is a song written by Jimmy Work and best known for its chart-topping version in 1955 by Kitty Wells. The song is consistently on lists of all-time greatest country music songs and has been covered by scores of artists over the past fifty years. 

Singer-songwriter Work released the song as a single in February 1955 on Dot Records, climbing to No. 5 on Billboard's country music jukebox charts. A month later, country music queen Kitty Wells released the song as well as a single which hit No. 2 on the country charts and remained there an astonishing fifteen weeks, still a record for a song in the runner-up position on the country Billboard charts.

The song was blocked from the top spot by the 21-weeks long No. 1, In the Jailhouse Now by Webb Pierce. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2. Adios Amigo  

Peak Chart Position, No.2, 1962  

Artist: Jim Reeves 

9 Weeks at No. 2 in 1962 

Gentleman Jim Reeves was perhaps the most successful male star from 1953 through 1973. During that span, Reeves placed sixty-four top-20 singles on the country charts. His smooth mellow baritone voice delivered a sound that echoed around the world. Jim Reeves was capable of singing many styles, but he made his greatest impact with country-pop ballads.

Adios Amigo dominated the Billboard country chart in 1962 at the No. 2 position for nine weeks, where it was blocked from the top chart spot by Claude King's No. 1 Gold Single, Wolverton Mountain.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3. One More Time 

Peak Chart Position, No.2, 1960 

Artist: Ray Price 

8 Weeks at No. 2 in 1960 

Recorded: Feb. 3, 1960

Producer: Don Law

Session Personnel: Ray Price (vocal, guitar), Harold Bradley (electric bass guitar), Grady Martin, Thomas Williams (guitar), Jimmy Day (steel), Joe Zinkan (acoustic bass), Steve Bess (drums), Tommy Jackson, Shorty Lavender (fiddle) Marvin Hughes (piano)

Ray Price  spent 35 years on the charts, generating 46 top-10 hits, including the 4th biggest song (Crazy Arms) in country music all-time.

One More Time dominated the Billboard country chart in 1962 at the No. 2 position for eight weeks, where it was blocked from the top chart spot by Jim Reeves' No. 1 Gold Single, He'll Have to Go.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4. Mon and Dad Waltz   

Peak Chart Position, No. 2 , 1951 

Artist: Lefty Frizzell  

8 Weeks at No. 2 in 1951 

• Album: Listen to Lefty (ColumbiaHL-9021)
• Single: Columbia20837
• Written by: Lefty Frizzell
• Recorded: May, 1951, Jim Beck Studio (Dallas)
• Produced by Don Law
• Charted Aug. 18, 1851
• Peak Chart Position No. 2  

Session Personnel: Lefty Frizzell (lead vocal/guitar), (Norman Stevens (lead guitar), Buddy Griffin (rhythm guitar), Jimmy Rillins (steel), Pee Wee Reid (bass), Jerry Rowley (fiddle), Evelyn Rowley (piano), Chubby Crank (drums) 

Lefty Frizzell was a honky-tonk singer, who set the style for generations of vocalists that followed him. Frizzell smoothed out the rough edges of honky-tonk, giving it a contemporary sound. 

Lefty Frizzell began singing professionally as a teenager, landing a spot on KELD in El Dorado, Arkansas. He spent his teenage years singing on radio programs, in nightclubs, for dances and in talent contests. 

Mon and Dad Waltz  peaked at No. 2 on Billboard, where it held that position for eight weeks in 1951.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5. The Love Bug Itch 

Peak Chart Position, No. 2, 1950

 Artist: Eddy Arnold 

8 Weeks at No. 2 in 1950 

Eddy Arnold, the gentleman crooner, took country music uptown and sold more than 85 million recordings over seven decades. From his debonair attire to the savvy with which he adapted his sound to popular trends, Arnold personified the evolution of country music in the years after World War II from a rural vernacular to an idiom with broad mainstream appeal.

Lovebug Itch charted in Sep. 1950 and peaked at No. 2 on Billboard, where it held that position for eight weeks. It was blocked from the top chart spot by Hank Snow's chart-topping single, I'm Moving On, which spent 21 weeks at No. 1.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6. Yes, I Know Why 

 Peak Chart Position, No. 2, 1956 

Artist: Webb Pierce 

7 Weeks at No. 2 in 1956

Webb Pierce was one of the most popular and successful honky-tonk vocalists of the '50s in a competitive arena that included such greats as Ray Price, Hank Williams, Carl Smith, Marty Robbins, Faron Young, Hank Snow and Eddy Arnold.

Pierce's success was reflect in his Billboard chart activity as Pierce racked up sixty one Top-20 hits between 1952 and 1962.

Yes, I Know Why spent eight weeks at the No. 2 Billboard chart position in 1956. It was blocked from the top chart spot by Ray Price's chart-topping single, Crazy Arms, which spent  an astounding 20 weeks at No. 1 that year.

Yes, I Know Why wasn't the only song impeded by Ray Price that year. Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel was held back as well as it spent 17 weeks at No. 1.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7. Just Call Me Lonesome 

Peak Chart Position, No. 2, 1955 

Artist: Eddy Arnold 

7 Weeks at No. 2 in 1955

Just Call Me Lonesome is a song written by Rex Griffin and first recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1955, when it reached No. 2 on the U.S. country singles chart. Just Call Me Lonesome subsequently appeared on albums by numerous recording artists, including Ernest Tubb, Jim Reeves  and Don Gibson.

Just Call Me Lonesome spent seven weeks at the No. 2 Billboard chart position in 1956. Webb Pierce kept the song from reaching the top chart position with his dominate single, In the Jailhouse Now that year, where iot spent 21 weeks at No. 1.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8. Almost 

Peak Chart Position, No. 2, 1952 

Artist: George Morgan 

6 Weeks at No. 2 in 1952 

The Candy Kid as George Morgan was known after his first hit, Candy Kisses, spent three weeks at the top of the country chart; was a grand country crooner in the tradition of Eddy Arnold, whom he replaced on the Grand Old Opry in 1948.

After Morgan wrote Candy Kisses, WWVA-Wheeling (West Virginia) hired him for the Wheeling Jamboree. The Grand Old Opry called soon after, and Columbia Records put him under contracted in 1948.

It was almost inevitable that Morgan's chart success would taper somewhat, though the three-year gap between hits from late 1949 to 1952 was surprising.

Almost reached No. 2 in April 1952, however and Morgan's performances on the Grand Old Opry sustained his reputation. He left the show in 1956 to host a TV program in Nashville, but returned to the Opry three years later. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9. Someday 

Peak Chart Position, No. 2, 1946 

Artist: Elton Britt 

5 Weeks at No. 2 in 1946  

Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You) is a popular song written by Jimmie Hodges and was published in 1944. The song has become a standard, recorded by many pop and country music singers, including Eddy Arnold and Gene Autry.

Elton Britt's 1946 version peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard country charts where it spent five weeks.

Note: Elton Britt is best remembered for his 1942 recording, There's a Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere. This song wasn't ranked as Billboard did not begin charting country music until 1944. This song was by far the most popular patriotic song of the time and was one of the biggest selling country records of that time. No doubt it would have topped out at number one. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10. Trifin' Gal 

Peak Chart Position, No. 2, 1945 

Artist: Al Dexter 

5 Weeks at No. 2 in 1945  

Al Dexter was a country musician and songwriter. He is best known for Pistol Packin' Mama, a 1944 hit that was one of the most popular recordings of the World War II years and later became a hit again with a cover by Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters.

Dexter was the first country singer to perform on Broadway. Trifin' Gal spent five weeks at the Billboard No. 2 chart position and was edged out of the top chart spot by Tex Ritter's No. 1 single, You Too Timed Me One Time Too Often.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11. We Might As Well Forget It 

Peak Chart Position, No. 2, 1944 

Artist: Bob Wills 

5 Weeks at No. 2 in 1944  

Bob Wills was a Western swing musician, songwriter and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the co-founder of western swing, he was universally known as the King of Western Swing.

We Might As Well Forget It charted in 1944 and was Wills' second Billboard single. New Spanish Two Step charted two years later and was the biggest Billboard chart single in country music that year. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12. Pick Me Up On Your Way Down 

Peak Chart Position, No. 2, 1958 

Artist: Charlie Walker* 

4 Weeks at No. 2 in 1958  

In 1958, Charlie Walker signed with Columbia Records and claimed a number 2 spot on Billboard with a Harlan Howard song, Pick Me Up On Your Way Down. Walker never achieved a number one single.

Walker's other hits include Who Will Buy the Wine, Wild as a Wildcat, Don't Squeeze My Sharmon and I Wouldn't Take Her To A Dog Fight Even If I Thought That She Could Win. Many of his records featured harmony vocals by Ray Price. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------13. The Carroll County Accident 

Peak Chart Position, No. 2, 1968 

Artist: Porter Wagoner

4 Weeks at No. 2 in 1968  

The Carroll County Accident is a 1968 country song written by Bob Ferguson and recorded by Porter Wagoner. It was a hit for Wagoner and became one of his signature songs. 

In the song, the singer tells the story of a single-car accident that occurs just inside the county line near his hometown. The passenger, Walter Browning, an upstanding member of the community and seemingly happily married man, dies; while the driver, Mary Ellen Jones, a woman not his wife but also well respected, survives to testify she was taking him to town on an errand of mercy. 

The singer describes examining the wreckage and finding evidence of an extramarital affair between the two. He promptly disposes of the evidence and swears himself to silence. He does this in order to preserve their reputations in the county because, as he reveals in the last verse, Walter Browning was his father. 

The Carroll County Accident reached No.2 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs in 1968 and held that position for four weeks. Porter’s biggest charted records include, Misery Loves Company (No. 1, 1962), Skid Row Joe (No. 3, 1966) and The Cold Hard Facts of Life (No. 2, 1967).

Porter Wayne Wagoner was a popular country music singer known for his flashy nudie suits and charming stage presence.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------14. From a Jack to a King

 Peak Chart Position, No. 2, 1962 

Artist: Ned Miller* 

4 Weeks at No. 2 in 1962  

In 1956, Ned Miller, a pipe-fitter by trade, decided to try the music field. Miller met Fabor Robinson, of Abbott and Fabor renown, who agreed to work with him and develop his talents.

Miller's first success came a year later as writer of the hit, Dark Moon. Miller went on to write more than 100 songs, including his smash single, From a Jack to a King, which soared to the top of the Billboard chart and peaked at position, No. 2. It locked in at position for four weeks making it Miller's biggest Billboard chart single. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------15. It's Been a Great Afternoon 

Peak Chart Position, No. 2, 1978 

Artist: Merle Haggard 

3 Weeks at No. 2 in 1978   

It's Been a Great Afternoon is a single written and recorded by country music artist Merle Haggard. Released in 1978, it was the second single from the album I'm Always on a Mountain When I Fall. The song reached No.2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles Chart.

The song was kept from the top chart spot by Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys, a widely popular No. 1 single by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Researched, compiled and written by Richard Bell, Roots of Country Music, Country Music Historian, Jan. 30, 2012.