It’s not always easy to remember your favorite songs from back in the day. There is so much music in the world now that it can be difficult to recall what grabbed your attention several decades ago.
But that’s just what we wanted to highlight here. We wanted to dive into three country songs from years ago that are worth remembering. Indeed, these are three forgotten country hits even 60s kids don’t remember.
Videos by American Songwriter
“Hello Walls” by Faron Young from ‘Hello Walls’ (1961)
There is something about older country music that sounds supremely nostalgic. The voices just bounce off the recording studio walls and sound like echoes from the distant past. It’s like the country music ghosts were inhabiting the performers. If you listen to enough of it, you begin to pine for distant history. You hope that someone might invent a time machine so you can realize that slow-paced confidence the country crooners displayed. But in lieu of that, we have recordings like this 1961 number by Faron Young.
“Act Naturally” by Buck Owens And The Buckaroos (Single, 1963)
Buck Owens was one of the stars of early country music. He knew how to sing in an entertaining way over that chunking, railroad-like guitar playing. Owens helped to set the standard for country music—his work back in the 1960s still impacts the way people think about the genre today. In one breath, he both transcended country and helped to define it. That’s all you can ask for from one of the genre’s stars. For evidence, check out the 1963 tune, “Act Naturally”.
“Ribbon Of Darkness” by Gordon Lightfoot (Single, 1965)
Some great country songs from back in the day seem to carry with them a lineage of other genres that came before them. In this 1965 hit song from Gordon Lightfoot, you can almost hear the religious gospel influences. You can hear the folk roots, too. Indeed, this track is one part-Pete Seeger and one part-church track. But that’s what’s great about country music. It picks up what it needs from the people around it and blends the stuff into something new and beautiful—indeed, something very memorable.
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