The Greatest Oldies Music

Country

Dwight Yoakam arrived at Buck Owens’s Bakersfield radio station on September 23, 1987, with a concert to play and an invitation to offer. At 30, Dwight had built his sound around Buck’s records. He was performing at the Kern County Fair that evening, and after a couple of hours talking, he mentioned that his band knew several Buck Owens songs. Buck could join them if he wanted. Buck, who hadn’t played a regular concert since 1980, turned up and stepped onstage. Only afterward did Dwight understand the significance: since becoming a star, Buck had never shared a Bakersfield stage with another artist. Four months later, Buck needed someone to replace Merle Haggard on a television special. He called Dwight and chose a song from his own catalog, one that had attracted little attention in 1972. Their performance soon had radio DJs asking for the tape. What began with an invitation at a radio station led to Buck’s first No. 1 in 16 years—and a return few had expected.

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On October 15, 1988, “Streets of Bakersfield” by Dwight Yoakam and Buck Owens sat at No. 1 on the Billboard country chart. It was Dwight Yoakam’s first No. 1. For…

Country

For months, the Oak Ridge Boys kept suits and ties in their luggage wherever they traveled. Their longtime friend George H.W. Bush had asked them to sing his favorite song, “Amazing Grace,” at his funeral, and they intended to be ready. Their friendship began during a White House soundcheck in October 1983. Then vice president, Bush hurried across the lawn to see them before departing for Africa. He couldn’t attend the show, so the group gave him a performance on the spot. Over the next 35 years, official appearances became a friendship. They sang “Amazing Grace” at his inauguration and visited George and Barbara in Kennebunkport, sharing lobster dinners and fishing trips. When illness kept him quiet at home, they sometimes called to sing for him. Bush died on November 30, 2018, aged 94. Six days later, in a Houston church, the four men fulfilled their promise. First came a little affectionate teasing: Bush had always considered himself a good bass singer. “He was not,” one member added, drawing laughter from the mourners. Then they sang “Amazing Grace” for him one final time. Duane Allen explained their devotion simply: “It’s what you do for friends.”

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Long before he died, George H.W. Bush made one request of his favorite country group. When the time came, he wanted the Oak Ridge Boys to sing “Amazing Grace” at…

Country

When Travis Tritt returned to the Ryman Auditorium in March 2002, Waylon Jennings’s black guitar and cowboy hat were there without him. Just two years earlier, the men had shared that stage. Those January 2000 concerts captured Waylon performing with his Waymore Blues Band as his health declined. He remained seated, but his voice was unmistakable. Travis joined him on a song Waylon had written years before, and their duet became part of the concert recording. Waylon died on February 13, 2002. On March 23, family and friends filled the Ryman to remember him. Behind his guitar and hat hung the silver W familiar from his touring shows. Red rose petals lay nearby. Travis recalled how firmly Waylon had stood by the music he wanted to make, refusing to compromise it. He then sang a different Waylon classic, one that reflected the rebellious spirit so many associated with his friend. The room that had once held their voices together now held Travis’s tribute. This time, Waylon couldn’t sing beside him. If you could hear Waylon perform one more song at the Ryman, which would you choose?

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In January 2000, Travis Tritt stood beside Waylon Jennings on the historic stage of Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. Together, they performed a song that captured the rebellious spirit of a man…

Country

George Jones’s farewell tour was meant to run until November 2013. Instead, it ended in Knoxville on April 6, with a song about a man whose love lasted until his dying day. At 81, George was having trouble getting through the performance at Tennessee’s Knoxville Civic Coliseum. His breathing was labored, and midway through the closing number, he took a seat. He continued singing. An audience member later remembered that both he and his companion were crying by the time it ended. George had spent decades making listeners feel every word of a heartbreaking song. Watching him struggle through those familiar lines gave them a weight that night few could have prepared for. Nobody in the crowd knew this would be their last chance to hear him perform onstage. There were still months of farewell dates ahead, and this was supposed to be one stop along the way. Twenty days later, on April 26, George died at 81. His final concert had ended with a story of devotion that only death could silence. Which George Jones song did he sing to close that Knoxville show?

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It told the story of a man who never stopped loving a woman, even after their relationship ended. Only death could finally bring that love to an end. Twenty days…

Country

Toby Keith was getting ready to tour again when he played three sold-out Las Vegas shows in December 2023. Less than two months later, he was gone. Stomach cancer, diagnosed in 2021, had kept him away from regular touring for much of the following two years. Demand hadn’t faded: the first two Vegas dates sold out within minutes, prompting a third. Each night, Toby sang for roughly two hours, revisiting his biggest hits. He also sat center stage for six songs he felt deserved a chance as singles. Those performances were part of a return he intended to continue. In November, he had discussed preparing his trucks and buses for a 2024 tour. Before Vegas, though, he had quietly tested himself in Oklahoma to find out whether he could manage a full show. His December 14 performance became his last. Toby died on February 5, 2024, aged 62, having spent those final months preparing to get back on the road.

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Less than two months before Toby Keith died, he stood before thousands of fans in Las Vegas and did what he had spent much of his life doing: singing country…

Country

A heartbroken man, a jukebox, and the comfort of old country records gave Vern Gosdin a No. 1 hit in 1988—and a way to honor Ernest Tubb nearly four years after his death. Tubb’s 1941 recording of “Walking the Floor Over You” had helped define honky-tonk music. Decades later, Vern still heard something in those records worth carrying forward. Working with Hank Cochran, Dean Dillon, and Buddy Cannon, he wrote about a lonely man coming back to the jukebox, looking for songs that understood what he was going through. It was familiar territory for anyone raised on Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, and Ernest Tubb. The tribute moved with an easy honky-tonk shuffle rather than the solemn mood of a memorial. At its heart was a simple wish: let that favorite record play once more. The single arrived in April 1988. By July, it had reached the top of Billboard’s country chart. Yet Hank Cochran later recalled that they had started with a completely different title. The familiar name came afterward. Can you name Vern Gosdin’s chart-topping tribute to Ernest Tubb?

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Nearly four years after Ernest Tubb passed away, Vern Gosdin brought the spirit of the legendary Texas Troubadour back to country radio. The result was a No. 1 hit that…

Country

Tammy Wynette’s daughters wanted an explanation beyond the one on her death certificate. It listed a blood clot in her lung. When her body was examined a year later, the autopsy found no evidence of that clot. She had died at home in Nashville on April 6, 1998, aged fifty-five. Her personal physician flew from Pittsburgh that night and signed the certificate. There was no initial autopsy. In early 1999, Jackie, Tina, and Georgette asked Nashville’s medical examiner to investigate. They also brought a $50 million wrongful-death suit against the doctor and Tammy’s husband, George Richey. The allegations were contested. Richey consented to an autopsy, performed on April 14, 1999. Findings released in May indicated heart failure, likely associated with her longstanding blood-clotting disorder. Two medications were detected, though their possible contribution remained uncertain. Richey was subsequently removed from the suit. Following further testing, authorities classified her death as natural two years later. The daughters’ attorney expressed disappointment. For the medical examiner, the findings offered the clearest explanation the available evidence could provide.

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Tammy Wynette was buried as the First Lady of Country Music. Her death certificate said she died of a blood clot in her lung. But a year later, three of…

Country

Glen Sherley took his seat among the prisoners at Folsom with no idea Johnny Cash had spent the previous night learning his song. Before the concert ended, he would hear Cash sing it just feet away. On January 12, 1968, prison minister Floyd Gressett brought Johnny a recording by Sherley, who was serving a sentence for armed robbery. Its subject was a little chapel within the prison walls. The recording caught Johnny’s attention immediately. With his Folsom appearance only hours away, he wrote down the lyrics and worked on the melody, preparing a surprise Sherley knew nothing about. The following morning, January 13, Cash performed before the inmates. As the show neared its end, he told them the next number came from someone imprisoned there at Folsom. He named Glen Sherley. Applause broke out among the men, and Johnny leaned down from the stage to shake the songwriter’s hand. Sherley had arrived expecting to watch a concert; now his own work was part of it. The performance appeared on At Folsom Prison, carrying that song about a prison chapel far beyond its walls. Johnny had needed only one night to learn it—and gave its writer a moment preserved on record.

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On January 13, 1968, Johnny Cash stood before hundreds of inmates at California’s Folsom Prison. Near the end of the concert, something extraordinary happened. Johnny Cash performed a song written…

Country

Writing for Johnny Cash was one thing. Singing a song written especially for him across a dinner table frightened Kris Kristofferson more than he expected. June Carter made the request in the 1970s, shortly after Johnny returned from rehabilitation. She was arranging a small gathering of family and friends, including Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, and wanted Kris to bring her husband a song. Kris had written words that connected with millions, but this felt far more exposing. Johnny was his friend, someone whose encouragement had helped him through those uncertain early Nashville years. Finding something personal to say carried its own pressure. He finished the song and performed it at dinner. Looking back, Kris recalled his embarrassment and thought Johnny had probably been uncomfortable too. For years afterward, the song stayed off Kris’s own albums. He eventually recorded it in 2009, after Johnny’s death. An earlier attempt to record it with Willie Nelson had also produced an unexpected moment of laughter. What was the title of the song June asked Kris to write for Johnny?

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Kris Kristofferson had written songs that touched millions of people, but one request from June Carter left the legendary songwriter unusually nervous. June Carter wanted Kris Kristofferson to write something…

Country

Waylon Jennings knew how to get a fairground crowd cheering. In 1987, he began wondering whether he could hold their attention by talking instead. At fifty, he had grown restless with the familiar routine of a full band, electric guitars, and audiences who knew exactly when to shout. During another outdoor show, he found himself wanting something smaller: a room where he could stand alone and tell his story. He was working with Roger Murrah on A Man Called Hoss, an album that divided his life into chapters. They wrote backward, starting with the adult Waylon and working toward his childhood in Littlefield, Texas. Someone had suggested a book, but his memories involved too many other people’s lives. Songs gave him a way to decide what to share. In concert, he could fill the spaces between them himself. He brought an electric guitar and recorded accompaniment into small venues. Between numbers, he spoke without a settled script. When people encouraged him to repeat particularly good stories, he tried—and found that remembering what he had said disrupted his flow. He returned to letting the memories come naturally. The audience had to adjust as well. Waylon joked that he and Willie Nelson had taught people to holler throughout a concert. Now he needed enough quiet to speak. A reviewer attending his Westwood Playhouse appearance saw him greeting guests in the lobby beforehand. Months later at the Birchmere, another described a ninety-minute set filled with stories, solo performances, and songs with Jessi Colter. People laughed, then settled back to listen. For years, listeners had known his face from album covers and his voice from records played at home. These shows offered a different familiarity. Between songs, they could watch him consider a memory and find the words to tell it.

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WAYLON JENNINGS, WITHOUT THE BAND TO HIDE BEHIND The audience at a Waylon Jennings show knew its part. It could recognize the first bars, call out to the stage, and…

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Country

Dwight Yoakam arrived at Buck Owens’s Bakersfield radio station on September 23, 1987, with a concert to play and an invitation to offer. At 30, Dwight had built his sound around Buck’s records. He was performing at the Kern County Fair that evening, and after a couple of hours talking, he mentioned that his band knew several Buck Owens songs. Buck could join them if he wanted. Buck, who hadn’t played a regular concert since 1980, turned up and stepped onstage. Only afterward did Dwight understand the significance: since becoming a star, Buck had never shared a Bakersfield stage with another artist. Four months later, Buck needed someone to replace Merle Haggard on a television special. He called Dwight and chose a song from his own catalog, one that had attracted little attention in 1972. Their performance soon had radio DJs asking for the tape. What began with an invitation at a radio station led to Buck’s first No. 1 in 16 years—and a return few had expected.

Country

For months, the Oak Ridge Boys kept suits and ties in their luggage wherever they traveled. Their longtime friend George H.W. Bush had asked them to sing his favorite song, “Amazing Grace,” at his funeral, and they intended to be ready. Their friendship began during a White House soundcheck in October 1983. Then vice president, Bush hurried across the lawn to see them before departing for Africa. He couldn’t attend the show, so the group gave him a performance on the spot. Over the next 35 years, official appearances became a friendship. They sang “Amazing Grace” at his inauguration and visited George and Barbara in Kennebunkport, sharing lobster dinners and fishing trips. When illness kept him quiet at home, they sometimes called to sing for him. Bush died on November 30, 2018, aged 94. Six days later, in a Houston church, the four men fulfilled their promise. First came a little affectionate teasing: Bush had always considered himself a good bass singer. “He was not,” one member added, drawing laughter from the mourners. Then they sang “Amazing Grace” for him one final time. Duane Allen explained their devotion simply: “It’s what you do for friends.”

Country

When Travis Tritt returned to the Ryman Auditorium in March 2002, Waylon Jennings’s black guitar and cowboy hat were there without him. Just two years earlier, the men had shared that stage. Those January 2000 concerts captured Waylon performing with his Waymore Blues Band as his health declined. He remained seated, but his voice was unmistakable. Travis joined him on a song Waylon had written years before, and their duet became part of the concert recording. Waylon died on February 13, 2002. On March 23, family and friends filled the Ryman to remember him. Behind his guitar and hat hung the silver W familiar from his touring shows. Red rose petals lay nearby. Travis recalled how firmly Waylon had stood by the music he wanted to make, refusing to compromise it. He then sang a different Waylon classic, one that reflected the rebellious spirit so many associated with his friend. The room that had once held their voices together now held Travis’s tribute. This time, Waylon couldn’t sing beside him. If you could hear Waylon perform one more song at the Ryman, which would you choose?

Country

George Jones’s farewell tour was meant to run until November 2013. Instead, it ended in Knoxville on April 6, with a song about a man whose love lasted until his dying day. At 81, George was having trouble getting through the performance at Tennessee’s Knoxville Civic Coliseum. His breathing was labored, and midway through the closing number, he took a seat. He continued singing. An audience member later remembered that both he and his companion were crying by the time it ended. George had spent decades making listeners feel every word of a heartbreaking song. Watching him struggle through those familiar lines gave them a weight that night few could have prepared for. Nobody in the crowd knew this would be their last chance to hear him perform onstage. There were still months of farewell dates ahead, and this was supposed to be one stop along the way. Twenty days later, on April 26, George died at 81. His final concert had ended with a story of devotion that only death could silence. Which George Jones song did he sing to close that Knoxville show?