Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

1966 in country music

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit

This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in 1966.

Contents

Events

  • March 15 — Roger Miller wins six Grammy Awards, five of them related to his hit "King of the Road". The Statler Brothers take two awards for "Flowers on the Wall".
  • April — One of the last broadcasts of The Jimmy Dean Show features the first-ever Academy of Country Music awards. Big winners include Male Vocalist of the Year Buck Owens, Female Vocalist Bonnie Owens, and New Male Vocalist Merle Haggard; Haggard also shared the Vocal Duet/Group award with Bonnie Owens. Taped for later broadcast that year, the ACM Awards would in time become among the most anticipated events of the year by country fans.
  • October 15 — Billboard increases the length of its Hot Country Singles chart to 75 positions, up from 50.
  • October 22 — At age 48, Eddy Arnold becomes the youngest (to that time) living inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
  • United States

    (as certified by Billboard)

    Canada

    (as certified by RPM)

    Top new album releases

  • I'm a People - George Jones (Musicor)
  • The Best of Bobby Bare - Bobby Bare (RCA)
  • Born to Sing - Connie Smith (RCA)
  • Confessions of a Broken Man – Porter Wagoner (RCA)
  • Distant Drums - Jim Reeves (RCA)
  • Don't Touch Me - Wilma Burgess (Decca)
  • Jan Howard Sings Evil on Your Mind - Jan Howard (Decca)
  • Folk-Country - Waylon Jennings (RCA)
  • I Want to Go with You - Eddy Arnold (RCA)
  • Jimmy Dean's Greatest Hits - Jimmy Dean (Columbia)
  • The Seely Style - Jeannie Seely (Monument)
  • Somebody Like Me - Eddy Arnold (RCA)
  • The Streets of Baltimore - Bobby Bare (RCA)
  • Suffer Time - Dottie West (RCA)
  • Conway Twitty Sings - Conway Twitty (Decca)
  • Look Into My Teardrops - Conway Twitty (Decca)
  • Births

  • January 4 — Deana Carter, singer-songwriter who enjoyed a string of hits in the mid-to-late 1990s.
  • May 13 — Darius Rucker, African-American singer and Hootie & the Blowfish lead vocalist who became a rising country star in the late 2000s (decade).
  • July 29 — Martina McBride, crossover-styled female vocalist who rose to fame in the 1990s.
  • August 19 — Lee Ann Womack, new traditionalist-styled singer of the 1990s and 2000s (decade) most famous for her crossover hit "I Hope You Dance."
  • December 17 — Tracy Byrd, male honky tonk-styled vocalist since the 1990s.
  • Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

  • Eddy Arnold (1918–2008)
  • James R. Denny (1911–1963)
  • George D. Hay (1895–1968)
  • Uncle Dave Macon (1870–1952)
  • Grammy Awards

  • Best Country and Western Vocal Performance, Female — "Don't Touch Me," Jeannie Seely
  • Best Country and Western Vocal Performance, Male — "Almost Persuaded," David Houston
  • Best Country and Western Recording — "Almost Persuaded," David Houston
  • Best Country and Western Song — "Almost Persuaded," Billy Sherrill and Glenn Sutton (Performer: David Houston)
  • Academy of Country Music

  • Top Male Vocalist — Merle Haggard
  • Top Female Vocalist — Bonnie Guitar
  • Top New Male Vocalist — Billy Mize
  • Top New Female Vocalist — Cathie Taylor
  • Country Music Association
  • Inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame
  • References

    1966 in country music Wikipedia