The Billboard Book Of Number One Country Hits by Tom Roland

ONE of the best 'once you pick it upyou cannot put it down' books has to be the 584-page epic, entitled The Billboard Book Of Number One Country Hits.

Written and compiled by Tom Roland, it moves from January 20, 1968, when Merle Haggard topped the charts with Sing Me Back Home through to Ronnie Milsaps' A Woman In Love on December 23, 1989. To many these were the best years of country music.

Each hit is listed in week order, but the fascination is in some of the stories behind the songs. After songwriter Dave Hammer had an argument with his wife and was feeling depressed he remembers thinking "Lord I hope this day is good". This turned out to be a song originally offered to Mel Tillis, who turned it down, before Don Williams topped the chart on February 27, 1982.

Fifties and Sixties star Faron Young damaged his tongue in a 1970 car accident. After four operations he could sing again and writer Jerry Chesnut was asked to for a song avoiding the letter S because the singer had developed a lisp. Chesnut came up with It's Four In The Morning which gave Young a hit on February 19, 1972.

Wonderful stuff.