December 26, 2007 — What are the Top 100 Classic Country Songs? You're guaranteed a different list, depending on who you ask. But here are 100 tunes, spanning from 1950 to 2002, that we think deserve special mention -- with a little music trivia thrown in for good meaure.

A

Alabama
"Love In The First Degree" (1981)

Eddy Arnold
"Cattle Call" (1955)
*This song was first released as a "b" side in 1945, but didn't become a hit until 10 years later.

B

Bobby Bare
"Marie Laveau" (1974)

Bellamy Brothers
"If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body" (1979)

Garth Brooks
"Friends In Low Places" (1990)
*CMA Single of the year for Garth.

Brooks & Dunn
"Boot Scootin' Boogie" (1992)

C

Johnny Cash
"I Walk The Line" (1956)
* Johnny’s first N. 1 song and inspired the name of the movie about his life.

Glen Campbell
"Rhinestone Cowboy" (1975)
* A classic that deals with the plasticity of show business. For Glen, this one sold a million copies.

Patsy Cline
"Walkin’ After Midnight" (1957)
*As a kid still in school, this one convinced me country music had something to offer.

John Conlee
"Backside Of Thirty" (1979)

Earl Thomas Conley
"Fire And Smoke" (1981)

D

Charlie Daniels
"Devil Went Down To Georgia" (1979)

Jimmy Dean
"Big Bad John" (1961)
*The sound of the clinking hammer is actually a coat hanger with echo!

John Denver
"Thank God I'm A Country Boy (1975)

E

Everly Brothers
"All I Have To Do Is Dream" (1958)
*This song was No. 1 simultaneously on every Billboard singles chart that existed in June 1958: three Pop charts, two R&B charts, two Country charts. No wonder it’s in the Grammy Hall of Fame!

Exile
"Give Me One More Chance" (1984)

F

Freddy Fender
"Wasted Days And Wasted Nights" (1975)

Janie Fricke
"He's A Heartache" (1983)
*Before hitting it big as a solo artist, Janie appeared on many other singers' hits, including several of Johnny Duncan's, and even sang popular jingles for companies including Coca Cola and Red Lobster.

Lefty Frizzell
"Always Late With Your Kisses" (1951)
*His brother David says Lefty was the only southpaw member of the family.

G

Gatlin Brothers
"Houston (Means I’m One Day Closer..)" (1983)

Crystal Gayle
"Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" (1977)

Don Gibson
"Oh Lonesome Me" (1958)

Vince Gill
"Don't Let Our Love Start Slippin' Away (1992)

Jack Greene
"There Goes My Everything" (1966)
*Former band member with Ernest Tubb.

Lee Greenwood
"Dixie Road" (1985)

Mickey Gilley
"Stand By Me" (1980)
*From the movie "Urban Cowboy" — which Mickey staunchly defends against film critics, saying it brought a whole new audience to country music.

Vern Gosdin
"I Can Tell By The Way You Dance" (1984)

Merle Haggard
"Okie From Muskogee" (1969)
*Almost every younger country singer, when asked whom they look up to, answers with Merle Haggard's name.

Tom T. Hall
"The Year That Clayton Delaney Died" (1971)

Emmylou Harris
"Sweet Dreams" (1976)

Ferlin Husky
"Wings Of A Dove" (1960)
*Ferlin says Capitol Records kept refusing to allow him to record this song, due to its gospel nature. When the record producer's flight was late, he recorded it anyway!

Burl Ives
"Little Bitty Tear" (1962)

Alan Jackson
"Chattahoochee" (1993)

Sonny James
"Young Love" (1956)

Waylon Jennings
"I've Always Been Crazy" (1978)
*According to the song, being crazy kept him from going insane. Waylon wrote this one himself.

George Jones
"He Stopped Loving Her Today" (1980)
*George thought this Curly Putman/ Bobby Braddock song was so sad it wouldn't sell. He was gloriously wrong.

The Judds
"Have Mercy" (1985)