1965 in country music

Events

January - Leo Fender, founder of Fender Guitars, sells his company to a subsidiary of Columbia Records for $13 million.
October - Country Music Association president Tex Ritter awards Leo Fender the President's Award for "outstanding contributions to the sound of country music."
October 5 - Johnny Cash is arrested in El Paso, Texas on federal drug charges. He pleads guilty and is given a 30-day suspended sentence and fined $1,000.
December - George Jones, his agent and band members are held for questioning in connection with a Houston, Texas murder investigation. Lie detector tests clear them all.

Johnny Cash is banned from the Grand Ole Opry after an infamous concert where - in a drug-induced haze - he used a microphone to smash the floodlights. He also walked offstage in the middle of a song.
The Vietnam War, which by now was making daily headlines, brings about the second wave of patriotic-themed songs. One of the first big songs was Johnny Wright's "Hello Vietnam," a No. 1 hit in October. Late in the year, Dave Dudley records and releases "What We're Fighting For."

The trend continues through the rest of the 1960s and early 1970s, with songs such as "Distant Drums" by Jim Reeves; "Ballad of the Green Berets" by Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler; "Dear Uncle Sam" by Loretta Lynn; and others. By the late 1960s, the tone of the songs became darker, most notably the Mel Tillis-penned "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" (first a hit for Johnny Darrell but more famously in 1969 by Kenny Rogers and the First Edition).

(As certified by Billboard magazine)

"This is It" by Jim Reeves returns to No. 1 on May 29

June 5 - "What's He Doing In My World" - Eddy Arnold
June 19 - "Ribbon of Darkness" - Marty Robbins
June 26 - "Before You Go" - Buck Owens
August 7 - "The First Thing Ev'ry Morning (and the Last Thing Ev'ry Night)" - Jimmy Dean
August 21 - "Yes, Mr. Peters" - Roy Drusky and Priscilla Mitchell
September 4 - "The Bridge Washed Out" - Warner Mack
September 11 - "Is it Really Over" - Jim Reeves
October 2 - "Only You (Can Break My Heart)" - Buck Owens
October 9 - "Behind the Tear" - Sonny James
October 23 - "Hello Vietnam" - Johnnie Wright

"Behind the Tear" by Sonny James returns to No. 1 on November 13

November 20 - "May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose" - Little Jimmy Dickens
December 4 - "Make the World Go Away" - Eddy Arnold
December 25 - "Buckaroo" - Buck Owens and the Buckaroos

"Engine Engine #9"-Roger Miller–"The Other Woman"-Ray Price"Don't You Ever Get Tired Of Hurting Me?"-Ray Price–