Longest songs in running time on the country chart

[briguy52748]

I heard a clip once of a mid-1980s country music special recently where the longest song in running time to top the Hot Country Songs chart was "Pancho and Lefty" by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, clocking out at 4:43. This had beaten, by just a few seconds, the previous record-holder, held by Marty Robbins and "El Paso," from 1959.

The question, then, is this. Surely, since 1983, there have been several country songs longer in length – that is, their single or radio-edit length – to reach No. 1. (And by single edit, I am sure that album-length songs that went much longer were disregarded.) So, then, I'm curious what country song was the longest ever to go No. 1?

Thanks!

Brian

[briguy52748]

And since I've posted, this is an inaccurate claim about "Pancho and Lefty."

In 1976, it seems, there was a song that was about 30 seconds longer in length than "Pancho and Lefty." It was the sentimental truck-driver's tale of a paraplegic boy and his CB radio. That song: "Teddy Bear" by Red Sovine. It took him 5 minutes, 15 seconds to tell Teddy Bear's story and the act of kindness described that you'll never see today. So unless there was a single edit that cut out a little bit, "Teddy Bear" by Red Sovine is the champion.

With that said, are there any country No. 1 songs that run longer than either "Teddy Bear" or "Pancho and Lefty"?

Brian

[bestmusicexpert]

The longest I knew of was I Think I'll Just Sit Here & Drink by Merle Haggard. That's 4:30.

[briguy52748]

Aug 14, 2014 15:32:18 GMT -5 bestmusicexpert said:

The longest I knew of was I Think I'll Just Sit Here & Drink by Merle Haggard. That's 4:30.

Curious – I wonder if there was a single edit on this one?

I mentioned album versions of No. 1 songs that ran much longer than "Pancho and Lefty"'s 4:44 – sorry, I chopped off a second – and even longer than the 5:15 of "Teddy Bear." A number of examples – some before 1983, and some after:

• "Red Neckin' Love Makin' Night" by Conway Twitty, from January 1982. The album version was a second longer than "Pancho and Lefty" (4:44), while the single edit, and the one Kingsley acknowledged, was just 3:28 (an earlier fade).
• Several of Alabama's No. 1 singles, most notably:
-- "Take Me Down," No. 1 in July 1982. The album version ran 4:50; the single version (and one that Bob Kingsley probably acknowledged) was 3:43, removing the second refrain (goes straight to the bridge) and cutting off the ending.
-- "Dixieland Delight," from 1983. The album version ran an epic 5:23, while the single version, which Kingsley probably said was the "official" No. 1 song, was 3:57. Shorten the intro, fade it earlier, and abridge the fiddle bridges and you have a much shorter song.
-- "She and I," from 1986. The album version ran 5:18, while the single edit – by chopping up the ending and removing the false fade – was 3:36, more than a minute and a half shorter.
-- Reportedly, there is a version of their 1988 No. 1 hit "Fallin' Again" that goes an incredible 7 minutes! However, nearly everything that's in print that I've been able to find has the original 3:59 length.
• "Still Losing You" by Ronnie Milsap, from 1984, which ran 5:18. I'm sure that 45 seconds was saved by lopping off the prologue.
• "You Still Move Me" by Dan Seals, from 1987, which clocked in at 5:07. Like "Still Losing You," there was a single edit that chopped the approximately 45-second intro.

Just going through the list of No. 1 songs, even today there are relatively few very lengthy country songs that have reached No. 1, even with today's songs being longer. Most of them are rarely longer than 4 to 4-1/2 minutes. The longest I could find that has an album version was Kenny Chesney's salute to high school football and Friday Night Lights – "The Boys of Fall," with clocks in at exactly 6-1/2 minutes! The single/radio edit lops off about two minutes off the end, for a grand total of 4:21; it's simply a (much) earlier fade.

Why Bob Kingsley never acknowledged that "Teddy Bear" was 5:15 and thus the longest ever No. 1 song is beyond me. Prior to that, I'm sure that, with its 4:38 length, "El Paso" by Marty Robbins (from 1959) was the all-time champion in song length.

Brian

[bestmusicexpert]

Every ACC show I have with it plays the longer version. Not sure if there was an edit. The last 60-90 seconds are instrumental.

[briguy52748]

Aug 14, 2014 17:00:35 GMT -5 bestmusicexpert said:

Every ACC show I have with it plays the longer version. Not sure if there was an edit. The last 60-90 seconds are instrumental.

You're talking about which song?

Brian

[bestmusicexpert]

The Merle Haggard one.

[jmorgan]

So far this year, the longest song to hit #1 on the airplay chart is Dierks Bentley's "I Hold On", which clocks in at 4:40. However, the single version runs about a minute less.

[briguy52748]

But it still doesn't make sense – why would Bob Kingsley, during his 1980s shows, blatantly ignore a song (I'm speaking of "Teddy Bear") that was still getting decent oldie airplay that ran about 30 seconds longer and fail to acknowledge it as the longest? Was it due to being a recitation and not a true "song," per se?

Brian

[jmorgan]

I think we have the record for longest country song at #1: "Travelin' Soldier" by the Dixie Chicks, which hit the top in March of 2003. It ran for five and three-quarter minutes, and most radio stations played the complete version.