Smooth as silk country

There is longevity, and there is Eddy Arnold.

Consider that Arnold, possibly the most beloved country crooner of all time, scored No. 1 hits on this day 16 years apart.  But that's just the beginning of his incredible success story.  When "One Kiss Too Many" made it to the top of the chart on June 14, 1949, it was already Arnold's 10th No. 1 hit.

And by the time he returned on this day in 1965 with "What's He Doing In My World" he had notched 22 No. 1s.  It was about this time, while sweeping the floor of the old Walgert Hotel Tap Room, that we discovered the melodic magic of the "Tennessee Plowboy." The juke boxes of the day were busy playing Arnold's popular RCA recordings.  "What's He Doing" began a run which saw some of Arnold's best singles rise to the top of the charts.  Not all of them made it to No. 1 -- how in the world did "Misty Blue" fall short? -- but there were enough to keep him front and center, even after juke jumpin' favorites like Buck Owens and the Man in Black came into vogue.

Here were Arnold's No. 1s during this stretch, with the dates the songs entered the Top 40:

April '65: What's He Doing In My World
Oct. '65: Make the World Go Away
Feb. '66: I Want To Go With You
Oct. '66: Somebody Like Me
Feb. '67: Lonely Again
Sept. '67: Turn the World Around the Other Way
Sept. '68: Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye

Arnold, a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame since 1966, died in May 2008 just a week before his 90th birthday.  They say a finer gentleman has never been born.