Back in the 1960s, music, and especially country music, was simple and pure. Forget elaborate production, and forget melodies that overtake the lyric. In the 60s, country music was full of pure, unadulterated, wholesome love song.
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With that in mind, we picked four songs from the 60s that every wedding playlist still needs today.
1. "Stand By Your Man" by Tammy Wynette
Out in 1968, Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man" comes on the heels of one of her many No. 1 hits, which is ironically "D-I-V-O-R-C-E." But with "Stand By Your Man," Wynette is telling the women all over the world to remain committed to their significant other, no matter what.
"Stand by your man," Wynette sings. "And show the world you love him / Keep giving all the love you can / Stand by your man."
Wynette wrote "Stand By Your Man" with Billy Sherrill. Ironically, Wynette was dating George Jones at the time (whom she married in 1969), later revealing he didn't care for "Stand By Your Man."
"I went home and played it for George, and he didn't like it," Wynette recalls (via Garden & Gun). "He didn't know I'd written it. That kinda got me started off wrong."
Wynette stood by Jones until early 1975, when they divorced.
2. "Love's Gonna Live Here" by Buck Owens
There might not be a better wedding song than "Love's Gonna Live Here" by Buck Owens. Written by the country singer, and released in 1963, the song simply says, "No more loneliness, only happiness / Love's gonna live here again / Love's gonna live here again."
It might sound like a simple lyric, but Owens had a big hit with "Love's Gonna Live Here." The song stayed at the No.1. spot for an astonishing 16 weeks at No. 1, setting a new record. Owens held the record until 2013, with Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise."
"Love's Gonna Live Here" was later included on other Owens' projects, including his Twenty-one Number One Hits: The Ultimate Collection record, released in 2006.
3. "Walk Through This World With Me" by George Jones
George Jones shows off his sentimental side in "Walk Through This World With Me." Written by Sandy Seamons and Kaye Savage, and released in 1967, "Walk Through This World With Me" is a pure declaration of love and commitment.
The song says in part, "Walk through this world with me / Go where I go / Share all my dreams with me / I've searched for you so."
At the time, Jones had been releasing songs like "A Girl I Used To Know" and "Love Bug." But Jones strikes a chord with "Walk Through This World With Me." It was his first No. 1 single since 1962, with "She Thinks I Still Care." He didn't see the top of the charts again until "The Grand Tour," seven years later.
Much like Jones' country classic, "He Stopped Loving Her Today," Jones took some convincing to record the song.
"At first I fought Pappy, telling him consistently that I thought the song was weak," Jones recalls in his I Lived to Tell It All autobiography (via TopCountry.com). "He kept pitching it to me, and I kept telling him no. He regularly brought it to me at recording sessions, which meant that he brought it to me often...I couldn't believe that a song I had resisted so much had done so well."
4. "You And Your Sweet Love" by Connie Smith
Bill Anderson penned "You And Your Sweet Love" for Connie Smith, which was released in 1969, becoming her 14th Top 10 hit of her career. The love song says in part, "You're what keeps me going / The sun that lights my sky / The rose that blooms in winter / The rain that cools July."
Little could Smith have known at the time that the person who she would ultimately marry, Marty Stuart, had just turned 11 when the song was released.
One year later, Conway Twitty also released the song, on his Hello Darlin' album.
