Favorite BIG #1 HITS Through the Years: 1983 Country

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Just two more years to go in this look at a #1 song in both country and pop for the first 25 years of my life. Where has the time gone? I say that every time I see another gray hair! Ah, but I've had a good time. For today's country chart-topper, I'm going with a favorite and someone I hope makes it to the Hall of Fame soon. 1983 (Country): Highway 40 Blues - Ricky Skaggs Oh, yeah, ol' Picky Ricky. He started in bluegrass (there's a You Tube video of him playing with Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs at the age of seven), had a massive career in country, and then as country music took its final downward spiral he went back to bluegrass. He's a gifted multi-instrumentalist and well respected in all kinds of music: Elvis Costello performed on his Live in London album. Here he takes a great song written by fellow Kentuckian Larry Cordle (who later gave us the classic "Murder on Music Row") and goes to town on it, playing both mandolin and guitar. It's such a joyful sounding song that "blues" just doesn't seem a proper word to have in the title. I've driven on Interstate 40 with this song going full blast a number of times. It's on my 100 favorites list. Highway 40 Blues Written by Larry Cordle Recorded by Ricky Skaggs From Highways and Heartaches, 1983 #1 for one week Shattered dreams, my mind is numb: