It Was 50 Years Ago Today: “I Want to Go With You” by Eddy Arnold
May 10, 1966
“I Want to Go With You” by Eddy Arnold
#1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, April 9 – May 20, 1966
Ask a casual country or pop fan to name the legends of country music, and they’d list a lot of familiar names: Johnny, Willie, Waylon, Hank (Sr. and Jr.), Dolly, Patsy, Merle, Kenny, Loretta, Reba, and the Georges (Jones and Strait). It might take that fan a little longer, however, to come up with the name Eddy Arnold. Perhaps because of the polished sound and middle-of-the-road image he cultivated in middle age, Arnold lacks the dedicated cult that has grown around many of his peers and followers. Nevertheless, Arnold is actually one of the most successful country artists of all time, holding the records for the greatest number of Top 10 country singles (92) and the most weeks spent by an artist at #1 (145). He was also one of the first country stars to cross over into the mainstream pop charts, as a figurehead of the smooth Nashville Sound.
Arnold’s career spanned over 60 years, from his first hit single, 1945’s “Each Minute Seems a Million Years,” until his last, 2008’s “To Life,” released shortly after his death. His greatest successes, however, were concentrated into two eras: the first decade of his recording career (the mid-’40s through the mid-’50s), and his pop crossover in the mid- to late-’60s. “Each Minute Seems a Million Years” kickstarted a record-setting string of 57 Top 10 country singles in a row. By the end of the ’50s, his record sales had started to decline slightly, but a series of TV hosting jobs (ranging from variety shows to a farm forecast) kept his career afloat.
Arnold had never been the rawest of country performers. Even on his early, traditional country records, his gentle croon bore the influence of mainstream singers like Bing Crosby. He was a natural, then, to adopt the Nashville Sound, which borrowed from the lush, orchestral production of mainstream pop to bring country music into the urban mainstream. After the deaths of Patsy Cline in 1963 and Jim Reeves in 1964, Arnold was arguably the biggest performer associated with the Nashville Sound. While he had never really left the charts since his debut, Arnold’s career began gathering more momentum around this time, culminating in the 1965 smash “What’s He Doing in My World.” The single not only became Arnold’s first country #1 in a decade, it was also a moderate pop hit, climbing to #60 on the Hot 100.
The success of “What’s He Doing in My World” wasn’t just a one-off, however; it signaled a new revival in Arnold’s career. Later in 1965, he’d release the even bigger hit “Make the World Go Away,” which topped both the country and easy listening charts, and peaked at #6 on the Hot 100. The tune, which had previously been a pop hit for blue-eyed soul singer Timi Yuro, became Arnold’s signature song. Naturally, given its success, the follow-up to “Make the World Go Away” replicated many of its predecessor’s elements. “I Want to Go With You” was penned by Hank Cochran, who had not only written “Make the World Go Away,” but also the Patsy Cline classics “I Fall to Pieces” and “She’s Got You.” Producer Chet Atkins, the architect of the Nashville Sound, enrobed Arnold’s fine-scotch vocals in the same keening strings and robust vocal choir as in his previous hit.
“I Want to Go With You,” in other words, is “Remake the World Go Away,” from its chord progression to Floyd Cramer’s wobbly piano licks. Like its predecessor, “I Want to Go With You” topped both the country and easy-listening charts, but it peaked 30 spots lower on the Hot 100. Arnold’s next single, a version of Roger Miller’s “The Last Word in Lonesome is Me,” would be his third and final visit inside the pop Top 40. Nevertheless, nearly all of his singles for the rest of the decade were Top 10 country hits, and they would continue to rank in the middle to lower reaches of the Hot 100.
While he scored his last #1 in 1968, with “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye,” Arnold remained a steady presence on the country charts until he went into semi-retirement in the early ’80s. Even so, he continued to record occasionally until his death in 2008. The posthumously released “To Life” made him the oldest person to chart in Billboard (at age 89), and set the record for the longest span between first charting single and last, at just under 63 years. Ever the record-breaker, it’s only fitting that Arnold managed to squeeze in couple more notches in his trophy belt, even at the end.
It Was 50 Years Ago Today examines a song, album, movie, or book that was #1 on the charts exactly half a century ago.
