1956 (Sales): Heartbreak Hotel/I Was The One — Elvis Presley (RCA)
1956 (Jukebox): Heartbreak Hotel/I Was The One — Elvis Presley (RCA)
1956 (Disc Jockeys): Heartbreak Hotel — Elvis Presley (RCA)
1966: Distant Drums — Jim Reeves (RCA)
1976: One Piece at a Time — Johnny Cash (Columbia)
1986: Happy, Happy Birthday Baby — Ronnie Milsap (RCA)
1996: Blue Clear Sky — George Strait (MCA)
2006: Settle For a Slowdown — Dierks Bentley (Capitol)
2016: H.O.L.Y. — Florida Georgia Line (Republic Nashville)
2016 (Airplay): Came Here To Forget — Blake Shelton (Warner Bros.)
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My Kind of Country 
It’s always interesting to look at these #1 singles over the past decades. It’s crazy to see how fast quality dropped from 2006. “Settle For A Slowdown” isn’t one of my favorite Dierks Bentley songs but it’s still a good song. I wonder which song sold more back in the day “Heartbreak Hotel” or “Distant Drums” I know both were huge records!
I’d bet on the guy they call “the King.”
Heartbreak Hotel – no question about it.
Rule of thumb is that songs that cross over to multiple formats generally sell more units that those that are exclusive to the country genre. In the case of “Heartbreak Hotel” it topped the Billboard pop survey for 8 weeks and stayed at #1 for 17 weeks on the country chart. “Distant Drums” was a #1 country hit for 4 weeks and peaked at #45 pop. That song did earn Reeves his biggest UK hit but even that international popularity was not enough to surpass sales of Presley’s debut RCA Victor release a decade earlier.
Thanks for the info guys. Here’s another question for you. Out of all the songs that are listed, which one is your favorite?
I’d say the two that you started with–“Heartbreak Hotel” and “Distant Drums” are true classics of Americana (I’m using that word in its traditional sense, before it was co-opted by a music genre) and for the artists who recorded them. I’m a Cash fan, but I think “One Piece” is more of a novelty than essential. And Strait had so many #1 hits that “Blue Clear Sky” is not a standout, for me. I have nothing to say about the other entries.
“Blue Clear Sky” for me