If you call yourself a "real country fan," you should know two songs that both celebrate an anniversary today.

Today's country music sure is a lot different than these two songs. However, it is good to know where our great genre has been and where it is today if you are going to be a big-time fan.

The songs "Poncho And Lefty" and "Set Em Up Joe" celebrate their anniversaries of being #1 hits on this date.

I can't even begin to explain the feeling that these songs give me when I hear them. Absolute chills! I hear these songs (and most good country songs) differently than any other music out there. I feel like I can see the stories unfold. I can put myself in to the situations. The way that these traditional singers were able to put their emotion and feelings into their music is an art that is rarely heard in today's music.

The 1983 Willie Nelson/Merle Haggard song "Poncho And Lefty" is still one of the most requested song on Wide Open Country. For good reason. The Mariachi Band-style song mixes a classic country song with a southwestern flair. As story songs go, this is probably one of the best!

If you want a good ol' fashioned honky tonk drinking song, there are few better than Vern Gosdin's 1988 hit "Set Em Up Joe." This song not only celebrates the Texas singer Ernest Tubb, it also reveals how a song can help ease the pain of heartbreak. Every time I hear this song, I can clearly see a guy sitting in a smoky bar playing the same song on a jukebox over and over. The reference is to a Tubb classic, "Walkin The Floor Over You."

More From 106.5 WYRK