Don Williams

Here's 10 hits from Don Williams - Country Music Hall of Famer with 17 chart-toppers and many memorable songs.

10. "Rake and Ramblin' Man"

The story of a free spirit who realizes he wouldn't make a good father.

9. "Til The Rivers All Run Dry"

When singers were trying to out-do each other with acoustic-based performances, Williams turned to strong writing.

8. "Some Broken Hearts Never Mend"

Although most of Williams' songs about love involve a happy beginning, middle, and end, his husky voice also lent itself to tales of the broken-hearted.

7. "You're My Best Friend"

Early in his solo run, Williams sang of an anchor in life's ocean that could be a spiritual analogy, aside from the opening verse's mention of a wedding band.

6. "Good Ole Boys Like Me"

Another can't-miss song type tells of its singer's simpler childhood and the ageless value of those other trusty Williams boys -- Hank and Tennessee.

5. "I'm Just a Country Boy"

Only Ricky Skaggs and John Denver shouted louder, prouder pronouncements of their down-home credibility.

4. "If I Needed You" (with Emmylou Harris)

3. "Tulsa Time"

Despite all of this talk of old-timey love ballads, Williams made a resounding impact on the future of country music's relationship with West Coast rock 'n' roll with this 1978 single.

2. "I Believe In You"

For proof that Williams was a home-spun chart-topper in what was already an increasingly pop-friendly business, search no further than this lone top 25 pop single.

1. "Lord I Hope This Day Is Good"

Finding contentment in life, yet still praying for a few more earthly blessings, spoke to country audiences from the earliest pickers in the Appalachian Mountains to the music of the various modern acts to grow up hearing Williams' albums.