Here are the 1965 Hot Rhythm and Blues singles, mostly from Billboard. From November 30, 1963, through January 23, 1965, Billboard eschewed the R&B single, assuming it was not significantly different from the pop charts. The sources I’ve been checking used the Cash Box Top 50 in R&B locations for that period.
The Billboard category changed to Top Selling Rhythm and Blues singles on June 5, 1965.
I have a book called Across The Charts: The 1960s from Record Research, written by the late Joel Whitburn. Let’s see the crossover of these songs.
I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) – Four Tops, nine weeks at #1; two weeks at #1 pop
Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag (Part 1) – James Brown and the Famous Flames, eight weeks at #1; #8 pop. When I was a kid, James Brown dominated the charts in the back of Jet magazine, which my family got every week for several years. Many of these songs I had never heard on the pop radio stations in Binghamton, NY, at all.
My Girl – The Temptations, six weeks at #1; #1 for one week pop
I Got You (I Feel Good) – James Brown and The Famous Flames, six weeks at #1; #3 for three weeks pop
Rescue Me – Fontella Bass, four weeks at #1; #4 pop
Shotgun – Jr Walker and the All Stars, four weeks at #1; #4 pop
Got To Get You Off My Mind – Solomon Burke, three weeks at #1; #22 pop
We’re Gonna Make It – Little Milton, three weeks at #1; #25 pop
I Want To (Do Everything For You) – Joe Tex, three weeks at #1; #23 pop
Hold What You’ve Got – Joe Tex, two weeks at #1 per Cash Box; #5 pop
Single week at #1
Back In My Arms Again – The Supremes; #1 pop for one week
I’ll Be Doggone – Marvin Gaye; #8 pop
In The Midnight Hour – Wilson Pickett; #21 pop
Ain’t That Peculiar – Marvin Gaye; #8 pop
The Jerk – The Larks, as reported by Cash Box, #7 pop
Here are the #1 Hot Country Singles for 1965. While I only owned one of the songs on this list – Roger Miller, naturally – I always had a great affection for Buck Owens. I liked to watch him on TV long before he was on Hee Haw. It’s partly a function of the fact that he was on Capitol Records, and I got to read the song list of his albums from the record sleeves of my Beatles albums. I loved that Bakersfield sound.
The #1 Pop Hits of 1965, formally the #1 hits on the Top 100, were right up my sonic alley. In the present tense, I own at least 19 of these 25 songs.