Eddy Arnold, 89, warm country voice

NASHVILLE - Eddy Arnold, whose mellow baritone on songs like "Make the World Go Away" made him one of the most successful country singers in history, died yesterday, days short of his 90th birthday.

Mr. Arnold died at a care facility near Nashville, said Don Cusic, a professor at Belmont University and author of the biography

Eddy Arnold: I'll Hold You in My Heart

. His wife of 66 years, Sally, had died in March and that month Mr. Arnold fell outside his home, injuring his hip.

Mr. Arnold's vocals on songs like the 1965 "Make the World Go Away," one of his No. 1 country hits and a Top 10 pop-chart hit, made him one of the most successful country singers in history.

Folksy yet sophisticated, he became a pioneer of "the Nashville Sound" or "countrypolitan," a mix of country and pop styles. His crossover success paved the way for singers such as Kenny Rogers.

"I sing a little country, I sing a little pop, and I sing a little folk, and it all goes together," he said in 1970.

He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1966. The following year he was the first person to receive the award as entertainer of the year from the Country Music Association.

Other hits included "Cattle Call," "The Last Word in Lonesome Is Me," "Anytime," "Bouquet of Roses," "What's He Doing in My World?" "I Want to Go With You," "Somebody Like Me," "Lonely Again" and "Turn the World Around." Most of his hits were done in association with famed guitarist Chet Atkins, the producer on most of the recording sessions.

Dinah Shore once described his voice as like "warm butter and syrup being poured over wonderful buttermilk pancakes."

Mr. Arnold was born May 15, 1918, on a farm near Henderson, Tenn., the son of a sharecropper. He sang on radio stations in Jackson, Tenn., Memphis and St. Louis before becoming nationally known. Early in his career, his manager was Col. Tom Parker, who later became Elvis Presley's manager.

Mr. Arnold lived in Brentwood, a Nashville suburb. Survivors include a son, Richard Edward Arnold Jr., and daughter, Jo Ann Pollard, both of Brentwood.