1951 in country music

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This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1951.

List of years in country music (table)
+...

Events[edit]

Top hits of the year[edit]

Number one hits[edit]

(As certified by Billboard magazine)

US Single Artist
January 6 "I Love You a Thousand Ways" Lefty Frizzell
January 6 "The Golden Rocket" Hank Snow and His Rainbow Ranch Boys
January 13 "The Shotgun Boogie" Tennessee Ernie Ford
February 10 "There's Been a Change in Me" Eddy Arnold
March 31 "The Rhumba Boogie" Hank Snow and His Rainbow Ranch Boys
May 12 "Cold Cold Heart" Hank Williams with His Drifting Cowboys
May 19 "Kentucky Waltz" Eddy Arnold
May 26 "I Want to Be With You Always" Lefty Frizzell
July 14 "I Wanna Play House With You" Eddy Arnold
August 11 "Hey, Good Lookin'" Hank Williams with His Drifting Cowboys
September 1 "Always Late with Your Kisses" Lefty Frizzell
November 3 "Slow Poke" Pee Wee King and His Golden West Cowboys (feat. Redd Stewart)
December 22 "Let Old Mother Nature Have Her Way" Carl Smith
Note: Several songs were simultaneous No. 1 hits on the separate "Most Played Juke Box Folk (later Country & Western) Records," "Best Selling Retail Folk (later Country & Western) Records) and – starting December 10 – "Country & Western Records Most Played by Folk Disk Jockeys" charts.

Other major hits[edit]

US Single Artist
3 Alabama Jubilee Red Foley
5 Beautiful Brown Eyes Jimmy Wakely and the Les Baxter Chorus
9 Blue Christmas Ernest Tubb
4 Bluebird Island Hank Snow and Anita Carter
7 Cherokee Boogie (Eh-Oh-Aleena) Moon Mullican
8 Chew Tobacco Rag Zeb Turner
4 Crazy Heart Hank Williams
5 Cryin' Heart Blues Johnnie & Jack
8 Dear John Hank Williams
9 Don't Stay Too Long Ernest Tubb
2 Down the Trail of Achin' Hearts Hank Snow and Anita Carter
5 Down Yonder Del Wood
7 Driftwood On the River Ernest Tubb
5 Heart Strings Eddy Arnold
6 Hey La La Ernest Tubb
8 Hobo Boogie Red Foley
5 Hot Rod Race Arkie Shibley
7 Hot Rod Race Ramblin' Jimmie Dolan
7 Hot Rod Race Red Foley
7 Hot Rod Race Tiny Hill
3 Howlin' at the Moon Hank Williams
2 I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You) Hank Williams
5 I Don't Want to Be Free Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely
8 I Love You a Thousand Ways Hawkshaw Hawkins
10 I'll Sail My Ship Alone Tiny Hill
8 I'm Waiting Just for You Hawkshaw Hawkins
8 If Teardrops Were Pennies Carl Smith
8 It Is No Secret Stuart Hamblen
9 Lonesome Whistle Hank Williams
4 Look What Thoughts Will Do Lefty Frizzell
8 May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You Eddy Arnold
3 Mockin' Bird Hill The Pinetoppers
7 Mockin' Bird Hill Les Paul and Mary Ford
2 Mom and Dad's Waltz Lefty Frizzell
2 Mr. and Mississippi Tennessee Ernie Ford
4 Mr. Moon Carl Smith
6 My Heart Cries for You Evelyn Knight and Red Foley
7 My Heart Cries for You Jimmy Wakely
9 Old Soldiers Never Die Gene Autry
8 On Top of Old Smoky The Weavers and Terry Gilkyson
4 Poison Love Johnnie & Jack
7 Shine, Shave, Shower (It's Saturday) Lefty Frizzell
7 Sick, Sober and Sorry Johnny Bond
2 Somebody's Been Beating My Time Eddy Arnold
4 Something Old, Something New Eddy Arnold
10 Sparrow in the Treetop Rex Allen
5 The Strange Little Girl Cowboy Copas
9 The Strange Little Girl Red Foley and Ernest Tubb
9 The Strange Little Girl Tennessee Ernie Ford
8 Tailor Made Woman Tennessee Ernie Ford and Joe "Fingers" Carr
2 Tennessee Waltz, 6,000,000 sold by 1967[1] Patti Page
6 Tennessee Waltz Pee Wee King
5 (There'll Be) Peace in the Valley (For Me) Red Foley
6 Travelin' Blues Lefty Frizzell
6 Unwanted Sign Upon Your Heart Hank Snow
7 When You and I Were Young, Maggie Blues Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely

Births[edit]

  • January 19 — Crystal Gayle, younger sister of Loretta Lynn who became a star in her own right, mainly in the country-pop vein.
  • May 23 — Judy Rodman, backing vocalist who enjoyed fame in the 1980s as a solo performer.
  • December 7 — Lyle Evans, bass guitarist of the Western Underground.

Deaths[edit]


Further reading[edit]

  • Kingsbury, Paul, "Vinyl Hayride: Country Music Album Covers 1947–1989," Country Music Foundation, 2003 (ISBN 0-8118-3572-3)
  • Millard, Bob, "Country Music: 70 Years of America's Favorite Music," HarperCollins, New York, 1993 (ISBN 0-06-273244-7)
  • Whitburn, Joel. "Top Country Songs 1944–2005 – 6th Edition." 2005.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The book of golden discs. Internet Archive. London : Barrie & Jenkins. ISBN 978-0-214-20512-5.