Billboard Top Country & Western Records of 1951

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These are lists of Billboard magazine's "Top Country & Western Records" for 1951, ranked by retail sales and juke box plays.

Contents

Overview

Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold Heart" was 1951's No. 1 country hit based on retail sales and No. 6 based on juke box plays. Lefty Frizzell's "I Want to Be with You Always" ranked No. 1 based on juke box plays and No. 2 based on retail sales. [1] [2] [3] The year's other top hits included: Frizzell's "Always Late with Your Kisses" (No. 2 retail, No. 2 juke box), Hank Snow's "The Rhumba Boogie" (No. 4 retail, No. 5 juke box), Eddy Arnold's "I Wanna Play House With You" (No. 2 juke box, No. 5 retail), and Tennessee Ernie Ford's "The Shotgun Boogie" (No. 4 juke box, No. 7 retail). [1] [3]

Leading artists and labels

The Billboard year-end charts were cited as proof that Lefty Frizzell was "the nation's number one western and country recording star." [2] Frizzell led all other artists with seven records appearing on the Billboard year-end charts. [2] Eddy Arnold placed second with six records followed by Hank Williams (five), Hank Snow (five), and Carl Smith (three). [1]

The RCA Victor and Columbia labels dominated the 1951 year-end country charts, with 14 records from RCA Victor and 12 from Columbia. [1] Decca, which had dominated the 1950 year-end country charts with 11 records, managed to land only one record on the 1951 year-end charts.

Other promulgators

While Billboard is considered the authoritative source, at least one other publisher, Music VF, created its own list of the top country hits of 1951. Music VF's list was led by (1) "Slow Poke" by Pee Wee King, (2) "Mockin' Bird Hill" by Les Paul and Mary Ford, (3) "On Top of Old Smoky" by The Weavers, (4) "Down Yonder" by Del Wood, and (5) "Mockin' Bird Hill" by the Pinetoppers. [4]

Country music in 1951

During the early 1950s, there was tremendous growth in the popularity of country music, as artists like Eddy Arnold sold records at a level that rivaled Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and other top pop artists. [5] Patti Page's "Tennessee Waltz", produced and recorded in Nashville, crossed over to become a No. 1 hit on pop charts in 1951, and "more than any other single song, established Nashville as a source of songs for the pop market. [6] [7] Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold Heart" was another prominent example of country music crossing over in 1951; the song was such a massive hit that five versions reached the pop Top 30, and Tony Bennett's version spent six weeks at No. 1. [8] The creation of a separate Billboard chart to track the top country hits confirmed the increased importance of the genre. [9]

Top records

Retail
year-end [1] 		Juke box
year-end [1] 		Peak [note 1] [10] TitleArtist(s)Label
161"Cold, Cold Heart" Hank Williams M-G-M
211"I Want to Be with You Always" Lefty Frizzell Columbia
331"Always Late with Your Kisses"Lefty FrizzellColumbia
451"The Rhumba Boogie" Hank Snow RCA Victor
521"I Wanna Play House With You" Eddy Arnold RCA Victor
6131"There's Been a Change in Me"Eddy ArnoldRCA Victor
741"The Shotgun Boogie" Tennessee Ernie Ford Capitol
871"Hey, Good Lookin'"Hank WilliamsM-G-M
9112"Mom and Dad's Waltz"Lefty FrizzellColumbia
10171"The Golden Rocket"Hank SnowRCA Victor
11NR1"I'm Movin' On Hank SnowRCA Victor
1281"Kentucky Waltz"Eddy ArnoldRCA Victor
13101"Slow Poke" Pee Wee King RCA Victor
1492"Let's Live a Little" Carl Smith Columbia
15191"I Love You a Thousand Ways"Lefty FrizzellColumbia
16304"Poison Love" Johnnie and Jack RCA Victor
17122"Down the Trail of Aching Hearts"Hank SnowRCA Victor
18254"Bluebird Island"Hank SnowRCA Victor
19295"Peace in the Valley" Red Foley Decca
20234"Mr. Moon"Carl SmithColumbia
21201"If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time"Lefty FrizzellColumbia
22NR5"Heart Strings"Eddy ArnoldRCA Victor
23262"Somebody's Been Beating My Time"Eddy ArnoldRCA Victor
24NR6"Travelin' Blues"Lefty FrizzellColumbia
2521"Beautiful Brown Eyes" Jimmy Wakely Capitol
26NR4"Look What Thoughts Will Do"Lefty FrizzellColumbia
27153"Howlin' at the Moon"Hank WilliamsM-G-M
28NR1"Let Old Mother Nature Have Her Way"Carl SmithColumbia
29284"Crazy Heart"Hank WilliamsM-G-M
30NR8"It's No Secret" Stuart Hamblen Columbia
NR142"I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)"Hank WilliamsM-G-M
NR163"Mockin' Bird Hill"PinetoppersCoral
NR185"Down Yonder" Del Wood Tennessee
NR224"Something Old, Something New"Eddy ArnoldRCA Victor
NR242"Tennessee Waltz" Patti Page Mercury
NR275"Cryin' Heart Blues" Johnnie and Jack RCA Victor
NR307"Sick, Sober and Sorry Johnny Bond Columbia

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ This column recites the record's peak position on Billboard's weekly charts.

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The Year's Top Country & Western Records" (PDF). The Billboard. January 12, 1952. p. 22.
  2. 1 2 3 "Number One Western Recording Star". The Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune. March 6, 1952. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 Leonidas Fragias (2018). Country Chart Collection. Arts & Charts – via Archive.org.
  4. ↑ "Top Country Songs of 1951". Music VF. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  5. ↑ Cusic, Don. "The Emergence of the Country Music Business: 1945-1955." Studies in Popular Culture, vol. 17, no. 2, 1995, pp. 17–29. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23413699. Accessed 2 Dec. 2020.
  6. ↑ Cusic, p. 27.
  7. ↑ "Year's Top Pop Records according to Retail Sales" (PDF). The Billboard. 64 (1): 11. January 5, 1952.
  8. ↑ Robert Hilburn (March 8, 1992). "How Unforgettable? How could a song from 1951 be declared the best song of 1991?". Los Angeles Times.
  9. ↑ Cusic, p. 19.
  10. ↑ Joel Whitburn (1995). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits. Billboard Books. ISBN   0823076326.
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