This is a list of Billboard magazine's ranking of the year's top country and western singles of 1958. [1]
Don Gibson had the year's No. 1 single with "Oh Lonesome Me"/"I Can't Stop Loving You". Gibson also had the year's No. 9 record with "Blue Blue Day".
Johnny Cash had three of the year's top 10 country & western singles: "Guess Things Happen That Way"/"Come in, Stranger" at No. 3; "The Ways of a Woman in Love"/"You're the Nearest Thing to Heaven" at No. 6; and "Ballad of a Teenage Queen" at No. 7.
RCA Victor led all labels with 13 of the top 50 singles. Columbia Records and Decca Records followed with nine each. With the popularity of Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis, Sun Records had seven. Cadence Records had four top singles, all by the Everly Brothers.
"Jailhouse Rock" is a rock and roll song recorded by American singer Elvis Presley for the film of the same name. It was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. RCA Victor released the song on a 45 rpm single on September 24, 1957, as the first single from the film's soundtrack EP. It reached the top of the charts in the U.S. and the top 10 in several other countries. The song has been recognized by the Grammy Hall of Fame, the American Film Institute, and others.
"Always on My Mind" is a ballad written by Wayne Carson, Johnny Christopher, and Mark James, first recorded by Brenda Lee and first released by Gwen McCrae in March 1972. Lee's version was released three months later in June 1972. The song has been a crossover hit, charting in both the country and western and pop categories. Elvis Presley's recording was the first commercially successful version of the song.
"Pledging My Love" is a blues ballad. It was written by Ferdinand Washington and Don Robey and published in 1954.
"I Can't Stop Loving You" is a popular song written and composed by country singer, songwriter, and musician Don Gibson, who first recorded it on December 3, 1957, for RCA Victor Records. It was released in 1958 as the B-side of "Oh, Lonesome Me", becoming a double-sided country hit single. At the time of Gibson's death in 2003, the song had been recorded by more than 700 artists, most notably by Ray Charles, whose recording reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart.
"Are You Lonesome Tonight?" is a song written by Roy Turk and Lou Handman in 1926. It was recorded several times in 1927—first by Charles Hart, with successful versions by Vaughn De Leath, Henry Burr, and the duet of Jerry Macy and John Ryan. In 1950, the Blue Barron Orchestra version reached the top twenty on the Billboard's Pop Singles chart.
"Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" is a song written by Kris Kristofferson that was recorded in 1969 by Ray Stevens before becoming a No.1 hit on the Billboard US Country chart for Johnny Cash.
"Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is a show tune written by American composer Jerome Kern and lyricist Otto Harbach for the 1933 musical comedy Roberta. The song was sung in the Broadway show by Tamara Drasin. Its first recorded performance was by Gertrude Niesen, who recorded the song with orchestral direction from Ray Sinatra, Frank Sinatra's second cousin, on October 13, 1933. Niesen's recording of the song was released by Victor, with the B-side, "Jealousy", featuring Isham Jones and his Orchestra. The line — When your heart's on fire, smoke gets in your eyes — apparently comes from a Russian proverb.
"It's Only Make Believe" is a song written by drummer Jack Nance and Mississippi-born singer Conway Twitty, while they were touring across Ontario, Canada in 1958. Twitty was a relatively unknown rock n' roll singer at the time, and this song was his first hit, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard chart in November 1958 for two weeks.
"The Battle of New Orleans" is a song written by Jimmy Driftwood. The song describes the Battle of New Orleans from the perspective of an American soldier; the song tells the tale of the battle with a light tone and provides a rather comical version of what actually happened at the battle. It has been recorded by many artists, but the singer most often associated with this song is Johnny Horton. His version scored number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959. Billboard ranked it as the No. 1 song for 1959, it was very popular with teenagers in the late 1950s/early 1960s in an era mostly dominated by rock and roll music.
"Out of the Blue" is the third single by American singer-songwriter-actress Debbie Gibson. The title track of her debut album, the song was written by Gibson and co-produced and co-arranged with Fred Zarr, with Douglas Breitbart as executive producer. Released as a single in January 1988, "Out of the Blue" gave Gibson her highest chart placing at the time by reaching No. 3 in the U.S. In the UK, it did slightly less well than her two previous singles, stalling at No. 19.
"Love Letters in the Sand" is a popular song first published in 1931.
"Under the Boardwalk" is a pop song written by Kenny Young and Arthur Resnick and recorded by the Drifters in 1964. It charted at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on August 22, 1964. The song has since been covered by many other artists, with versions by Bette Midler, Sam & Dave, the Tom Tom Club, the Rolling Stones, Billy Joe Royal, The Beach Boys, Bruce Willis, Bad Boys Blue, John Mellencamp and Lynn Anderson all charting in the United States or overseas. The song ranked number 487 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004 and number 489 in 2010.
"Oh Lonesome Me" is a popular song written and recorded in December 1957 by Don Gibson with Chet Atkins producing it for RCA Victor in Nashville. Released in 1958, the song topped the country chart for eight non-consecutive weeks. On what became the Billboard Hot 100, it peaked at No. 7. It was Gibson's only Top 10 hit on the pop chart. Its B-side was "I Can't Stop Loving You", which peaked at No. 7 on the C&W Jockey charts and became a standard song about unrequited love. The vocal backings on both songs were provided by the Jordanaires.
"Ballad of a Teenage Queen" is a song written by Jack Clement and recorded by Johnny Cash, with background music by The Tennessee Two. Recorded for his 1958 album Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous, it hit number 1 on the US Country charts and number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"I Love You Because" is a song written and recorded by country music singer and songwriter Leon Payne in 1949. The song has been covered by several artists throughout the years, including hit cover versions by Al Martino in 1963 and Jim Reeves in 1964.
The singles discography of Elvis Presley began in 1954 with the release of his first commercial single, "That's All Right". Following his regional success with Sun Records, Presley was signed to RCA Victor on November 20, 1955. Presley's first single with RCA, "Heartbreak Hotel", was a worldwide hit, reaching the No. 1 position in four countries and the top 10 in many other countries. Other hit singles from the 1950s include "Don't Be Cruel", "Hound Dog", "Love Me Tender", "Too Much", "All Shook Up", "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear", "Jailhouse Rock", "Don't", "Hard Headed Woman" and "A Big Hunk o' Love". On March 24, 1958, Presley entered the United States Army at Memphis, Tennessee, and was stationed in Germany. He left active duty on March 5, 1960.
10 is the ninth studio album by American western swing band Asleep at the Wheel. Recorded at Bee Creek Studios in Spicewood, Texas and the Austin Recording Studio in Austin, Texas, it was produced solely by the band's frontman Ray Benson and released in March 1987 as the group's first album back on Epic Records. 10 was the group's first album on a major label since 1980's Framed, and its first to register on the US Billboard charts since 1978's Wheelin' and Dealin'.
Billboard Top Country & Western Records of 1956 is made up of three year-end charts compiled by Billboard magazine ranking the year's top country and western records based on record sales, juke box plays, and jockey plays.