Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine since 1958, when the magazine amalgamated its separate C&W Best Sellers in Stores and Most Played C&W by Jockeys charts. [1] In 1959, eleven different songs topped the chart, then published under the title Hot C&W Sides, in 52 issues of the magazine, based on playlists submitted by country music radio stations and sales reports submitted by stores. [1]
At the start of the year the song at number one was "City Lights" by Ray Price. The song had been in the top spot since the issue of Billboard dated October 20, 1958, [2] the first in which the magazine combined country sales and airplay into a single chart, [1] and remained at number one until the issue dated January 19, 1959. Four artists achieved a number one country single for the first time in 1959: Johnny Horton with "When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below)", [3] George Jones with "White Lightning", [4] which replaced Horton's song at number one, Stonewall Jackson with "Waterloo", [5] and the Browns with "The Three Bells". [6] Of these, Jones would prove to have the most prolific career, topping the Hot Country chart in four consecutive decades. At the time of his death in 2013, he had placed more singles on Billboard's charts than any other artist in any genre. [7]
Following Jones' spell at number one, Johnny Horton returned to the top spot with "The Battle of New Orleans", which spent ten weeks at the peak of the chart. His total of eleven weeks at number one was the most by any artist; he and Ray Price were the only artists to place more than one song at number one during the year. "The Battle of New Orleans" tied with "The Three Bells" for the most weeks spent at number one by a song during the year. Both tracks also topped Billboard's all-genres chart, the Hot 100. [8] Despite the success of "The Three Bells", it would prove to be the only country number one for the Browns. [6] Of the nine acts who topped the chart in 1959, seven have been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame: Ray Price, Jim Reeves, Johnny Cash, George Jones, the Browns, Faron Young and Marty Robbins. [9] Robbins ended the year at number one with "El Paso", another crossover hit which also topped the Hot 100. [10]
Issue date | Title | Artist(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
January 5 | "City Lights" | Ray Price | [11] |
January 12 | [12] | ||
January 19 | "Billy Bayou" | Jim Reeves | [13] |
January 26 | [14] | ||
February 2 | [15] | ||
February 9 | [16] | ||
February 16 | [17] | ||
February 23 | "Don't Take Your Guns To Town" | Johnny Cash | [18] |
March 2 | [19] | ||
March 9 | [20] | ||
March 16 | [21] | ||
March 23 | [22] | ||
March 30 | [23] | ||
April 6 | "When It's Springtime In Alaska (It's Forty Below)" | Johnny Horton | [24] |
April 13 | "White Lightning" | George Jones | [25] |
April 20 | [26] | ||
April 27 | [27] | ||
May 4 | [28] | ||
May 11 | [29] | ||
May 18 | " The Battle of New Orleans " | Johnny Horton | [30] |
May 25 | [31] | ||
June 1 | [32] | ||
June 8 | [33] | ||
June 15 | [34] | ||
June 22 | [35] | ||
June 29 | [36] | ||
July 6 | [37] | ||
July 13 | [38] | ||
July 20 | [39] | ||
July 27 | "Waterloo" | Stonewall Jackson | [40] |
August 3 | [41] | ||
August 10 | [42] | ||
August 17 | [43] | ||
August 24 | [44] | ||
August 31 | " The Three Bells " | The Browns | [45] |
September 7 | [46] | ||
September 14 | [47] | ||
September 21 | [48] | ||
September 28 | [49] | ||
October 5 | [50] | ||
October 12 | [51] | ||
October 19 | [52] | ||
October 26 | [53] | ||
November 2 | [54] | ||
November 9 | "Country Girl" | Faron Young | [55] |
November 16 | [56] | ||
November 23 | [57] | ||
November 30 | [58] | ||
December 7 | "The Same Old Me" | Ray Price | [59] |
December 14 | [60] | ||
December 21 | "El Paso" | Marty Robbins | [61] |
December 28 | [62] |
John LaGale Horton was an American country music, honky tonk and rockabilly singer and musician, during the 1950s and early 1960s, best known for his saga songs that became international hits beginning with the 1959 single "The Battle of New Orleans", which was awarded the 1960 Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording. The song was awarded the Grammy Hall of Fame Award and in 2001 ranked No. 333 of the Recording Industry Association of America's "Songs of the Century". His first No. 1 country song was in 1959, "When It's Springtime in Alaska ".
"Islands in the Stream" is a song written and later recorded by the Bee Gees. It was sung by American country music artists Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. It was released in August 1983 as the first single from Rogers's album Eyes That See in the Dark. Named after the Ernest Hemingway novel, it was originally written for Marvin Gaye in an R&B style, only later to be changed for the Kenny Rogers album.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1959.
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.
"In the Still of the Nite", also subsequently titled "In the Still of the Night", is a song written by Fred Parris and recorded by his Five Satins. While only a moderate hit when first released, it has received considerable airplay over the years and is notable as one of the best known doo-wop songs, recorded by artists such as Boyz II Men and Debbie Gibson. It is heard in several films, such as The Buddy Holly Story and Dirty Dancing, and in Martin Scorsese's The Irishman.
"The Three Bells", also known as "The Jimmy Brown Song", "Little Jimmy Brown", or simply "Jimmy Brown", is a song made popular by The Browns in 1959. The single reached number one in the U.S. on Billboard's Hot C&W Sides chart and the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The version by the Browns also hit number ten on Billboard's Hot R&B Sides chart. It was based on French-language song "Les trois cloches" written and composed by Swiss artist Jean Villard Gilles in 1939, who offered it to Édith Piaf in 1945. Piaf did the first recording of this song, with arrangements by Marc Herrand. This version, interpreted by Édith Piaf together with Les Compagnons de la chanson, was a major hit in 1946. The English lyrics were written by Bert Reisfeld and first recorded by the Melody Maids in 1948. The song documents three stages of the life of "Jimmy Brown"—his birth, his marriage, and his death. The Browns' male vocalist, Jim Ed Brown, coincidentally had the same name as the song's character.
"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.
"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.
"(I'm a) One-Woman Man" is a song co-written by American country music artist Johnny Horton and Tillman Franks. It was originally released as a single by Horton in 1956, whose version peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. The song was twice recorded by American country music artist George Jones: first released on the album The Crown Prince of Country Music retitled "One Woman Man" in 1960, and later as "I'm a One Woman Man" released in November 1988 as the first single from his album One Woman Man. It peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in early 1989 and it would be his final Top 10 solo hit. His final appearance on the Top-10 country singles chart arrived a year later as part of a duet recording with Randy Travis. In spite of the lack of radio hits as the 1990s dawned Jones remained a popular concert draw for the next two decades and continued to release original recordings into the mid 2000s.
This is a list of Billboard magazine's ranking of the year's top country and western singles of 1959.