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1951 In Country Music
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1951. Events Top hits of the year Number one hits ''(As certified by Billboard magazine)'' :''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 Births * 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 ''Western Underground'' is the title of the major label debut album released by American country music artist Chris LeDoux for Liberty Records. Overall, it is his 23rd album. Although it produc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billboard Magazine
''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music industry. Its music charts include the Hot 100, the 200, and the Global 200, tracking the most popular albums and songs in different genres of music. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows. ''Billboard'' was founded in 1894 by William Donaldson and James Hennegan as a trade publication for bill posters. Donaldson later acquired Hennegan's interest in 1900 for $500. In the early years of the 20th century, it covered the entertainment industry, such as circuses, fairs, and burlesque shows, and also created a mail service for travelling entertainers. ''Billboard'' began focusing more on the music industry as the jukebox, phonograph, and radio became commonplace. Many topics it covered were spun-off into ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pee Wee King
Julius Frank Anthony Kuczynski (February 18, 1914 – March 7, 2000), known professionally as Pee Wee King, was an American country music songwriter and recording artist best known for co-writing "Tennessee Waltz". Pee Wee King is credited with bringing the musicians union to the Grand Ole Opry — he was one of the first musicians in Nashville to carry a union card, and to have the members of his band work union. He also served on the board of the Country Music Hall of Fame. Life and career King was born in Abrams, Wisconsin to a Polish American family, and lived in Abrams during his youth. He learned to play the accordion from his father, who was a professional polka musician. In the 1930s, he toured and made cowboy movies with Gene Autry.Miller, James. ''Flowers in the Dustbin: The Rise of Rock and Roll, 1947–1977''. Simon & Schuster (1999), pp. 44–45. . King joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1937, with the help of his father-in-law J.L. Frank. In 1946, while he was the ban ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zeb Turner
Zeb Turner (June 23, 1915 – January 10, 1978) was an American country music songwriter and guitarist, and pioneer of rockabilly. He was born William Edward Grishaw in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States, and he renamed himself after a favorite piece of music, "The Zeb Turner Stomp". With his brother James (who took the stage name "Zeke Turner"), also a guitarist, he backed artists such as Hank Williams and Red Foley in the years after World War II. He co-wrote "It's a Sin", a number one hit on the country chart for Eddy Arnold in 1947, with music publisher Fred Rose. Turner also recorded for small record labels such as Bullet and King Records; some of these were "country boogie" tunes which were influential on early rockabilly. His King Records version of Billy Briggs' "Chew Tobacco Rag" was a No. 8 jukebox country and western hit in 1951, while his own "Tennessee Boogie" had reached No. 11 on the same chart in 1949. Later in the 1950s, Turner was a disc jockey on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moon Mullican
Aubrey Wilson Mullican (March 29, 1909 – January 1, 1967), known professionally as Moon Mullican and nicknamed "King of the Hillbilly Piano Players", was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and pianist. He was associated with the hillbilly boogie style which influenced rockabilly. Jerry Lee Lewis cited him as a major influence on his own singing and piano playing. Mullican once stated, "We gotta play music that'll make them goddamn beer bottles bounce on the table". Early life Mullican was born to Oscar Luther Mullican (1876–1961) and his first wife, Virginia Jordan Mullican (1880–1915), near Corrigan, Polk County, Texas, United States. They were a farming family of Scottish, Irish and Eastern European ancestry. His Scots-Irish immigrant ancestor, James Mullikin, was born in Scotland, arriving in Maryland, United States in the 1630s from Northern Ireland. His paternal grandfather was Pvt. Wilson G. Mullican, who served in the 6th Mississippi Infantry, Con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anita Carter
Ina Anita Carter (March 31, 1933 – July 29, 1999) was an American singer who played upright bass, guitar, and autoharp. She performed with her sisters, Helen and June, and her mother, Maybelle, initially under the name The Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle. Carter had three top ten hits as well as other charting singles. She was the first to record the songs " Blue Boy" and "Ring of Fire". Carter was also a songwriter, most notably co-writing the Johnny Cash hit "Rosanna's Going Wild." Carter recorded for a number of labels, both as a solo artist and with her family, including RCA Victor, Cadence, Columbia, Audiograph, United Artists, Liberty and Capitol. Biography Born in Maces Spring, Virginia, she scored two top ten hits in 1951 with "Down The Trail of Achin' Hearts" and "Blue Bird Island," both duets with Hank Snow. In 1962, she recorded " Love's Ring of Fire," written by her sister June and Merle Kilgore. After the song failed to make the charts, Johnny Cash recorde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernest Tubb
Ernest Dale Tubb (February 9, 1914 – September 6, 1984), nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" (1941), marked the rise of the honky tonk style of music. In 1948, he was the first singer to record a hit version of Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson's " Blue Christmas", a song more commonly associated with Elvis Presley and his late-1950s version. Another well-known Tubb hit was "Waltz Across Texas" (1965) (written by his nephew Quanah Talmadge Tubb, known professionally as Billy Talmadge), which became one of his most requested songs and is often used in dance halls throughout Texas during waltz lessons. Tubb recorded duets with the then up-and-coming Loretta Lynn in the early 1960s, including their hit "Sweet Thang". Tubb is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. Biography Early years The youngest of five children, Tubb was born on a cot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Christmas (song)
"Blue Christmas" is a Christmas song written by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson and most famously performed by Elvis Presley; it was first recorded by Doye O'Dell in 1948. It is a tale of unrequited love during the holidays and is a longstanding staple of Christmas music, especially in the country genre. History Initial recordings and major versions The song was first recorded by Doye O'Dell in 1948, and was popularized the following year in three separate recordings: one by country artist Ernest Tubb, one by musical conductor and arranger Hugo Winterhalter and his orchestra and chorus, and one by bandleader Russ Morgan and his orchestra (the latter featuring lead vocals by Morgan and backing vocals by singers credited as the Morganaires). Tubb's version spent the first week of January 1950 at No. 1 on '' Billboard'' magazine's Most-Played Juke Box (Country & Western) Records chart, while Winterhalter's version peaked at No. 9 on ''Billboard'''s Records Most Played by Disk J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Les Baxter
Leslie Thompson "Les" Baxter (March 14, 1922 – January 15, 1996) was a best-selling American musician and composer. After working as an arranger and composer for swing bands, he developed his own style of easy listening music, known as exotica and scored over 100 motion pictures. Early life Baxter studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory before moving to Los Angeles for further studies at Pepperdine College. From 1943 on he played tenor and baritone saxophone for the Freddie Slack big band. Abandoning a concert career as a pianist, he turned to popular music as a singer. At the age of 23 he joined Mel Tormé's Mel-Tones, singing on Artie Shaw records such as "What Is This Thing Called Love?" Career Baxter then turned to arranging and conducting for Capitol Records in 1950, and conducted the orchestra in two early Nat King Cole hits, "Mona Lisa" and " Too Young". He also recorded Yma Sumac's first album: "Voice of the Xtabay", which can be considered one of the first recordi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Wakely
Jimmy Wakely (February 16, 1914 – September 23, 1982) was an American actor, songwriter, country music vocalist, and one of the last singing cowboys. During the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, he released records, appeared in several B-Western movies with most of the major studios, appeared on radio and television and even had his own series of comic books. His duet singles with Margaret Whiting from 1949 until 1951, produced a string of top seven hits, including 1949's number one hit on the US country chart and pop music chart, "Slippin' Around". Wakely owned two music publishing companies in later years, and performed at the Grand Ole Opry until shortly before his death. Biography Early years James Clarence Wakeley was born in Howard County, Arkansas, United States, but his family moved to Rosedale, Oklahoma by 1920. As a teenager, he changed his surname to Wakely, dropping the second "e". Country musician In 1937 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, he formed The Bell Boys, a country W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beautiful Brown Eyes
"Beautiful Brown Eyes" is a country song written by Alton Delmore, originally inspired by his oldest daughter. One of the best known versions of the song was originally arranged by Fiddlin' Arthur Smith & Alton Delmore of The Delmore Brothers in 1951. An award was presented to Alton Delmore for "Beautiful Brown Eyes" in 1951. Background The lyrics are sung from the perspective of a woman unlucky in love, divorced, and remarried, who will "never love blue eyes again". Recordings The following recordings are credited to Smith and Delmore only: *Rosemary Clooney 1951 - reached number 11 on '' Billboard'' Pop charts in 1951 ( Rosemary Clooney discography), reissued on the album, '' Rosemary Clooney Sings Country Hits from the Heart''. *Ethel Smith (organist) 1951 *"Beautiful Brown Eyes", Jimmy Wakely and the Les Baxter Chorus - in 1951. This recording peaked at number 5 on the Best Selling Retail Folk Records chart. *"Beautiful Brown Eyes" (Alton Delmore, Arthur Smith ) from ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Foley
Clyde Julian "Red" Foley (June 17, 1910 – September 19, 1968) was an American musician who made a major contribution to the growth of country music after World War II. For more than two decades, Foley was one of the biggest stars of the genre, selling more than 25 million records. His 1951 hit, "Peace in the Valley", was among the first million-selling gospel records. A Grand Ole Opry veteran until his death, Foley also hosted the first popular country music series on network television, ''Ozark Jubilee'', from 1955 to 1960. He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, which called him "one of the most versatile and moving performers of all time" and "a giant influence during the formative years of contemporary Country music." Biography Foley was born on a farm in Blue Lick, Kentucky, and grew up in nearby Berea. He gained the nickname Red for his hair color. He was born into a musical family, and by the time he was nine was giving impromptu concerts at his father's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alabama Jubilee (song)
"Alabama Jubilee" is a song written with music by George L. Cobb and words by Jack Yellen. The first known recording was that of comedians Collins & Harlan in 1915. The song is considered an American popular standard. The most popular versions of the song were Red Foley's 1951 version (#3 country, #28 pop) and the 1955 instrumental version by the Ferko String Band, which reached #13 on Cashbox, #14 on the Billboard Jukebox chart, and #20 in the UK. A 1981 instrumental version by Roy Clark won the Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance. The song is a popular marching band song. It was remade as a Tejano song "El circo" by Tony De La Rosa.The Billboard Guide to Tejano and Regional Mexican Music - Page 80 Ramiro Burr - 1999 "Interestingly, "El Circo" was actually a remake of Red Foley's "Alabama Jubilee," which became a Top 10 hit on Billboard's country charts in 1951." Other versions *1916: Prince Band *1926: Skillet Lickers *1927: Al Bernard & Ernest Hare *19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
