This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1937.
Events
* sales rebounded to approximately 1/3 of 1929 levels
* October 30 –
Johnnie Wright
Johnnie Robert Wright Jr. (May 13, 1914 – September 27, 2011) was an American country music singer-songwriter, who spent much of his career working with Jack Anglin as the popular duo Johnnie & Jack, and was also the husband of country musi ...
and
Kitty Wells
Ellen Muriel Deason (August 30, 1919 – July 16, 2012), known professionally as Kitty Wells, was an American pioneering female country music singer. She broke down a barrier to women in country music with her 1952 hit recording " It Wasn't God ...
are married.
Top Hillbilly (Country) Recordings
The following songs were extracted from records included in
Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954,
record sales reported on the "
Discography of American Historical Recordings" website, and other sources as specified. Numerical rankings are approximate, they are only used as a frame of reference.
Births
* March 20 –
Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed Hubbard (March 20, 1937 – September 1, 2008) was an American singer, guitarist, composer, and songwriter as well as an actor who appeared in more than a dozen films. His signature songs included " Guitar Man", " U.S. Male", "A Thi ...
, "
swamp rock
Swamp rock is a genre of rock music that originated in the mid-1960s as a fusion of rockabilly and soul music with swamp blues, country music and funk. The genre originated in Louisiana by artists such as Tony Joe White, but was subsequently po ...
"-styled singer and guitarist best known for novelty hits, most notably "
When You're Hot, You're Hot
"When You're Hot, You're Hot" is a 1971 crossover single written and recorded by Jerry Reed. The song was his most successful on the country chart, peaking at number one for five weeks. "When You're Hot, You're Hot" was also Jerry Reed's second s ...
" (died
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
).
* April 6 –
Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler.
Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled a ...
, innovator of the
Bakersfield Sound and a huge country star since the 1960s (died
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
).
* June 15 –
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music.
Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...
, influential rock-styled country performer and originator of the 1970s "
outlaw" movement (died
2002).
* August 26 –
Don Bowman, musician, songwriter and comedian, original host of radio's ''
American Country Countdown
''American Country Countdown'', also known as ''ACC'', is a weekly internationally syndicated radio program which counts down the top 40 country songs of the previous week, from No. 40 to No. 1, according to the ''Billboard'' Country Airplay ch ...
'' (died
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
).
* November 1 –
Bill Anderson, prolific singer-songwriter and television personality whose success has lasted more than 50 years; known as "Whisperin' Bill."
* November 30 –
Jimmy Bowen
James Albert Bowen (born November 30, 1937) is an American record producer and former rockabilly singer. Bowen brought Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood together, and introduced Sinatra to Mel Tillis for their album, ''Mel & Nancy.''
Early life ...
, prominent record producer and executive from the 1970s through 1990s.
* December 16 –
Jim Glaser
James William Glaser (December 16, 1937 – April 6, 2019) was an American country music artist. He was born in Spalding, Nebraska.
Biography
The brother of country singers Chuck and Tompall Glaser, he performed as both a solo artist and alo ...
, singer-songwriter and member of
Tompall & the Glaser Brothers
Tompall & the Glaser Brothers were an American country music group composed of three brothers: Chuck (February 27, 1936 – June 10, 2019), Jim (December 16, 1937 – April 6, 2019), and Tompall (September 3, 1933 – August 13, 2013) Glaser. The ...
(died
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
).
* December 26 –
Ronnie Prophet
Ronald Lawrence Victor Prophet (26 December 1937 – 2 March 2018) was a Canadian-American country musician and comedy performer.
He was born in Hawkesbury, Ontario, Canada. In his childhood, Prophet lived in Calumet, Quebec, and began perfo ...
, Canadian country music singer (died
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...
).
Deaths
Further reading
* Kingsbury, Paul, "Vinyl Hayride: Country Music Album Covers 1947–1989," Country Music Foundation, 2003 ()
* Millard, Bob, "Country Music: 70 Years of America's Favorite Music," HarperCollins, New York, 1993 ()
* Whitburn, Joel. "Top Country Songs 1944–2005 – 6th Edition." 2005.
References
{{Reflist
Country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...
Country music by year
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