This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1945.

Events

* August 4 – The Billboard's American Folk Tunes column reported that

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...

had signed a long-term recording contract with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. The source of the information was Art Satherly, described as "the grand old man of Western music". Art moved over to

when CBS purchased

American Record Corporation American Record Corporation (ARC), also referred to as American Record Company, American Recording Corporation, or ARC Records, was an American record company. Overview ARC was created in January 1929 by Louis G. Sylvester, president of Scran ...

(ARC) in December 1938, and currently manages and produces Okeh Record's stable of artists, which includes Autry, Bob Wills,

Ted Daffan Theron Eugene "Ted" Daffan (September 21, 1912 – October 6, 1996) was an American country musician noted for composing the seminal "Truck Driver's Blues" and two much covered country anthems of unrequited love, " Born to Lose" and "I'm a Fo ...

, Johnny Bond, Al Dexter,

Wiley Walker Wiley may refer to: Locations * Wiley, Colorado, a U.S. town * Wiley, Pleasants County, West Virginia, U.S. * Wiley-Kaserne, a district of the city of Neu-Ulm, Germany People * Wiley (musician), British grime MC, rapper, and producer * Wiley ...

and Gene Sullivan, Spade Cooley,

Roy Acuff Roy Claxton Acuff (September 15, 1903 – November 23, 1992) was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the "King of Country Music", Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown ...

and Fred Rose. Columbia is in the process of phasing out the Okeh label, and future releases will be on the parent label.

Top hits of the year

Number one hits

''(As certified by Billboard magazine)''

Top Hillbilly (Country) Recordings 1945

"Shame On You" by Spade Cooley was easily the number one record with 292 points. Despite 11 weeks at no. 1, "You Two Timed Me One Time Too Often" finished second with 240 points, because "Shame On You" had 33 top ten weeks, to only 21 for the latter. "Sioux City Sue" had 30 top ten weeks, but only 4 at no. 1. 1945's year-end list of The Billboard's "Most Played Juke Box Folk Records" represented the first Country music (referred to at the time as "Hillbilly") chart in the lineage of today's "

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

". Note that it was based on weekly reports supplied by a sampling of Juke Box operators nationwide; Billboard would not add Country Sales and Air Play charts until 1948 and 1950, respectively. Each week, a score of 15 points was assigned for the no. 1 record, 9 points for no. 2, 8 points for no. 3, and so on, and the total of all weeks determined the final rank. Records that entered the chart in December 1944, or remained on the chart after December 1945 received points for their full chart runs. Appearances on other Billboard charts had no effect on ranking, but are listed for reference. Additional information can be found at List of Most Played Juke Box Folk Records number ones of 1945.

Births

* January 16 —

Ronnie Milsap Ronnie Lee Milsap (born Ronald Lee Millsaps; January 16, 1943) is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country music's most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s. Nearly completely blind from birth, ...

, blind, blue-eyed soul-styled singer who became one of country music's most popular entertainers of the 1970s and 1980s. * March 14 —

Michael Martin Murphey Michael Martin Murphey (born March 14, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter best known for writing and performing Western music, country music and popular music. A multiple Grammy nominee, Murphey has six gold albums, including ''Cowboy Songs' ...

, Western-styled singer-songwriter who enjoyed mainstream success in the 1980s as a country-pop performer. * May 23 – Misty Morgan, singer-songwriter who, with husband Jack Blanchard, had a string of animal-themed hit recordings in the 1970s. * June 5 — Don Reid, lead singer and main songwriter of

The Statler Brothers The Statler Brothers (sometimes simply referred to as The Statlers) were an American country music, gospel, and vocal group. The quartet was formed in 1955 performing locally, and from 1964 to 1972, they sang as opening act and backup singers fo ...

. * June 20 — Anne Murray, Canadian vocalist who became one of that country's most successful country music performers during the 1970s and 1980s.

References