This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1954.

Events

* January 4 —

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

records a 10-inch acetate demo at the Memphis Recording Studio; the two songs are "Casual Love Affair" and " I'll Never Stand In Your Way". * February 20 — " Slowly" by Webb Pierce becomes the first No. 1 song on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

s country charts to feature the

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

. * June 19 — Top recording "

I Don't Hurt Anymore "I Don't Hurt Anymore" is a 1954 song by Hank Snow. It was written by Don Robertson and Jack Rollins. Prairie Oyster version Canadian country music group Prairie Oyster covered the song on their album '' Different Kind of Fire''. Their rendi ...

" by Hank Snow begins 20-week run at #1 on Best Seller list. "One by One" by Red Foley and Kitty Wells begins 21-week run at #2 on same chart, spending a single week at No. 1 later in the year. For most of the summer and fall, "I Don't Hurt Anymore" holds "One By One" out of the top spot. * July 17 — ''

Ozark Jubilee ''Ozark Jubilee'' is a 1950s United States network television program that featured country music's top stars of the day. It was produced in Springfield, Missouri. The weekly live stage show premiered on ABC-TV on January 22, 1955, was renamed ' ...

'' debuts (on radio) as a weekly live broadcast over

KWTO-AM KWTO (560 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Springfield, Missouri. It is owned by Zimmer Midwest Communications and airs a Talk Radio format. The studios and offices are on East Chestnut Expressway in Springfield. KWTO is powered at ...

. On August 7, ABC Radio begins carrying 25 minutes of the program nationally, hosted by Red Foley. * July 6 — Elvis Presley releases his first single, " That's All Right"/"

Blue Moon of Kentucky "Blue Moon of Kentucky" is a waltz written in 1945 by bluegrass musician Bill Monroe and recorded by his band, the Blue Grass Boys. The song has since been recorded by many artists, including Elvis Presley and Paul McCartney. "Blue Moon of Kentu ...

". A month later, ''

'' gives the song a positive review, with the reviewer calling Presley a "strong new talent," and by September is a No. 1 hit in Memphis. * October 2 —

makes his one and only appearance on the ''

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divis ...

''. Two weeks later, debuted on the '' Louisiana Hayride'' and is soon making regular appearances. * November 13 — A ''Billboard'' disc jockey poll reports that disc jockeys are playing 11 percent country on radio stations, compared to 42 percent pop and 5 percent rhythm and blues. * November 20 — Bartenders in

Hammond, Indiana Hammond ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area, and the only city in Indiana to border Chicago. First settled in the mid-19th century, it is one of the oldest cities of northern Lake County. As of the ...

request that disc jockeys at WJOB radio stop playing Ferlin Husky's "The Drunken Driver", about an intoxicated driver who causes a crash that kills two children; the song "is hurting business," the union claimed.''Rolling Stone'' Rock Almanac," p. 9.

No dates

* The 45 RPM vinyl record has all but taken over, both at the radio station and in stores. Few disc jockeys are still playing

78 RPM records A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...

(save for oldies). *

makes his first Sun Records recordings in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. His 1954 releases are only regional hits. Presley was one of several artists who make their earliest recordings for Sun Records. Late in the year,

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

records two songs he wrote, "Wide Open Road" and "You're My Baby". *After a string of minor successes with singles and 10" vinyl records,

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

releases Chet Atkins' first LP, '' A Session with Chet Atkins''. * George Jones and

make their debuts.

Top hits of the year

Number one hits

United States

''(as certified by

)'' ;Notes *1 ^ No. 1 song of the year, as determined by ''

''. *2 ^ Song dropped from No. 1 and later returned to top spot. *A ^ Only ''Billboard'' No. 1 hit for that artist. :''Note: Several songs were simultaneous No. 1 hits on the separate "Most Played in Juke Boxes," "Most Played by Jockeys" and "Best Sellers in Stores" charts.

Other major hits

Births

* April 29 —

Karen Brooks Karen Brooks (born April 30, 1954) is an American country music singer and songwriter who is best known for a series of singles recorded by Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash, Patty Loveless, Tanya Tucker, Russell Smith, David Allen Coe, Crystal ...

, female vocalist best known for her No. 1 duet with

T.G. Sheppard William Neal Browder (born July 20, 1944) is an American country music singer-songwriter, known professionally as T. G. Sheppard. He had 14 number-one hits on the US country charts between 1974 and 1986, including eight consecutive number ones ...

, "Fakin' Love." * July 13 -- Louise Mandrell, female vocalist/musician. Was part of the Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell sisters TV show on NBC 80-82. Had a series of country albums and hits 70's and 80's. Starred in her own theater for 8 years in Pigeon Forge TN. * July 18 — Ricky Skaggs, artist who fused bluegrass and contemporary country sounds in the 1980s. * October 30 —

T. Graham Brown Anthony Graham Brown (born October 30, 1954), known professionally as T. Graham Brown, is an American country music singer. Active since 1973, Brown has recorded a total of thirteen studio albums, and has charted more than twenty singles on the ...

, blues-styled country artist of the 1980s. * October 30 — Jeannie Kendall, daughter half of

The Kendalls ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

. * December 13 —

John Anderson John Anderson may refer to: Business *John Anderson (Scottish businessman) (1747–1820), Scottish merchant and founder of Fermoy, Ireland * John Byers Anderson (1817–1897), American educator, military officer and railroad executive, mentor of ...

, honky tonk-styled singer since the early 1980s. * December 25 — Steve Wariner, singer-songwriter and guitarist since the early 1980s.

Deaths

* December 1 — Fred Rose, 56, songwriter and founder of

Acuff-Rose Music Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. was an American music publishing firm formed in 1942 by Roy Acuff and Fred Rose in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Acuff-Rose's honest behavior towards their writers set them apart from other music publishing firms ...

. One of the first three inductees into the

Country Music Hall of Fame The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amass ...