1939 in country music
Encyclopedia
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1939.
No dates
- Billboard magazine begins publishing its first country music chart. Known as "Hillbilly Hits," the chart appears on a semi-regular (usually, monthly) basis, and will be published until early 1942. It is the predecessor for Billboards later "Most Played Juke Box Folk Records," which would be published weekly and eventually evolve into today's Hot Country SongsHot Country SongsHot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
chart.
Top hits of the year
- "Annabelle" - Hoosier Hot ShotsHoosier Hot ShotsThe Hoosier Hot Shots were an American quartet of madcap musicians who entertained on stage, screen, radio, and records from the mid 1930s into the 1970s. The group initially consisted of players from the U. S. State of Indiana...
- "Back In The Saddle Again" - Gene AutryGene AutryOrvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
- "Convict And The Rose" - Bob Wills and His Texas PlayboysBob WillsJames Robert Wills , better known as Bob Wills, was an American Western Swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader, considered by music authorities as the co-founder of Western Swing and universally known as the pioneering King of Western Swing.Bob Wills' name will forever be associated with...
- "It Makes No Difference Now" - Jimmie DavisJimmie DavisJames Houston Davis , better known as Jimmie Davis, was a noted singer of both sacred and popular songs who served two nonconsecutive terms as the 47th Governor of Louisiana...
- "San Antonio Rose" - Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
- "Silver Bell" – Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
- "Whoa Babe"-[Bob Wills]
- "Truck Driver Blues"- Cliff BrunerCliff BrunerCliff Bruner was a fiddler and bandleader of the western swing era of the 1930s. Bruner's music combined elements of traditional string band music, improvisation, blues, folk, and popular melodies of the times....
- "Yearning"-[Bob Wills]
- "It Makes No Difference Now"- Floyd TillmanFloyd TillmanFloyd Tillman was an American country musician who, in the 1930s and 1940s, helped create the Western swing and honky tonk genres. Tillman was inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame in 1970 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1984.-Early life:Tillman grew up in the cotton-mill town of Post,...
- "That's What I Like About The South" - Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
- "Truck Driver Blues" - Ted Daffan's TexansTed DaffanTheron Eugene "Ted" Daffan was an American country musician noted for composing the seminal Truck Driver's Blues and the much covered Country anthem Born to Lose.-Early years:...
- "Wabash Cannonball" - (Roy Acuff)
- "Freight Train Blues"- (Roy Acuff)
- "You're The Only Star In My Blue Heave"-(Roy Acuff)
- "Ida Red"-(Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys)
Births
- January 12 - William Lee GoldenWilliam Lee GoldenWilliam Lee Golden , a native of Brewton, Alabama, is an American country music singer. Between 1965 and 1987, and again from 1995 onward, he has been the baritone singer in the country music group The Oak Ridge Boys.-Personal life:...
, baritone (and long-bearded) member of the Oak Ridge Boys. - January 19 - Phil Everly, of the Everly Brothers.
- January 24 - Ray StevensRay StevensRay Stevens is an American country music, pop singer-songwriter who has become known for his novelty songs.-Early career:...
, country-pop singer who released a long string of novelty-themed songs. - February 14 - Razzy BaileyRazzy BaileyRazzy Bailey is an American country music artist.-Early life:Bailey was raised on a farm in La Fayette, Alabama. Bailey got his first experience of musical performance as a member of his high school's Future Farmers of America string band...
, blues-styled country vocalist of the 1980s. - March 19 - Bob KingsleyBob KingsleyBob Kingsley is an American country music radio personality and host of the nationally syndicated programs "Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40" and "Bob Kingsley with Today's Hit Makers."...
, radio personality and host of Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40 is an American country music radio countdown show hosted by former American Country Countdown host Bob Kingsley. The show is produced by Kingsley's KCCS Productions and distributed by Dial Global. It uses the Mediabase Country Singles chart as its source...
(and before that, American Country CountdownAmerican Country CountdownAmerican Country Countdown, also known as ACC or American Country Countdown with Kix Brooks, is an internationally syndicated radio program which counts down the top 30 country songs of the previous week, from No. 30 to No. 1, according to the Mediabase country chart...
from 1978–2005). - April 20 - Johnny TillotsonJohnny TillotsonJohnny Tillotson is an American singer and songwriter. He enjoyed his greatest success in the early 1960s, when he scored 9 top-ten hits on the pop, country and adult contemporary billboard charts including "Poetry In Motion" and the self-penned "It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'"...
, 1960s country singer ("It Keeps Right On A'Hurtin'"). - May 27 - Don WilliamsDon WilliamsDon Williams , is an American country singer, songwriter and a 2010 inductee to the Country Music Hall of Fame. He grew up in Portland, Texas, and graduated in 1958 from Gregory-Portland High School. After seven years with the folk-pop group Pozo-Seco Singers, he began his solo career in 1971,...
, baritone-voiced "Gentle Giant" who was one of country's biggest stars of the 1970s and 1980s. - June 11 - Wilma BurgessWilma BurgessWilma Burgess was an American country music singer. She rose to fame in the mid 1960s and charted fifteen singles on the Billboard C&W charts between 1965 and 1975.-Background:...
, 1960s country singer. (d. 20032003 in country musicThis is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 2003.-Events:*March 10 — During a concert in London, England, Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines said that the band was "ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas"...
) - June 13 - Billy "Crash" Craddock, "Mr. Country Rock," who gained fame in the 1970s.
- August 8 - Phil BalsleyPhil BalsleyPhilip Elwood Balsley is the former baritone singer for the retired country vocal group The Statler Brothers...
, baritone-voiced member of the Statler BrothersStatler BrothersThe Statler Brothers were an American country music vocal group founded in 1955 in Staunton, Virginia.Originally performing gospel music at local churches, the group billed themselves as The Four Star Quartet, and later The Kingsmen...
. - August 21 - Harold ReidHarold ReidHarold Reid is the former bass singer for the country vocal group The Statler Brothers. He wrote or co-wrote 17 songs that were hit singles for the group, including "Bed of Rose's" and the #1 hit "Do You Know You Are My Sunshine." The latter was written with his younger brother, Don Reid, the lead...
, member of the Statler BrothersStatler BrothersThe Statler Brothers were an American country music vocal group founded in 1955 in Staunton, Virginia.Originally performing gospel music at local churches, the group billed themselves as The Four Star Quartet, and later The Kingsmen...
(he sang bass). - September 6 - David Allen Coe, singer-songwriter and key member of the outlaw countryOutlaw countryOutlaw country is a subgenre of country music, most popular during the late 1960s and the 1970s , sometimes referred to as the outlaw movement or simply outlaw music...
movement of the 1970s. - October 27 - Dallas FrazierDallas FrazierDallas Frazier is an American country musician and songwriter who had success in the 1950s and 60s.-Biography:Frazier was born in Spiro, Oklahoma but was raised in Bakersfield, California...
, songwriter best known for "Elvira." - October 27 — Ruby WrightRuby Wright (country singer)Ruby Wright was an American country music singer-songwriter. Wright was the daughter of country singers Kitty Wells and Johnnie Wright. Her most successful single was "Dern Ya", an answer to Roger Miller's "Dang Me."...
, daughter of Johnnie WrightJohnnie WrightJohnnie Robert Wright, Jr. , known professionally as Johnnie Wright, 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 Kitty Wells.-Early life and career:Born in Mount Juliet,...
and Kitty WellsKitty WellsEllen Muriel Deason , known professionally as Kitty Wells, is an American country music singer. Her 1952 hit recording, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", made her the first female country singer to top the U.S. country charts, and turned her into the first female country star...
(and member of their touring show) (d. 20092009 in country musicThis is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 2009.-Events:*August — After 36 years of using the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart as the basis of its program, American Country Countdown begins using the Mediabase chart....
). - December 29 — Ed BruceEd BruceWilliam Edwin "Ed" Bruce, Jr. is an American country music songwriter and singer. He is known for penning the 1975 song "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" .-Early life & songwriting career:...
, singer-songwriter, best known for writing "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys."
Further reading
- Kingsbury, Paul, "Vinyl Hayride: Country Music Album Covers 1947-1989," Country Music Foundation, 2003 (ISBN 0-8118-3572-3)
- Millard, Bob, "Country Music: 70 Years of America's Favorite Music," HarperCollins, New York, 1993 (ISBN 0-06-273244-7)
- Whitburn, Joel. "Top Country Songs 1944-2005 - 6th Edition." 2005.