This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1954.
Events
- January 4 — Elvis Presley 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".[1]
- February 20 — "Slowly" by Webb Pierce becomes the first No. 1 song on Billboard's country charts to feature the pedal steel guitar.
- June 19 — Top recording "I Don't Hurt Anymore" 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 debuts (on radio) as a weekly live broadcast over KWTO-AM. 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". A month later, Billboard 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.[2]
- October 2 — Elvis Presley makes his one and only appearance on the Grand Ole Opry. 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.[3]
- November 20 — Bartenders in Hammond, Indiana 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.[4]
No dates
Top hits of the year
Number one hits
United States
(as certified by Billboard)
- Notes
- 1^ No. 1 song of the year, as determined by Billboard.
- 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
| US | Single | Artist |
| 8 | As Far as I'm Concerned | Red Foley and Betty Foley[5] |
| 2 | Back Up Buddy | Carl Smith |
| 15 | Backward, Turn Backward | Pee Wee King |
| 9 | Beware of "It" | Johnnie & Jack |
| 9 | Bimbo | Pee Wee King |
| 10 | Breakin' the Rules | Hank Thompson |
| 14 | Call Me Up (And I'll Come Calling On You) | Marty Robbins |
| 4 | Changing Partners | Pee Wee King |
| 9 | Cheatin's a Sin | Kitty Wells |
| 12 | Christmas Can't Be Far Away | Eddy Arnold |
| 3 | Courtin' in the Rain | T. Texas Tyler |
| 4 | Cry, Cry, Darling | Jimmy C. Newman |
| 7 | Dog-Gone It, Baby, I'm in Love | Carl Smith |
| 4 | Don't Drop It | Terry Fell |
| 9 | A Fooler, A Faker | Hank Thompson |
| 4 | Go, Boy, Go | Carl Smith |
| 8 | Good Deal, Lucille | Al Terry |
| 3 | Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight | Johnnie & Jack |
| 7 | Hep Cat Baby | Eddy Arnold |
| 14 | Hernando's Hideaway | Homer and Jethro |
| 15 | Honey, I Need You | Johnnie & Jack |
| 12 | Honey Love | The Carlisles |
| 9 | Honky-Tonk Girl | Hank Thompson |
| 9 | Hootchy Kootchy Henry (From Hawaii) | Mitchell Torok |
| 3 | I Love You | Ginny Wright and Jim Reeves |
| 2 | I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me) | Ray Price |
| 12 | I'm a Stranger in My Home | Kitty Wells and Red Foley |
| 3 | I'm Walking the Dog | Webb Pierce |
| 3 | If You Don't Somebody Else Will | Jimmy & Johnny |
| 8 | If You Don't Somebody Else Will | Ray Price |
| 7 | Jilted | Red Foley |
| 4 | Looking Back to See | Goldie Hill and Justin Tubb |
| 8 | Looking Back to See | The Browns |
| 13 | Much Too Young to Die | Ray Price |
| 7 | My Everything | Eddy Arnold |
| 15 | Never | Marilyn Myers and Wesley Tuttle |
| 3 | The New Green Light | Hank Thompson |
| 9 | Out Behind the Barn | Little Jimmy Dickens |
| 8 | Place for Girls Like You | Faron Young |
| 12 | Pretty Words | Marty Robbins |
| 5 | Release Me | Jimmy Heap and Perk Williams |
| 6 | Release Me | Ray Price |
| 8 | Release Me | Kitty Wells |
| 9 | River of No Return | Tennessee Ernie Ford |
| 4 | Rose-Marie | Slim Whitman |
| 8 | Run 'Em Off | Lefty Frizzell |
| 2 | Secret Love | Slim Whitman |
| 15 | Shake-a-Leg | The Carlisles |
| 14 | She Done Give Her Heart to Me | Sonny James |
| 4 | Singing Hills | Slim Whitman |
| 4 | Sparking Brown Eyes | Webb Pierce and The Wilburn Brothers |
| 5 | Tain't Nice (To Talk Like That) | The Carlisles |
| 8 | Thank You for Calling | Billy Walker |
| 10 | That Crazy Mambo Thing | Hank Snow |
| 15 | Then I'll Stop Loving You | Jim Reeves |
| 3 | This Is the Thanks I Get (For Loving You) | Eddy Arnold |
| 2 | This Ole House | Stuart Hamblen |
| 14 | Thou Shalt Not Steal | Kitty Wells |
| 11 | Two Glasses, Joe | Ernest Tubb |
| 10 | We've Gone Too Far | Hank Thompson |
| 4 | Whatcha Gonna Do Now | Tommy Collins |
| 7 | You All Come | Arlie Duff |
| 2 | You Better Not Do That | Tommy Collins |
| 8 | You Can't Have My Love | Wanda Jackson with Billy Gray |
| 4 | You're Not Mine Anymore | Webb Pierce |
Births
- April 29 — Karen Brooks, female vocalist best known for her No. 1 duet with T.G. Sheppard, "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, blues-styled country artist of the 1980s.
- October 30 — Jeannie Kendall, daughter half of The Kendalls.
- December 13 — John Anderson, honky tonk-styled singer since the early 1980s.
- December 25 — Steve Wariner, singer-songwriter and guitarist since the early 1980s.
Deaths
References
- ^ Rolling Stone Rock Almanac: The Chronicles of Rock & Roll," Collier Books, MacMillan Publishing Co., New York and London, 1983, p. 6. ISBN 0-02-081320-1
- ^ Rolling Stone Rock Almanac, p. 7-8.
- ^ Rolling Stone Rock Almanac, p. 9.
- ^ Rolling Stone Rock Almanac," p. 9.
- ^ Barry McCloud (1995) Definitive Country: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Country Music and Its Performers, p. 290, ISBN 0-399-52144-5
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.