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1944 in country music

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This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1944.

Contents

Events

  • January 8 — Billboard publishes its first "Most Played Juke Box Folk Records" chart, the first widespread method of tracking the nationwide popularity of current country music songs. The first No. 1 song is "Pistol Packin' Mama" by Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters. The new chart is the predecessor to today's Hot Country Songs chart.
  • February 26 — Less than two months after the chart's inception, jazz and rhythm & blues performer Louis Jordan becomes the first African-American performer to top the Most Played Juke Box Folk chart (with "Ration Blues"). It is a big year for African-American performers: Jordan has a second No. 1 hit later in the year with "Is You Is or Is You Ain't (Ma' Baby)," while the Nat King Cole-led trio reach the top with "Straighten Up and Fly Right." Jordan and Cole are the only black performers to have a No. 1 hit until 1969, when Charley Pride breaks the streak.

    • Number one hits

    (As certified by Billboard magazine)

  • January 8 - "Pistol Packin' Mama" - Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters
  • February 5 - "Pistol Packin' Mama" - Al Dexter
  • February 26 - "Ration Blues" - Louis Jordan
  • March 11 - "Rosalita" - Al Dexter
  • March 18 - "They Took the Stars Out of Heaven" - Floyd Tillman
  • March 25 - "So Long Pal" - Al Dexter
  • April 1 - "Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry" - Al Dexter
  • June 10 - "Straighten Up and Fly Right" - The King Cole Trio
  • July 29 - "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby" - Louis Jordan
  • September 2 - "Soldiers Last Letter" - Ernest Tubb
  • September 23 - "Smoke on the Water" - Red Foley
  • December 23 - "I'm Wastin' My Tears on You" - Tex Ritter

    • Other major hits

  • "Born To Lose" — Ted Daffan
  • "G.I. Blues" — Floyd Tillman
  • "I Hang My Head And Cry" — Gene Autry
  • "I'll Forgive You But I Can't Forget" — Roy Acuff
  • "I'm Sending You Red Roses" — Jimmy Wakely
  • "I'm Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes" — Gene Autry
  • "If It's Wrong To Love You" — Charles Mitchell
  • "Is It Too Late Now?" — Jimmie Davis
  • "Look Who's Talkin'" — Ted Daffan
  • "New San Antonio Rose" — Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
  • "No Letter Today" — Ted Daffan
  • "The Prodigal Son" — Roy Acuff
  • "She Broke My Heart In Three Places" — Hoosier Hot Shots
  • "There's A Blue Star Shining Bright" — Red Foley
  • "There's A Chill On The Hill" — Jimmie Davis
  • "There's A New Moon Over My Shoulder" — Tex Ritter
  • "Texas Blues" — Foy Willing
  • "Try Me One More Time" — Ernest Tubb
  • "When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again" — Cindy Walker
  • "We Might As Well Forget It" — Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
  • "Write Me Sweetheart" — Roy Acuff
  • "Yesterday's Tears" — Ernest Tubb
  • "You're From Texas" — Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys

    • Births

  • April 27 — Herb Pedersen, musician and member of The Desert Rose Band.
  • July 20 — T.G. Sheppard, pop-styled country performer and one of the most successful stars of the 1970s and 1980s.
  • August 19 — Eddy Raven, singer-songwriter who successfully fused elements of cajun music with contemporary country sounds.
  • December 4 — Chris Hillman, ex-member of The Byrds who formed the 1980s country-rock band The Desert Rose Band.
  • December 11 - Brenda Lee, "Little Miss Dynamite," pop-rockabilly singer who defected to country music in the late 1960s.

    • References

    1944 in country music Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA