Girish Mahajan (Editor)

1959 in country music

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This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1959.

Contents

Events

  • The first Grammy Award for outstanding performances in the country music genre is presented. The Kingston Trio wins the only country-specific award, for Best Country and Western Performance, with "Tom Dooley." It wouldn't be until the 1965 when more country-specific Grammy categories were started. Until 1966 (when the Academy of Country Music began presenting awards), the Grammy Awards would be the only method to honor remarkable accomplishments in the genre.
  • "Saga" songs, or stories where conflict was the central theme, rise in popularity. Notable examples include "The Battle of New Orleans" by Johnny Horton, "The Long Black Veil" by Lefty Frizzell, "Waterloo" by Stonewall Jackson and "El Paso" by Marty Robbins.
  • A young sharecropper's son named Buck Owens scores his first significant chart hit with "Second Fiddle." That song, plus the follow-up – "Under Your Spell Again," his first Billboard Top 10 hit – provides country fans with the earliest examples of Owens' trademark "Bakersfield" sound.
  • Dolly Parton records for the first time, on the small Goldband Records label. Her first recorded song is a rockabilly song called "Puppy Love."
  • Young recording artist, George Jones scores the first #1 of his 50+ year career.

    • United States

    (as certified by Billboard)

    Top new album releases

  • Greatest! – Johnny Cash (Sun)
  • Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs – Marty Robbins (Columbia)
  • Hymns by Johnny Cash – Johnny Cash (Columbia)
  • I'll Sing You a Song and Harmonize Too - Skeeter Davis (RCA)
  • Satan Is Real – The Louvin Brothers (Capitol)
  • Songs of Our Soil – Johnny Cash (Columbia)

    • Other top new releases

  • After Dark – Kitty Wells (Decca)
  • Beside The Still Waters – Mac Wiseman (Dot)
  • Chet Atkins in Hollywood - Chet Atkins (RCA)
  • George Jones Sings White Lighting and Other Favorites - George Jones (Mercury)
  • Great Folk Ballads – Mac Wiseman (Dot)
  • Have Guitar, Will Travel - Eddy Arnold (RCA)
  • Hum & Strum Along with Chet Atkins - Chet Atkins (RCA)
  • Sweet Sounds by the Browns - The Browns (RCA)
  • Thereby Hangs a Tale - Eddy Arnold (RCA)

    • Births

  • January 7 — David Lee Murphy, singer-songwriter of the mid-1990s.
  • March 2 — Larry Stewart, lead singer of the 1980s country pop group Restless Heart.
  • May 4 — Randy Travis, key artist of the new traditionalist movement of the mid-1980s.
  • June 15 -- Jeff Stevens, singer, songwriter and producer.
  • June 21 — Kathy Mattea, folk-styled country artist of the 1980s.
  • June 27 — Lorrie Morgan, country star of the 1990s; daughter of Grand Ole Opry favorite George Morgan.
  • July 20 — Radney Foster, songwriter and one half of the late-1980s duo Foster & Lloyd; also, a solo artist during the early 1990s.
  • August 7 — Michael Peterson, singer of the latter half of the 1990s.
  • September 14 — John Berry, singer-songwriter of the mid-1990s.
  • October 13 — Marie Osmond, member of the Osmond family who enjoyed success in the country genre during the 1970s and 1980s.
  • December 8 — Marty Raybon, lead singer of Shenandoah.

    • Grammy Awards

  • Best Country and Western Performance — "Tom Dooley," The Kingston Trio
  • Country Music Association

    • References

    1959 in country music Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA