1944 in country music
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1944.
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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 My 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.
Top hits of the year
Number one hits
(As certified by Billboard magazine)
| US | Single | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 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
| Single | Artist |
|---|---|
| "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 |
| "Texas Blues" | Foy Willing |
| "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 |
| "Try Me One More Time" | Ernest Tubb |
| "We Might As Well Forget It" | Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys |
| "When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again" | Cindy Walker |
| "Write Me Sweetheart" | Roy Acuff |
| "Yesterday's Tears" | Ernest Tubb |
| "You're from Texas" | Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys |
Top new album releases
Births
- January 26 – Dave Rowland, singer and member of (Dave & Sugar) (died 2018).
- April 27 – Herb Pedersen, musician and member of The Desert Rose Band.
- June 21 – Kenny O'Dell, singer-songwriter (died 2018).
- July 20 – T.G. Sheppard, pop-styled country performer and one of the most successful stars of the 1970s and 1980s.
- July 30 – Chris Darrow, American musician (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) (died 2020).[1]
- August 8 – Michael Johnson, pop singer who had a string of country hits in the 1980s (died 2017)
- 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 went to country music in the late 1960s.
Deaths
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.
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