EVERY Billboard #1 country hit discussion thread 1950-1954

Carrying on from the prior thread about the history of these charts . . .
EVERY Billboard #1 country hit discussion thread 1944-1949
. . . and while we're into the bicentennial year . . .
EVERY Billboard #1 country hit of 1976 discussion thread.
. . . plus the prior year . . .
EVERY Billboard #1 country hit of 1975 discussion thread.
. . . we now open up a look at the first five years of the 1950's, one where a host of new acts begin showing up atop the chart (quite a few in this year alone).

Throughout this period, there were three different charts. They were (with their designation in parentheses, as will be noted in each #1):
- Most Played Juke Box (Country & Western) Records (MPJB) - later to be designated Most Played In Juke Boxes starting in 1952
- Best Selling Retail Folk (Country & Western) Records (BSR) - later to be designated National Best Sellers in 1952 and Best Sellers In Stores in 1954
- Country & Western Records Most Played By Folk Disc Jockeys (DJ) - later to be designated Most Played By Jockeys in 1952
Some will be on all three charts; others in one or more. It is for this reason, and this factor, that only five years in the timeline will be dealt with here.

It is also in this period that the 45 RPM record - developed by RCA Victor and introduced in 1949 - begins to be applied more widely to more record labels (including, in August, Decca and Columbia). When looking at a new #1, for the next several years 78 and 45 labels will be shown side-by-side where practicable.

As usual, this is a linear exercise, emphasizing the process of each record taking the top spot for the first time, which means jumping ahead in the timeline is a no-no. Or as they say in German, verboten.

One tune that had been atop the charts the prior year, the Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely duet "Slipping Around," was still holding on in some areas at the start of this year. After a break, I will roll out the first "new" #1('s) of the year.

 

As two of the charts had Christmas tunes on top, they will be mentioned one after the other. First . . .
"Blue Christmas" by Ernest Tubb
(#1 on MPJB for 1 week - January 7, 1950)

78 RPM issue:

Original 45 RPM release:

Wikipedia entry

 

And then this . . .
"Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer" by Gene Autry And The Pinafores
(#1 on DJ for 1 week - January 7, 1950)

78 RPM issue:

Original 45 RPM release from later in the year:

45 RPM pressing from after 1952:

Wikipedia entry - BEWARE: Many clips have, of this recording, the delayed reverb added retroactively.

 

Hooray! Some very good tunes from the previous thread, but now we're entering my absolute favorite period of country music history (which actually extends to roughly 1956). Very much looking forward to participating in this thread.

Beyond so many great songs and distinctive vocalists, the sound of records produced in this era just gets to me. Very clean, sparse playing without instruments running into each other, and most of all the "sock-style" rhythm guitar, with the choked strings providing the back beat in the absence of drums, is very appealing.

And while I recognize all the amazing things that can be done with pedal steel guitar, for some reason I've always preferred the sound of the standard lap steel. So pure, yet many amazing variations can be created with it. And that's what we'll get at least until Bud Issacs shook up that world with the intro to Webb Pierce's "Slowly."

 

I have both of these Christmas classics on their original 1950-pressed 45s.

"Rudolph" was recorded in Hollywood on June 27, 1949 at the same session as its flip side, "If It Doesn't Snow on Christmas" (years later, in the 1990s, the B-side was covered by, of all people, Joe Pesci). The "H" in the HCO matrix number on the 78 stands for Hollywood. The 78 matrix numbers were in different series depending where the songs were recorded (CO=New York, HCO=Hollywood, CCO=Chicago).

In 1949, when Columbia started releasing 7-inch 33s to compete with RCA Victor's 7-inch 45s, it started numbering them at 101 and used the prefix to denote genre (1- was for popular, which were on 78 with a number in the 38000s; 2- was country, which were on 78 in the 20000 series; and 3- was classical, which were on the Masterworks label on 78).

At the same time, Columbia created an independent matrix numbering system for its new singles, using ZLP as the prefix for the sides of most 33 1/3 microgroove 7-inch singles. When it began releasing 45s in 1950, it added ZSP as a prefix. The ZLP and ZSP numbers were in the same series, but the ZLP and ZSP numbers are different for the same songs in 33 1/3 and 45 formats. These numbers are not the same as the actual CO matrix numbers, at least not in this era. Confusing indeed!

You can see by the following consecutive list that Columbia assigned these numbers as they were prepared for release on 45 rpm (catalog numbers in parentheses):

ZSP 3577: Frosty the Snow Man, Gene Autry (6-742)
ZSP 3578: When Santa Claus Gets Your Letter, Gene Autry (6-742)
ZSP 3579: Harbor Lights, Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye (6-784)
ZSP 3580: Sugar Sweet, Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye (6-784)
ZSP 3581: Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Gene Autry (6-375)
ZSP 3582: If It Doesn't Snow on Christmas, Gene Autry (6-375)

My copy of "Rudolph" is rough (VG-minus), but it plays through. I wish I had "Rudolph" on the 33 1/3 rpm 7-inch microgroove single, which Columbia issued in 1949 with the number 1-375. When it released the original 45 a year later, Columbia still hadn't reunified its 7-inch and 10-inch numbers, which I think happened in 1951 when the 7-inch series started to approach the number 1000.

---

My original "Blue Christmas" 45 (matrix number 75220, recorded August 26, 1949) is Near Mint. You can tell the 1950 Decca 45s by their distinctive label print, as pictured above, which was already gone by 1951.

As Decca sometimes did, it kept the Ernest Tubb 45 in print with the same number for two decades. At some point, however, probably with the change to the "color bars" label in 1960, it switched the version of "Blue Christmas" to a re-recording made on October 10, 1958. Even those U.S. Christmas compilations that made efforts to use original versions, such as Time-Life collections, have his re-recording on them. I wanted to use Tubb's version on a homemade CD-R, and every copy of the song I had on CD was the newer version. That's when I discovered how pristine my original 45 is.

I'm not sure if any Christmas compilation CDs (as opposed to Ernest Tubb CDs), other than PD collections from the UK, have the original hit version. The re-record has the matrix number 105,862.

 

Good point, Tim, about the re-recorded "Blue Christmas." The original 1949 version is posted below.

With the ubiquity of Elvis's version, it strikes me that few may be aware that this song has a second verse.

 

The "distinctive label print" was courtesy the RCA Victor plant in Indianapolis, IN; RCA plants pressed Decca 45 product in the last months of 1950 before Decca's own plants (which then were in Bridgeport, CT; Richmond, IN; and Los Angeles, CA) added 45 presses to their capacity.

It is one of those things where, with key artists re-recording their chestnuts, one has to be careful with what to select . . .

 

In pop music in this period, you had "choked strings" in tandem with a snare drum played with a brush rather than a stick.

 

As drums were verboten at the Grand Ole Opry, most country artists (with the exception of Western Swing bands) eschewed them until around 1956 or so, or used them very lightly.

One of the early examples of drums in country, and a favorite song of mine, is this one from 1954:

 

The other thing, besides the intro of the 45, that played a role in the increased fidelity of country music in this decade was the introduction of magnetic tape. Many studios "down South" were slow to adopt the new technology, but a few of the "majors" did. There would be many "night-and-day" differences between songs recorded the "old way" (on 16" safety disks) and the "new" as we go forward in this year especially. And that's not counting high fidelity which would catch on towards the end of our look into this period.

 

Now for the first non-holiday topper of the '50's . . .
"Blues Stay Away From Me" by the Delmore Brothers
(#1 on MPJB for 1 week - January 14, 1950)

78 RPM release (sorry, none on 45):

Wikipedia entry for this influential duo (no such entry on the song itself)

 

In listening to "Blues Stay Away from Me" today, I am struck at how utterly timeless it sounds. Recorded on May 6, 1949 in Cincinnati, it would have sounded current at least four decades later, too, during the New Traditionalist period. Perhaps the hundreds of covers (or so it seems) are a reflection of the song's ability to speak across the generations.

Billboard reviewed "Blues Stay Away from Me" in its September 17, 1949 issue. It gave the song an overall score of 72 on a scale to 100 and wrote, "Back country harmony bues [sic; "blues"?] hits an authenic [sic] vein. Guitar and harmonica offer good backing."

As a point of reference, it peaked at #2 on the BSR chart and #3 on the DJ chart.

It appears as if King Records didn't start releasing 45s regularly until 1952, so there are no 45s with the catalog number 803. But years later, King did issue "Blues Stay Away from Me" on 45s as part of its regular blue-label series -- but proceed with caution.

In 1959, King issued "Blues Stay Away from Me" and "Muddy Water" on 45-5224. But both of these include overdubs to make them sound more "contemporary." It's hard to know which later reissues have these messed-with versions rather than the originals. At least they were given new matrix numbers, K-4272 and K-4273, respectively.

In August 1962, King reissued "Blues Stay Away with Me" yet again, this time on 45-5675 with another 1949 recording, "Trouble Ain't Nothing but the Blues," on the flip. This was even reviewed by Billboard as a new single in its August 25, 1962 edition, apparently by someone oblivious to the song's (or the group's) history: "An interesting, down-home blues, in an easy rhythm pattern, with the boys singing it soft and pretty over a Yancey bass figure in the guitar and some harmonica spots, too. Real satisfying wax." If the matrix numbers -- K-2914 and K-2941, respectively -- are to be believed, these are the original 1949 recordings without the overdubs.

 

And then this one that only topped one chart, the only chart entry to this person's name as an artist . . .
"I Love You Because" by Leon Payne
(#1 on DJ for 2 non-consecutive weeks - January 14 and 28, 1950)

Original 78 RPM release (later pressings ditched the 57- prefix):

(though this was issued on 45 RPM, to date no such labels have turned up)

Wikipedia entry

 

Anyone know who the steel player is on "I Love You Because"? He's really got the harmonics thing going. Another example of the creative possibilities of the instrument that were there in full flower, long before they started attaching pedals to them. A beautiful sound to accompany a song that, despite a certain schmaltziness, deserves its place in country music history.

 

"I Love You Because" is yet another all-time classic. It was one of the first songs Elvis Presley recorded at Sun in 1954, though his version wasn't released until 1956. Al Martino had one of his biggest hits with the song in 1963. Like "Blues Stay Away from Me" and the two Christmas songs earlier in this thread, there have been countless covers.

Leon Payne recorded "I Love You Because" at his first session for Capitol Records, held on August 11, 1949 at the Shamrock Hotel in Houston, Texas. He had recorded for the Bullet label from 1947 into early 1949. According to online discographies, the steel player on this was Frank Juricek.

Billboard gave "I Love You Because" a score of 70 in the October 15, 1949 review column: "Retentive, light-weight material and sincere Payne rendition add up to a middlin' side."

On the other two charts, the song peaked at #4 on the BSR chart and only #10 on the MPJB chart.

Capitol was the second record label, after format inventor RCA Victor, to issue singles on 45 rpm. But it didn't release everything on the new format. Unless a very limited edition took place later, I doubt "I Love You Because" exists on 45 rpm with the number 54-40238 or F40238. Mysteriously, considering how big a hit "I Love You Because" was, I can't find any evidence that Capitol ever issued it on 45, even in the 1600 reissue series or in the 6000 "Starline" series.

I found a couple of Capitol Records ads from Billboard in 1950 that give both the 78 rpm and 45 rpm numbers for numerous hits of the day. In the January 28, 1950 issue, Capitol's ad lists "I Love You Because" by Leon Payne, but it states in the column where the 45 rpm number would be, [NOT AVAILABLE ON 45 RPM]. Still later, in the April 15, 1950 Billboard, numerous Popular and Western titles are listed with both 78 and 45 numbers; "I Love You Because" has a blank space where a 45 rpm catalog number should be.

Payne's immediate follow-up single, "Find Them, Fool Them, and Leave Them"/"I Hate to Leave You," definitely exists as a 45 (Capitol F40270, 1950). So one would think the much bigger chart hit would exist. But apparently not.

After his Capitol years ended in 1953, Payne recorded for Decca, Starday, Mercury, D Records, TNT, and Hacienda. He re-recorded "I Love You Because" for Starday in 1963.

 

Aha, so that explains why I'd never have seen a 45 label for Mr. Payne's Capitol release of this standard. Thanks for that tidbit.

By the end of '49, Capitol's Scranton, PA plant was equipped with 45 presses. (Los Angeles would follow around 1953.)

 

Now for this other "#1 on one chart only" before we get to a biggie . . .
"Take Me In Your Arms And Hold Me" by Eddy Arnold, The Tennessee Plowboy And His Guitar
(#1 on MPJB for 1 week - January 28, 1950)

78 RPM release:

45 RPM (on green vinyl):

Sorry, no Wikipedia entry for this one.

 

A good one I hadn't heard before. I need to get another early Eddy Arnold collection to supplement the one I have that I mentioned in the previous thread. You really can understand the appeal Eddy had. I'm sure all the ladies swooned when they heard the "break" in his voice on this one.

This song has an interesting and non-standard chord progression. And I'll always pay attention any time the composer credit says Cindy Walker. One of the true greats, who wrote one of my all-time favorite Ernest Tubb songs, "Warm Red Wine," as well as an obscure but haunting Marty Robbins song "Lorelei" that's hidden away on an EP he released ca. 1955.

 

All right, now for the first across-the-board biggie of this year and of the decade:
"Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy" by Red Foley
(#1 on MPJB for 13 weeks - February 4-April 29, 1950; on BSR for 12 weeks - February 4-April 22, 1950; and on DJ for 13 non-consecutive weeks - January 21, February 4-April 15 and April 29, 1950)

78 RPM release:

45 RPM release (from later 1950):

Wikipedia entry

 

And a boatload of covers. Huge hit song in general.
Leon McAuliff, Tommy Duncan and Phil Harris

 

Even Frank Sinatra . . .

 

We now turn to the next one on the list . . .
"Long Gone Lonesome Blues" by Hank Williams With His Drifting Cowboys
(#1 on MPJB for 4 weeks - May 6-27, 1950; on BSR for 5 non-consecutive weeks - April 29-May 20 and June 3, 1950; and on DJ for 8 non-consecutive weeks - April 22 and May 6-June 17, 1950)

78 RPM release:

45 RPM issue from later in year (this pressing c.1955):

Wikipedia entry

 

I resemble that observation.

 

As noted, I'm not a big Red Foley fan, and I think Johnny Cash made something much better out of this concept with "Get Rhythm."

However…

 

Now we're talking!

This is a great song that I've sung hundreds of times myself over the years. Hank at his most despairing, really getting deep into the blues, with that amazing break in his voice on the title phrase that can just go right through you.

From a technical standpoint, this song is particularly interesting because it features two different melodies/chord patterns for its verses:

1. "I went down to the river"/"I'm gonna find me a river"
2. "I had me a woman"/"She told me on Sunday"