EVERY Billboard #1 country hit discussion thread 1950-1954

Now for yet another across-the-board topper:
"The Rhumba Boogie" by Hank Snow (The Singing Ranger) And His Rainbow Ranch Boys
(#1 on MPJB for 5 weeks - April 21-May 19, 1951; on BSR for 9 non-consecutive weeks - March 31-May 12 and May 26, 1951; and on DJ for 2 non-consecutive weeks - April 28 and May 12, 1951)

78 release:

45 issue:

Wikipedia entry

 

This only topped one chart, but has since become a classic thanks to many covers . . .
"Cold, Cold Heart" by Hank Williams With His Drifting Cowboys
(#1 on DJ for 1 week - May 12, 1951)

78 RPM release:

45 RPM issue:

Wikipedia entry

 

On the pop side of things there was this dreck

 

Ol' Hank himself was reportedly a fan of "this dreck." (He called Mr. Bennett to jokingly ask why he "ruined" his song.)

 

I'm a fan generally of Tony Bennett. For the genre of music he's most noted for, I rate him higher than Sinatra — but that's just my personal preference.

However, I'm not a fan of what he did to "Cold, Cold Heart." In fact, I really don't want to hear anyone sing Hank's songs but Hank. Almost all who cover him make the fatal error of slowing his songs down to a funereal tempo and imagining they're wringing emotion out of them through histrionics of one sort or another.

Whereas for the most part, even Hank's ballads still have a rhythm to them in his hands, and he conveys bottomless depths of emotion without ever resorting to over-emoting.

I like many Hank Williams songs more than "Cold, Cold Heart," but it's still a masterful piece of work on every level.

 

Since Hank's work have become standards in multiple genres, and many I consider classics on their own, I would apply this to contemporary covers. Mitch Miller had a bunch of odd covers done for Columbia. IMO the best of these was Frankie Laine and Jo Stafford doing Hey Good Looking. That was kinda fun, but most were souless pop, and its not the artists fault.

 

I presume Joey Bishop would be on that list of yours?

 

LOL! I forgot all about that album. I can see Bishop in his cowboy hat now!


ETA: And here he is! The mind reels.

 

I agree that it's not really the artists' fault. All were simply dealing in coin of the realm at the time in terms of the arrangements and the approach taken to these songs.

But again, this can apply even within the world of country music. I've worked with musicians and singers myself who insist on slowing Hank's songs down, robbing of them of all rhythm and presenting them in an overwrought fashion that does nothing for them.

And maybe the best-known example of all of this (not involving Hank) is Englebert Humperdink's absolutely dreadful savaging of "Release Me." To be fair, almost everyone else who's ever done this song takes the same misguided approach. I love Ray Price's original hit version; I can't listen to anyone else do it.

 

Ever heard Glen Campbell's Hank album? OMG Just SO bad. And I LOVE Glen's work.
Johnny Cash however is another story. He got it.

 

The irony is that on the only known surviving live TV appearance by Hank, on a show hosted by his idol Roy Acuff, he did a performance of "Cold, Cold Heart" that was only slightly slower in tempo than the studio version. But as noted, he didn't slither it in bathos the way the likes of Mr. Bennett did.

 

Meanwhile, here's one that went atop the other two charts . . .
"Kentucky Waltz" by Eddy Arnold, The Tennessee Plowboy And His Guitar
(#1 on MPJB for 2 weeks - May 26-June 2, 1951; and on BSR for 3 non-consecutive weeks - May 19, June 2 and June 23, 1951)

78 RPM release:

45 RPM issue:

Wikipedia entry

 

Of course he was. It put a chunk of jingle in his pocket!

 

And Fred Rose's.

 

Now for another one that made the top of all three . . .
"I Want To Be With You Always" by Lefty Frizzell
(#1 on MPJB for 5 weeks - June 9-July 7, 1951; on BSR for 6 non-consecutive weeks - June 9-16 and June 30-July 21, 1951; and on DJ for 11 weeks - May 26-August 4, 1951)

78 RPM release:

45 RPM issue:

Wikipedia entry

 

Another "two out of three" hit . . .
"I Wanna Play House With You" by Eddy Arnold, The Tennessee Plowboy And His Guitar
(#1 on MPJB for 11 weeks - July 14-September 22, 1951; and on BSR for 6 non-consecutive weeks - July 28-August 25 and September 8, 1951)

78 RPM release:

45 RPM issue:

Wikipedia entry

 

Just a wonderful song in every way. The unique appeal of Lefty's voice and delivery spans the decades and sounds as great today as it must have sounded revolutionary back then.

 

It may take a while, but I'm going to try to catch up.

"Take Me In Your Arms and Hold Me":

This was still the period where Eddy Arnold could do no wrong. I think he still holds the record for most weeks atop the Billboard country singles chart (others have had more #1 hits, but nowhere near the number of weeks there).

The assigning of A and B sides was still arbitrary, because either side was capable of receiving airplay or jukebox spins. The labeled "A" side of this 78/45, "Mama and Daddy Broke My Heart," also charted, peaking at #6 BSR and #8 MPJB. Billboard reviewed both sides in its December 17, 1949 issue, giving "Mama and Daddy" a slightly higher score (86) than "Take Me" (82). On the latter, it wrote: "Arnold's expert delivery sells this romantic ballad. Should draw plenty of coin. Makes still another two sided potential winner for the master of the country and Western field." It would prove to be his ninth double-sided hit.

Also arbitrary was RCA's single numbering system; there was still no relationship between the 78 and 45 rpm catalog numbers. When 45s started coming out, the earliest assigned numbers in the 48-0000 series were reissues of popular 78s, most of which had been in the regular 20- pop series, but some of which came from other series. Eventually, the 45 and 78 numbers would become the same except for the prefix (48 vs. 21), but that was still a few months away.

"Take Me in Your Arms and Hold Me" was recorded September 13, 1949 at RCA Victor's Studio No. 1 in Manhattan. It was the first of four sessions over two days that resulted in 14 sides, some of which were unreleased until Bear Family did its first massive box set in 1998.

The original recording peaked at #4 on the DJ chart and #5 on the BSR chart.

Arnold would re-record "Take Me in Your Arms and Hold Me" twice. He did a remake in stereo for RCA on February 15, 1961 in Nashville; this was first released on the LP Let's Make Memories Tonight. In 1964, it included the original version on the RCA Camden album Country Songs I Love to Sing. During the vinyl era, if you see the song on Camden, it's probably the original, whereas it's probably the re-recording on regular RCA Victor.

Arnold re-made "Take Me in Your Arms and Hold Me" again in December 1973 in Hollywood for an album released by K-Tel in 1974, Living Legend/24 of His Greatest Hits. He was signed to MGM at the time; after he left to return to RCA in 1976, MGM issued this on its own album, The World of Hits.

On CD, it's anybody's guess which version appears where. The Time-Life CD in the Legendary Country Singers series definitely includes the original version.

 

It would appear that this "arbitrariness" in determining what was an A or B side led, in the fall of 1951, to RCA displaying "serial numbers" on their labels and in their runouts (at this point, the matrix prefices on 45's would've been E1VW-). Before then - and after the late spring of 1973 - they displayed what in their parlance were "part numbers" (that is, catalogue number with an -A or -B at the end).

 

Now for another one that topped the third chart only:
"Hey, Good Lookin' " by Hank Williams With His Drifting Cowboys
(#1 on DJ for 8 non-consecutive weeks - August 11-September 8, October 13, November 3 and November 17, 1951)

78 RPM release:

45 RPM issue:

Wikipedia entry

 

"Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy":

Despite the multiple pop covers, the Red Foley version also hit #1 on the pop charts -- all three of them (Best Sellers, Jukebox, Disc Jockey). Five other versions made the pop charts, with Bing Crosby's version the biggest at #4 (the others: Phil Harris, Frank Sinatra, Bradford & Romano, Bill Darnel), but Foley ruled them all.

Foley recorded "Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy" in Nashville on November 7, 1949, at the Castle Studio, which was located in the Tulane Hotel. In listening to it now, it's almost a novelty song, which means it fit in well on the pop charts in early 1950, when "Rag Mop" by the Ames Brothers and Eileen Barton's "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake" also hit #1.

Billboard chose the song as one of its Picks in the December 31, 1949 issue, writing, "Foley's [a] brilliant country styled singer who, with this etching, could very well sock in the pop market. It's a beat-ful hunk of boogie woogie corn with a multitude of rhythmic infection sparked by a bonesy buck-and-wing tap dance effect running in the background."

"Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy" holds a dubious place in my record-collecting life. I started collecting songs that hit #1 in Billboard in 1973, when I found a list in the appendix of Lillian Roxon's Rock Encyclopedia. The list started in 1950 and went to 1967, and I decided, as a young collector, to try to find all of them on their original 45s if possible. As I write this, it's 2019, almost 46 years after I started collecting that list, and I still don't have a 45 of "Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy"! The only other 45 still on my want list from that era is the aforementioned "Rag Mop" by the Ames Brothers; I found a 45 on the Coral 1950s Silver Star reissue series in the early 1990s, which I thought was its first time on a 45. I have since learned that it does exist with its original 78 rpm catalog number on a 45, so officially, it's back on my want list. But at least I have that song on a 45. I finally got "Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy," the original recording, for the first time on the Time-Life LP Your Hit Parade: The Early '50s.

In the August 5, 1950 Billboard, Decca Records took out a full-page ad announcing that some of its "popular singles -- all proven hits" were now available on both 78 rpm and 45 rpm. A total of 33 records were listed, and Foley's "Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy" was among them. It's pictured in this thread. So it's out there... somewhere...

Foley re-recorded the song later in stereo, on March 21, 1963 in Nashville. It first appeared on the two-record set The Red Foley Story (Decca DXS-7177).

 

Now for another three-way chart-topper . . .
"Always Late (With Your Kisses)" by Lefty Frizzell
(#1 on MPJB for 6 weeks - September 29-November 3, 1951; on BSR for 12 non-consecutive weeks - September 1 and September 15-November 24, 1951; and on DJ for 6 non-consecutive weeks - September 15-October 6 and October 20-27, 1951)

78 RPM release:

45 RPM issue:

Wikipedia entry

 

This was was another across-the-board'er, and one that yielded a host of cover versions . . .
"Slow Poke" by Pee Wee King And His Golden West Cowboys
(#1 on MPJB for 15 non-consecutive weeks - November 3, 1951-February 2, 1952 and February 23, 1952; on BSR for 14 weeks - December 1, 1951-March 1, 1952; and on DJ for 8 non-consecutive weeks - November 24-December 15, 1951, December 29, 1951, January 19-26, 1952 and February 9, 1952)

78 RPM release:

45 RPM issue:

Wikipedia entry

 

Let's mention Redd Stewart. It would not be the same song with someone elses vocals

 

Hard to pick a favorite Lefty song, since so many of them are great. But this would sure be in the running. Great, attention-getting lap steel break to start it off, and Lefty's patented sliding-all-over-the-place-but-oh-so-perfect vocals.

This song may get the award for the shortest set of lyrics!

Always late with your kisses
Won't you come to my arms sweet darlin' and stay
Always late with your kisses
Why, oh why, do you want to do me this way

How long do you think I can wait
When you know you're always late

(Repeat last two lines of the verse, then repeat everything. That's it!)