1961 in country music

This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in 1961.

Events

• March 17 – September 22 — NBC-TV airs Five Star Jubilee, a weekly show featuring five rotating hosts: Rex Allen, Snooky Lanson, Tex Ritter, Carl Smith and Jimmy Wakely.
• June 14 — Patsy Cline is seriously injured after a car accident. While in the hospital, the song "I Fall to Pieces" becomes a huge country-pop crossover hit.

No dates

• The Country Music Association (CMA) develops and finalizes plans for the new Country Music Hall of Fame, to honor performers and others who were influential in the history of the genre. The first three inductees, honored on November 3, are all posthumous:
  • Jimmie Rodgers, a songwriter who – despite poor health – merged hillbilly and blues music into a revolutionary new sound.
  • Fred Rose, a pioneering song publisher who formed the Acuff-Rose music publishing company in the 1940s. Also a talented songwriter, and record producer/executive.
  • Hank Williams Sr., legendary singer-songwriter whose songs are still sought after today.

With just a $1,500 budget, bronze plaques honoring each of the singers would be cast, a tradition that continues today.

• Spade Cooley is arrested in connection with the beating death of his second wife, Ella Mae Evans. He is convicted and sentenced to prison. En route to prison, he suffers a heart attack, from which he will recover.

Top hits of the year

Number one hits

United States

(as certified by Billboard)

Date	Single Name	Artist	Wks. No.1	Spec. Note
January 9	North to Alaska	Johnny Horton	5	[B]
February 27	Don't Worry	Marty Robbins	10
May 8	Hello Walls	Faron Young	9	Young's first Billboard Number One since "Country Girl" in 1959.
July 10	Heartbreak U.S.A.	Kitty Wells	4	[B]
August 7	I Fall to Pieces	Patsy Cline	2	[1][A]
August 21	Tender Years	George Jones	7	[2] Jones' first Billboard Number One since "White Lightning" in 1959.
September 25	Walk on By	Leroy Van Dyke	19	[2][C]
November 20	Big Bad John	Jimmy Dean	2	[A] Also reached Number One on the Billboard Top Pop 100 and Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks charts.

Notes

• ^[1] No. 1 song of the year, as determined by Billboard.
• ^[2] Song dropped from No. 1 and later returned to top spot.
• ^[A] First Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist.
• ^[B] Last Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist.
• ^[C] Only Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist to date.

Other major hits

US	Single	Artist
8	Backtrack	Faron Young
9	Be Quiet Mind	Del Reeves
5	Beggar to a King	Hank Snow
18	Big, Big Love	Wynn Stewart
7	Big River, Big Man	Claude King
16	Black Land Farmer	Frankie Miller
4	The Blizzard	Jim Reeves
14	Blue Blue Day	The Wilburn Brothers
14	Conscience I'm Guilty	Rose Maddox
16	Cozy Inn	Leon McAuliffe
11	Crazy Bullfrog	Lewis Pruitt
15	Did I Ever Tell You	George Jones and Margie Singleton
14	Diggy Liggy Lo	Rusty & Doug
14	Don't Let Your Sweet Love Die	Reno and Smiley
14	Everybody's Dying for Love	Jimmy C. Newman
16	Family Bible	George Jones
9	Flat Top	Cowboy Copas
2	Foolin' Around	Buck Owens
15	Forever Gone	Ernest Ashworth
20	Forget the Past	Faron Young
12	From Here to There to You	Hank Locklin
10	Go Home	Flatt & Scruggs
11	The Hands You're Holding Now	Skeeter Davis
12	Hangover Tavern	Hank Thompson
7	Happy Birthday to Me	Hank Locklin
5	Heart Over Mind	Ray Price
4	Hello Fool	Ralph Emery
7	How Do You Talk to a Baby	Webb Pierce
5	I Dreamed of a Hill-Billy Heaven	Tex Ritter
12	I Love You Best of All	The Louvin Brothers
15	I Want to Live Again	Rose Maddox
9	I Went Out of My Way (To Make You Happy)	Roy Drusky
10	I'd Rather Loan You Out	Roy Drusky
4	I'll Just Have a Cup of Coffee (Then I'll Go)	Claude Gray
17	In Memory of Johnny Horton	Johnny Hardy
3	It's Your World	Marty Robbins
11	Kisses Never Lie	Carl Smith
14	Kissing My Pillow	Rose Maddox
11	Last Date	Floyd Cramer
5	Let Forgiveness In	Webb Pierce
20	Lonelyville	Ray Sanders
4	Loose Talk	Buck Owens and Rose Maddox
10	Louisiana Man	Rusty & Doug
7	Loving You (Was Worth This Broken Heart)	Bob Gallion
8	Mental Cruelty	Buck Owens and Rose Maddox
3	My Ears Should Burn (When Fools Are Talked About)	Claude Gray
5	My Last Date (With You)	Skeeter Davis
7	Odds and Ends (Bits and Pieces)	Warren Smith
13	Oh Lonesome Me	Johnny Cash
7	Oklahoma Hills	Hank Thompson
17	One Grain of Sand	Eddy Arnold
14	One Step Ahead of My Past	Hank Locklin
20	One Way Street	Bob Gallion
10	Optimistic	Skeeter Davis
19	The Other Cheek	Kitty Wells
11	Please Mr. Kennedy	Jim Nesbitt
9	Po' Folks	Bill Anderson
12	Polka on a Banjo	Flatt & Scruggs
15	Ragged but Right	Moon Mullican
11	The Restless One	Hank Snow
9	Right or Wrong	Wanda Jackson
8	San Antonio Rose	Floyd Cramer
2	Sea of Heartbreak	Don Gibson
16	Shorty	Jimmy Smart
10	Signed Sealed and Delivered	Cowboy Copas
20	Sleep, Baby, Sleep	Connie Hall
9	Sleepy-Eyed John	Johnny Horton
3	Soft Rain	Ray Price
16	Stand at Your Window	Jim Reeves
12	Sunny Tennessee	Cowboy Copas
6	Sweet Dreams	Don Gibson
3	Sweet Lips	Webb Pierce
20	Sweethearts Again	Bob Gallion
20	There Must Be Another Way to Live	Kitty Wells
16	Thoughts of a Fool	Ernest Tubb
2	Three Hearts in a Tangle	Roy Drusky
9	Three Steps to the Phone (Millions of Miles)	George Hamilton IV
14	Through That Door	Ernest Tubb
13	To You and Yours (From Me and Mine)	George Hamilton IV
10	Too Many Times	Don Winters
13	The Twenty-Fourth Hour	Ray Price
2	Under the Influence of Love	Buck Owens
9	Walk Out Backwards	Bill Anderson
5	Walking the Streets	Webb Pierce
15	What Would You Do	Jim Reeves
6	When Two Worlds Collide	Roger Miller
2	Window Up Above	George Jones
8	Wreck on the Highway	Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper
14	You Don't Want My Love	Roger Miller
4	You're the Reason	Bobby Edwards
14	You're the Reason	Hank Locklin
16	You're the Reason	Joe South
10	Your Old Love Letters	Porter Wagoner

Top new album releases

Single	Artist	Record Label
At the Golden Nugget	Hank Thompson	Capitol
Buck Owens	Buck Owens	Capitol
Buck Owens Sings Harlan Howard	Buck Owens	Capitol
Chet Atkins' Workshop	Chet Atkins	RCA
Cowboy Copas Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous	Cowboy Copas	Starday
Got You on My Mind	Jean Shepard	Capitol
Here's the Answer	Skeeter Davis	RCA
Hank Snow Souvenirs	Hank Snow	RCA
Chet Atkins in Hollywood	Chet Atkins	RCA
Let's Make Memories Tonight	Eddy Arnold	RCA
A Man and His Guitar	Chet Atkins	RCA
The Most Popular Guitar	Chet Atkins	RCA
Our Favorite Folk Songs	The Browns	RCA
Patsy Cline Showcase	Patsy Cline	Decca
Right or Wrong	Wanda Jackson	Capitol
San Antonio Rose	Ray Price	Columbia
The Wild, Wicked But Wonderful West	Johnny Bond	Starday
The Versatile Burl Ives	Burl Ives	Decca

Births

• July 1 — Michelle Wright, country star of the 1990s; best known for the hit "Take It Like a Man".
• July 8 — Toby Keith, country star of the 1990s who became a mega-superstar in the 2000s (decade), thanks to his fusion of honky tonk, love ballads and rock (d. 2024).
• August 25 — Billy Ray Cyrus, honky-tonk heartthrob of the 1990s and 2000s (decade), thanks to the huge success of "Achy Breaky Heart".
• December 7 – Dawn Sears, backing vocalist for Vince Gill and member of The Time Jumpers (d. 2014).

Deaths

• September 20 – Karl Farr, member of the Sons of the Pioneers.

Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

• Jimmie Rodgers (1897–1933)
• Fred Rose (1898–1954)
• Hank Williams Sr. (1923–1953)

Major awards

Grammy Awards

• Best Country and Western Recording — "Big Bad John", Jimmy Dean

See also

• Country Music Association
• Inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame

Further reading

• Kingsbury, Paul, "The Grand Ole Opry: History of Country Music. 70 Years of the Songs, the Stars and the Stories," Villard Books, Random House; Opryland USA, 1995
• 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.

External links

• Country Music Hall of Fame