1952 in country music

This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1952.

Events

• July 14 — The Eddy Arnold Show, a brief summer replacement series, debuts on CBS-TV.
• August 23 — Kitty Wells becomes the first female solo artist to score a No. 1 hit on the Billboard country charts with "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels." The song, an answer to Hank Thompson's "The Wild Side of Life," spends six weeks atop the chart and forever changes how women were seen, both in song and professionally.
• November 22 — Nashville's first Disc Jockey Convention takes place.

No dates

• The life of Hank Williams continues its downward spiral. Even though he enjoys several major hits, his drug and alcohol problems ruin his marriage to Audrey (the divorce was finalized on May 29), and in October, he is fired from the Grand Ole Opry. Hank married Billie Jean Jones Eshliman in October in New Orleans, Louisiana, and rejoins the Louisiana Hayride about that same time. Also during the year, he makes what turn out to be his final recordings.

Top hits of the year

Number one hits

(As certified by Billboard magazine)

• February 2 - "Give Me More, More, More (Of Your Kisses)" - Lefty Frizzell
• March 1 - "Wondering" - Webb Pierce
• March 29 - "When You Feel Like You're in Love (Don't Just Stand There)" - Carl Smith
• May 3 - "Easy on the Eyes" - Eddy Arnold
• May 10 - "The Wild Side of Life" - Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys
• July 12 - "That Heart Belongs to Me" - Webb Pierce
• July 19 - "Are You Teasing Me" - Carl Smith
• August 16 - "A Full Time Job" - Eddy Arnold
• August 23 - "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" - Kitty Wells
• September 6 - "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" - Hank Williams with His Drifting Cowboys
• December 6 - "Back Street Affair" - Webb Pierce
• December 6 - "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes" - Slim Willet
• December 27 - "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes" - Skeets McDonald

Note: Several songs were simultaneous No. 1 hits on the separate "Most Played Juke Box Folk (later Country & Western) Records," "Best Selling Retail Folk (later Country & Western) Records) and - starting December 10 - "Country & Western Records Most Played by Folk Disk Jockeys" charts.

Other major hits

• "Almost" George Morgan
• "Alabama Jubilee" Red Foley
• "Midnight" Red Foley
• "Music Makin' Mama From Memphis" Hank Snow
• "Goldrush Is Over" Hank Snow
• "Lady's Man" Hank Snow
• "Married By The Bible Divorced By The Law" Hank Snow
• "I Went To Your Wedding" Hank Snow
• "Don't Stay Away" Lefty Frizzell
• "Forever And Always" Lefty Frizzell
• "I'm An Old Old Man" Lefty Frizzell
• "It's A Lovely Lovely World" Carl Smith
• "Our Honeymoon" Carl Smith
• "Indian Love Call" Slim Whitman
• "Keep It A Secret" Slim Whitman
• "Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes" Ray Price
• "Half As Much" Hank Williams
• "Honky Tonk Blues" Hank Williams
• "Baby We're Really In Love" Hank Williams
• "Talk To Your Heart" Ray Price
• "Settin' The Woods On Fire" Hank Williams
• "You Win Again" Hank Williams
• "Missing In Action" Ernest Tubb
• "Too Old To Cut The Mustard" Ernest Tubb& Red Foley
• "Silver And Gold" Peewee King
• "Waitin' In The Lobby Of Your Heart" Hank Thompson
• "Slowpoke" Hawkshaw Hawkins
• "Older And Bolder" Eddy Arnold
• "Blackberry Boogie" Tennessee Ernie–
• "Bundle Of Southern Sunshine" Eddy Arnold

Top new album releases

Births

• January 12 — Ricky Van Shelton, honky tonk-styled vocalist of the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s.
• January 22 — Teddy Gentry, member of Alabama.
• February 18 — Juice Newton, pop-styled country vocalist of the 1980s.
• May 18 — George Strait, country giant since the early 1980s, who helped revitalize the genre.
• October 11 — Paulette Carlson, female lead vocalist with the band Highway 101 during the peak of its success in the 1980s.

Deaths

• March 22 — Uncle Dave Macon, 81, country music pioneer; comedian and banjo player; the first major star of the Grand Ole Opry.

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.