1954 in country music

This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1954.

Events

• February 20 — "Slowly" by Webb Pierce becomes the first No. 1 song on Billboard's country charts to feature the pedal steel guitar. Soon, many of country music's great songs would feature the pedal steel guitar.
• June 19 — Top recording "I Don't Hurt Anymore" by Hank Snow begins 20 week run at #1 on Best Seller list. "One by One" by Red Foley and Kitty Wells begins 21 week run at #2 on same chart.
• July 17 — Ozark Jubilee debuts (on radio) as a weekly live broadcast over KWTO-AM. On August 7, ABC Radio begins carrying 25 minutes of the program nationally, hosted by Red Foley.
• October 2 — Elvis Presley makes his one and only appearance on the Grand Ole Opry, and is supposedly told to "go back to driving a truck in Memphis." Two weeks later, he has the last laugh, debuting on the Louisiana Hayride and is soon making regular appearances.

No dates

• The 45 RPM vinyl record has all but taken over, both at the radio station and in stores. Few disc jockeys are still playing 78 RPM records (save for oldies).^{[citation needed]}
• Elvis Presley makes his first Sun Records recordings in Memphis, Tennessee. His 1954 releases are only regional hits, but it proved to be just the tip of the iceberg for what happened during the next two years.

Presley was one of several artists who make their earliest recordings for Sun Records. Late in the year, Johnny Cash records two songs he wrote, "Wide Open Road" and "You're My Baby."

• After a string of minor successes with singles and 10" vinyl records, RCA Victor releases Chet Atkins' first LP, A Session with Chet Atkins.

Top hits of the year

Number one hits

(As certified by Billboard magazine)

• January 19 - "Bimbo" - Jim Reeves
• February 20 - "Slowly" - Webb Pierce
• February 20 - "Wake Up, Irene" - Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys
• May 15 - "I Really Don't Want to Know" - Eddy Arnold
• June 12 - "(Oh Baby Mine) I Get So Lonely" - Johnnie & Jack
• June 19 - "I Don't Hurt Anymore" - Hank Snow (The Singing Ranger) and His Rainbow Ranch Boys
• July 3 - "Even Tho" - Webb Pierce
• July 31 - "One By One" - Kitty Wells and Red Foley
• November 6 - "More and More" - Webb Pierce

Note: Several songs were simultaneous No. 1 hits on the separate "Most Played in Juke Boxes," "Most Played by Jockeys" and "Best Sellers in Stores" charts.

Other major hits

• "Back Up, Buddy" - Carl Smith
• "Rose Marie" - Slim Whitman
• "Company's Comin'" - Porter Wagoner
• "Don't Drop It"-Terry Fell
• "Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight" - Johnny & Jack
• "Honky Tonk Girl" - Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys
• "If You Ain't Lovin' (You Ain't Livin')" - Faron Young
• "If You Don't Somebody Else Will" - Jimmy and Johnny
• "The New Green Light" - Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys
• "Release Me" - Jimmy Heap with Perk Williams
• "Release Me" - Ray Price
• "Secret Love" - Slim Whitman
• "Sure Fire Kisses" - Justin Tubb and Goldie Hill
• "This Is The Thanks I Get" -Eddy Arnold
• "This Ole House" - Stuart Hamblem
• "Two Glasses, Joe" - Ernest Tubb
• "Whatcha Gonna Do Now" - Tommy Collins
• "You Better Not Do That" - Tommy Collins
• "Doggone It Baby I'm In Love"-Carl Smith
• "courtin' In The Rain"- T. Texas Tyler
• "I Love You"-Ginny Wright & Jim Reeves
• "As Far As I'm Concerned"-Red & Betty Foley
• "Looking Back To See" -Goldie Hill & Justin Tubb
• "Looking Back To See"-[Jim Ed & Maxine Brown]
• "I'll Be There" - Ray Price
• "Sparkling Brown Eyes" -Webb Pierce & The Wilburn Brothers
• "Good Deal Lucille"- Al Terry
• "Cry Cry Darling"-Jimmy Newman
• "River Of No Return"-Tennessee Ernie
• "We've Gone Too Far"- Hank Thompson
• "You're Not Mine Anymore"-Webb Pierce
• "You Can't Have My Love" - Wanda Jackson & Billy Gray
• "Hep Cat Baby" -Eddy Arnold
• "My Everything"-Eddy Arnold
• "If You Don't Somebody Else Will"-Ray Price
• "Thank You For Calling"-[Billy Walker]
• "Out Behind The Barn"-[Jimmy Dickens]
• "Beware Of "It"-[Johnny & Jack]
• "Run 'Em Off"-[Lefty Frizzell]
• "Carry On"-[Johnny & Jack]–
• "Penny Candy"-[Jim Reeves]
• "The Next Voice You Hear"-[Hank Snow]
• "A Place For Girls Like You"-[Faron Young]
• "A Fooler a Faker"-[Hank Thompson]
• "Breakin' The Rules"-[Hank Thompson]
• "Much Too Young To Die"-[Ray Price]
• "Pretty Words"-[Marty Robbins]

Top new album releases

Births

• April 29 — Karen Brooks, female vocalist best known for her No. 1 duet with T.G. Sheppard, "Fakin' Love."
• July 1 — Keith Whitley, honky tonk-styled singer of the 1980s (d. 1989)
• July 18 — Ricky Skaggs, artist who successfully fused bluegrass and contemporary country sounds to become a superstar in the 1980s.
• October 30 — T. Graham Brown, blues-styled country artist of the 1980s.
• October 30 — Jeannie Kendall, daughter half of The Kendalls.
• December 13 — John Anderson, honky tonk-styled singer since the early 1980s.
• December 25 — Steve Wariner, singer-songwriter and guitarist since the early 1980s.

Deaths

• December 1 — Fred Rose, 56, songwriter and founder of Acuff-Rose Music. One of the first three inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

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.