1958 in country music

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See also: 1957 in country music, 1958 in music, other events of 1958, 1959 in country music, 1950s in music and the List of years in Country Music

Contents

[edit] Events

  • January 1 - Johnny Cash performs at San Quentin Prison. One of the audience members is Merle Haggard, in the midst of a two-year prison term for burglary.
  • February - Struggling singer-songwriter Don Gibson finally gets a career break when his first major hit, "Oh Lonesome Me" reaches No. 1 on Billboard magazine's "C&W Best Sellers in Stores" and "Most Played C&W by Jockeys" charts. The flip side of the single is "I Can't Stop Loving You," which went on to be recorded by more than 700 times. Gibson is considered by many to be one of the originators of the Nashville Sound, a form of country music that uses pop music-styled arrangements (such as orchestrated strings) rather than traditional honky-tonk sounds.
  • March - BMI opens its Nashville office, headed by Frances Preston.
  • March 24 - Elvis Presley is inducted into the U.S. Army at the Memphis Draft Board, thus beginning his two years of service.
  • May - The fledgling career of Jerry Lee Lewis is rocked by scandal when his marriage to second cousin Myra Gale Brown becomes public. A British tour is cancelled, and Lewis' career goes into decline until 1968, when he begins concentrating on country music.
  • October 13 - Billboard magazine discontinues the "C&W Best Sellers in Stores" and "Most Played C&W by Jockeys" charts. Starting with the October 20 issue, there is one all-encompassing "Hot C&W Sides" chart. The new chart has 30 positions, and "City Lights" by Ray Price is the first No. 1 song.
  • November - The Country Music Association is founded to promote country music. Harry Stone, the former station manager of WSM, is named executive director.
  • November - Conway Twitty begins a remarkable career ... in rock and roll, with his hit, "It's Only Make Believe." The song – which contains all the Twitty hallmarks – skyrockets to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the fall, and begins a string of hits that continues through the early 1960s. Twitty makes the switch to country in the mid-1960s, and the rest is history. Although "... Make Believe" is never a country hit, the song has become a country standard in the years since Twitty became a country giant.

[edit] Top hits of the year

[edit] Number one hits

(As certified by Billboard magazine)

Note: Through October 13, several songs were simultaneous No. 1 hits on the separate "Most Played C&W by Jockeys" and "C&W Best Sellers in Stores" charts. Only one No. 1 per week is possible starting with the "Hot C&W Sides" chart, which begins October 20.

[edit] Other major hits

"Stop The World (And Let Me Off")-Johnny & Jack
"Give Myself A Party"-Don Gibson
"Big River"-Johnny Cash
"I Beg Of You"-Elvis Presley
"Your Name Is Beautiful"-Carl Smith

[edit] Top new album releases

[edit] Births

[edit] Deaths

[edit] 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.

[edit] Other links

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