1940 in country music

This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1940.

Events

• April 4 — Ernest Tubb makes his first recordings for Decca Records, a label where he will remain for more than 30 years.

Top hits of the year

• "Blue Eyed Ellaine" - Ernest Tubb
• "Blueberry Hill" - Gene Autry
• "El Rancho Grande" - Gene Autry
• "Goodbye Little Darlin' Goodbye" - Gene Autry
• "I'll Get Along Somehow" - Ernest Tubb
• "Ida Red" - Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys
• "Just To Ease My Worried Mind" - Roy Acuff
• "New San Antonio Rose" - Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
• "Old Age Pension Check" - Roy Acuff
• "Old Fashioned Love" - Roy Acuff
• "Streamlined Cannonball" - Roy Acuff
• "There's A Chill On The Hill" - Jimmie Davis
• "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" - Bing Crosby
• "Worried Mind" - Ted Daffan's Texans
• "Worried Mind" - Jimmie Davis
• "You Are My Sunshine" - Bob Atcher
• "You Are My Sunshine" - Jimmie Davis
• "Cimmaron" - Jimmy Wakely
• "My Window Faces The South" - Bob Wills
• "Lone Star Rag" - Bob Wills
• "Smokey Mountain Rag" - Roy Acuff
• "I'll Keep On Loving You" - Floyd Tillman
• "I'll Keep On Loving You" - Cliff Bruner
• "Weary River" - Roy Acuff
• "Blue Eyed Darling" - Roy Acuff
• "My Baby And My Wife" - Ernest Tubb
• "I'll Never Cry Over You" - Ernest Tubb
• "Too Late" - Jimmy Wakely
• "South Of The Border" - Gene Autry

Births

• January 8 — Cristy Lane, Christian singer who also enjoyed secular success as a country performer in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
• June 23 - Diana Trask, Australian-born singer who enjoyed American success in the early 1970s.
• August 5 — Bobby Braddock, prominent songwriter with more than 40 years of success; later, producer for Blake Shelton.
• August 10 – Jerry Kennedy, prominent producer from the 1960s through early 1990s.

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. "Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954: The History of American Popular Music," Record Research Inc., Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, 1986 (ISBN 0-89820-083-0).