List of Billboard number-one country songs of 1951

In 1951 Billboard magazine published three charts covering the best-performing country music songs in the United States: Most-Played Juke Box (Country & Western) Records, Best-Selling Retail Folk (Country & Western) Records and Country & Western Records Most Played By Folk Disk Jockeys. The juke box chart was compiled based on a "weekly survey among a selected group of jukebox operators whose locations require country and western records", the best sellers chart based on a "survey among a selected group of retail stores, the majority of whose customers purchase country and western records", and the jockeys chart based on a "weekly survey among a select list of over 400 disk jockeys specializing in country and western tunes".[1] The juke box chart would be discontinued in 1957 and the other two charts merged in 1958 to form a multimetric chart, which has been published weekly since that date and since 2005 has been entitled Hot Country Songs.[2]

Pee Wee King ended the year at number one on all three charts.

In the first issue of Billboard of 1951, each chart had a different number one. Lefty Frizzell was atop both the juke box and jockeys charts, with "If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time" and "I Love You a Thousand Ways" respectively, while the best sellers chart was headed by Hank Snow with "The Golden Rocket". Each of the three charts had a song spend more than ten consecutive weeks at number one during the year: Frizzell had an unbroken run of eleven weeks in the top spot of the best sellers chart with "Always Late (with Your Kisses)" and had a similar run at number one on the jockeys chart with "I Want to Be with You Always". The longest run at number one on any of the charts, however, was the fourteen consecutive weeks which Tennessee Ernie spent atop the juke box chart with "Shotgun Boogie". Frizzell was the only artist with four number-one country songs in 1951; Snow and Eddy Arnold each had three. Hank Williams had two number ones on the jockeys chart, but did not top either of the other two charts.

Two artists reached number one for the first time in 1951. Carl Smith spent a single week atop the jockeys chart with his first number one,[3] "Let Old Mother Nature Have Her Way" in December, although the song would return to the top spot, and also top the best sellers and juke box charts, in 1952.[4] Smith, who had only entered the chart for the first time earlier in the year, would go on to reach the top 40 nearly 70 times over a 20-year career before he chose to retire from the music industry.[3][5] Bandleader Pee Wee King's debut chart-topper "Slow Poke", featuring his band the Golden West Cowboys and lead vocalist Redd Stewart,[6] had lengthy runs in the top spot on all three charts in 1951, and ended the year in the number one position on all the listings. It would, however, prove to be the only number one single for King,[6] whose career went into decline in the mid-1950s.[7] Every artist to top the chart in 1951 has been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, beginning with Hank Williams, who was inducted posthumously in the first group of entrants in 1961.[6][8][9][10][11][12][13]

Chart history
Tennessee Ernie had the longest-running number one on the juke box chart with "Shotgun Boogie".
Lefty Frizzell had the highest total number of weeks on the best sellers chart.
Eddy Arnold (pictured in later life) spent a total of eleven weeks at number one on the jockeys chart with "There's Been a Change in Me".
Hank Williams had two number ones on the jockeys chart but did not top either of the other two listings.
Issue date Juke Box Best Sellers Jockeys Ref.
Title Artist(s) Title Artist(s) Title Artist(s)
January 6 "If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time" Lefty Frizzell "The Golden Rocket" Hank Snow "I Love You a Thousand Ways" Lefty Frizzell [14]
January 13 "Shotgun Boogie" Tennessee Ernie "I'm Movin' On" Hank Snow [1]
January 20 "I'm Movin' On" Hank Snow "I Love You a Thousand Ways" Lefty Frizzell [15]
January 27 "The Golden Rocket" Hank Snow [16]
February 3 "Shotgun Boogie" Tennessee Ernie "I Love You a Thousand Ways" Lefty Frizzell [17]
February 10 "I'm Movin' On" Hank Snow "There's Been a Change in Me" Eddy Arnold [18]
February 17 "There's Been a Change in Me" Eddy Arnold [19]
February 24 "Shotgun Boogie" Tennessee Ernie "Shotgun Boogie" Tennessee Ernie [20]
March 3 "There's Been a Change in Me" Eddy Arnold "There's Been a Change in Me" Eddy Arnold [21]
March 10 [22]
March 17 "Shotgun Boogie" Tennessee Ernie [23]
March 24 "There's Been a Change in Me" Eddy Arnold [24]
March 31 "Rhumba Boogie" Hank Snow [25]
April 7 [26]
April 14
April 21 "Rhumba Boogie" Hank Snow [27]
April 28 "Rhumba Boogie" Hank Snow [28]
May 5 "There's Been a Change in Me" Eddy Arnold [29]
May 12 "Cold, Cold Heart" Hank Williams [30]
May 19 "Kentucky Waltz" Eddy Arnold "Rhumba Boogie" Hank Snow [31]
May 26 "Kentucky Waltz" Eddy Arnold "Rhumba Boogie" Hank Snow "I Want to Be With You Always" Lefty Frizzell [32]
June 2 "Kentucky Waltz" Eddy Arnold [33]
June 9 "I Want to Be With You Always" Lefty Frizzell "I Want to Be With You Always" Lefty Frizzell [34]
June 16 [35]
June 23 "Kentucky Waltz" Eddy Arnold [36]
June 30 "I Want to Be With You Always" Lefty Frizzell [37]
July 7 [38]
July 14 "I Want to Play House With You" Eddy Arnold [39]
July 21
July 28 "I Want to Play House With You" Eddy Arnold [40]
August 4 [41]
August 11 "Hey Good Lookin'" Hank Williams [42]
August 18 [43]
August 25 [44]
September 1 "Always Late (with Your Kisses)" Lefty Frizzell [45]
September 8 "I Want to Play House With You" Eddy Arnold [46]
September 15 "Always Late (with Your Kisses)" Lefty Frizzell "Always Late (with Your Kisses)" Lefty Frizzell
September 22 [47]
September 29 "Always Late (with Your Kisses)" Lefty Frizzell [48]
October 6 [49]
October 13 "Hey Good Lookin'" Hank Williams [50]
October 20 "Always Late (with Your Kisses)" Lefty Frizzell [51]
October 27 [52]
November 3[a] "Hey Good Lookin'" Hank Williams [53]
"Slow Poke" Pee Wee King [53]
November 10 "Slow Poke" Pee Wee King [54]
November 17 "Hey Good Lookin'" Hank Williams [55]
November 24 "Slow Poke" Pee Wee King [56]
December 1 "Slow Poke" Pee Wee King [57]
December 8 [58]
December 15 [59]
December 22 "Let Old Mother Nature Have Her Way" Carl Smith [60]
December 29 "Slow Poke" Pee Wee King [61]

a. ^ Two songs tied for number one on the juke box chart.

See also

References
  1. "The Billboard Music Popularity Charts". Billboard. January 13, 1951. p. 31. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  2. Whitburn, Joel (2005). Joel Whitburn's Top Country Songs: 1944-2005. Record Research. p. ix. ISBN 9780898201659.
  3. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Carl Smith Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  4. Whitburn, Joel (1996). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits. Watson-Guptill. p. 514. ISBN 9780823082896.
  5. Whitburn, Joel (1996). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits. Watson-Guptill. pp. 293–296. ISBN 9780823082896.
  6. Whitburn, Joel (1996). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits. Watson-Guptill. p. 177. ISBN 9780823082896.
  7. Huey, Steve. "Pee Wee King Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  8. Russell, Tony (April 20, 2010). "Carl Smith Obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  9. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Lefty Frizzell Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  10. Friskics-Warren, Bill (May 8, 2008). "Eddy Arnold, Country Singer, Is Dead". New York Times. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  11. Wadey, Paul (December 22, 1999). "Obituary: Hank Snow". Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  12. Thompson, Gayle (November 3, 2020). "59 Years Ago:Hank Williams Among First Inductees Into Country Music Hall of Fame". The Boot. Townsquare Media. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  13. Manheim, Bill. "Tennessee Ernie Ford Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
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