Billboard Top Country & Western Records of 1956 is made up of three year-end charts compiled by Billboard magazine ranking the year's top country and western records based on record sales, juke box plays, and jockey plays.[1]
Ray Price's "Crazy Arms was the year's No. 1 record on both the retail and jockey charts.
Several newcomers, including three from the Sun Records label, made impressive debuts:
- Elvis Presley had five records that placed in the top 10 on at least one of the year-end country charts. "Heartbreak Hotel" was the No 1 song on the country juke box chart and No. 2 on the retail chart. "Heartbreak Hotel" was also No. 1 on the year-end pop chart.
- Johnny Cash, landed multiple records on the year-end charts, including "I Walk the Line" (No. 2 jockeys, No. 3 retail) and "Folsom Prison Blues" (No. 19 jockeys).
- Carl Perkins' "Blue Suede Shoes" ranked No. 2 on the year-end country juke box chart (No. 4 retail) and also placed at No. 18 on the year-end pop chart.
In the first appearance by an African-American artist on the country year-end chart, Fats Domino's "Blueberry Hill" ranked No. 23 on the year-end retail chart.
| Retail | Juke box | Jockeys | Title | Artist(s) | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 1 | "Crazy Arms" | Ray Price | Columbia |
| 2 | 1 | 3 | "Heartbreak Hotel" | Elvis Presley | RCA Victor |
| 3 | 4 | 2 | "I Walk the Line" | Johnny Cash | Sun |
| 4 | 2 | 4 | "Blue Suede Shoes" | Carl Perkins | Sun |
| 5 | 9 | 13 | "Searching (For Someone Like You)" | Kitty Wells | Decca |
| 6 | 11 | 22 | "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" | Elvis Presley | RCA Victor |
| 7 | 8 | 12 | "Don't Be Cruel" | Elvis Presley | RCA Victor |
| 8 | 6 | 7 | "Why Baby Why" | Red Sovine, Webb Pierce | Decca |
| 9 | 5 | 16 | "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" | Elvis Presley | RCA Victor |
| 10 | 17 | 17 | "Singing the Blues" | Marty Robbins | Columbia |
| 11 | 14 | 26 | "Hound Dog" | Elvis Presley | RCA Victor |
| 12 | 15 | 6 | "You and Me" | Kitty Wells, Red Foley | Decca |
| 13 | 16 | 8 | "Sweet Dreams" | Faron Young | Capitol |
| 14 | 19 | NR | "So Doggone Lonesome" | Johnny Cash | Sun |
| 15 | 7 | 15 | "Sixteen Tons" | Tennessee Ernie Ford | Capitol |
| 16 | 13 | 10 | "Love Love Love" | Webb Pierce | Decca |
| 17 | 18 | 9 | "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby" | The Louvin Brothers | Capitol |
| 18 | 25 | 11 | "I Take the Chance" | The Browns | RCA Victor |
| 19 | 22 | 18 | "Blackboard of My Heart" | Hank Thompson | Capitol |
| 20 | 24 | 41 | "Be-Bop-a-Lula" | Gene Vincent | Capitol |
| 21 | 10 | 5 | "Yes I Know Why" | Webb Pierce | Decca |
| 22 | 12 | 25 | "Eat, Drink and Be Merry" | Porter Wagoner | RCA Victor |
| 23 | NR | NR | "Blueberry Hill" | Fats Domino | Imperial |
| 24 | 21 | 14 | "You Are the One" | Carl Smith | Columbia |
| 25 | 20 | 33 | "I've Got Five Dollars and It's Saturday Night" | Faron Young | Capitol |
| 26 | 40 | 23 | "Little Rosa" | Red Sovine, Webb Pierce | Decca |
| 27 | NR | 44 | "I Was the One" | Elvis Presley | RCA Victor |
| 28 | 33 | 39 | "Conscience I'm Guilty" | Hank Snow | RCA Victor |
| 29 | 23 | 30 | "Why Baby Why" | George Jones | Starday |
| 30 | NR | NR | "What Would You Do (If Jesus Came to Your House)" | Porter Wagoner | RCA Victor |
| 31 | 43 | NR | "Love Me Tender" | Elvis Presley | RCA Victor |
| 32 | 29 | 19 | "Folsom Prison Blues" | Johnny Cash | Sun |
| 33 | 31 | NR | "Mystery Train" | Elvis Presley | RCA Victor |
| 34 | 44 | 24 | "Honky-Tonk Man" | Johnny Horton | Columbia |
| 35 | 38 | 27 | "My Lips Are Sealed" | Jim Reeves | RCA Victor |
| 36 | 27 | 45 | "'Cause I Love You" | Webb Pierce | Decca |
| 37 | 26 | NR | "Just Call Me Lonesome" | Eddy Arnold | RCA Victor |
| 38 | 35 | 37 | "You're Free to Go" | Carl Smith | Columbia |
| 39 | NR | 34 | "How Far Is Heaven" | Kitty Wells | Decca |
| 40 | NR | NR | "You Don't Know Me" | Eddy Arnold | RCA Victor |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "1956's Top Country and Western Records". The Billboard. January 26, 1957. p. 64.