1958 in country music

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

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.

Top hits of the year

Number one hits

"(As certified by Billboard magazine)"
*January 6 – "The Story of My Life" – Marty Robbins
*January 6 – "Great Balls of Fire" – Jerry Lee Lewis
*February 3 – "Ballad of a Teenage Queen" – Johnny Cash
*April 14 – "Oh Lonesome Me" – Don Gibson
*May 26 – "Just Married" – Marty Robbins
*June 2 – "All I Have to Do is Dream" – Everly Brothers
*June 23 – "Guess Things Happen That Way" – Johnny Cash
*July 21 – "Alone With You" – Faron Young
*August 25 – "Blue Blue Day" – Don Gibson
*September 8 – "Bird Dog" – Everly Brothers
*October 20 – "City Lights" – Ray Price

:"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.

Other major hits

*"Blue Boy" – Jim Reeves
*"Breathless" – Jerry Lee Lewis
*"Crying Over You" – Webb Pierce
*"Curtain in the Window" – Ray Price
*"Devoted to You" – Everly Brothers
*"Don't" – Elvis Presley
*"Falling Back to You" – Webb Pierce
*"Half a Mind" – Ernest Tubb
*"Hard-Headed Woman" – Elvis Presley
*"Hey, Mister Bluebird" – Ernest Tubb and The Wilburn Brothers
*"High School Confidential" – Jerry Lee Lewis
*"I Beg of You" – Elvis Presley
*"I Can't Stop Loving You" – Don Gibson
*"I Can't Stop Loving You" – Kitty Wells
*"Invitation to the Blues" – Ray Price
*"It's a Little More Like Heaven" – [Hank Locklin]
*"Oh-Oh, I'm Falling In Love Again" – Jimmie Rodgers
*"Pick Me Up on Your Way Down" – Charlie Walker
*"Poor Little Fool" – Ricky Nelson
*"Secretly" – Jimmie Rodgers
*"Send Me the Pillow You Dream On" – Hank Locklin
*"She's No Angel" – Kitty Wells
*"Should We Tell Him" – Everly Brothers
*"Squaws Along the Yukon" – Hank Thompson
*"This Little Girl of Mine" – Everly Brothers
*"Treasure of Love" – George Jones
*"Tupelo County Jail" – Webb Pierce
*"Wear My Ring Around Your Neck" – Elvis Presley
*"You Win Again" – Jerry Lee Lewis
*"You'll Come Back" – Webb Pierce
*"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

Top new album releases

Births

*September 16 – Terry McBride – Lead singer of the 1990s trio McBride & the Ride
*October 10 – Tanya Tucker – Teen-aged country star of the 1970s, who continued to be a major country star during the 1980s and 1990s.

Deaths

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.

Other links

*Country Music Association