1941 in country music

This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1941.

List of years in country music (table)
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Events

• January 1 – Radio programmers begin a 10-month ban on the ASCAP catalog when they fail to reach an agreement. Instead, disc jockeys begin to rely on BMI and its catalog of "hillbilly" music.
• October – The Grand Ole Opry organizes a "Camel Country" tour in a show of support for American servicemen, many of whom would be off to war two months later.

Top Hillbilly (Country) Recordings

The following songs achieved the highest positions in Billboard magazine's 'Best Sellers in Stores' chart, monthly 'Hillbilly Hits', supplemented by 'Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954' and record sales reported on the "Discography of American Historical Recordings" website, and other sources as specified, during 1941. Numerical rankings are approximate.

Rank	Artist	Title	Label	Recorded	Released	Chart Positions
1	Gene Autry	"You Are My Sunshine"	Okeh 6274	June 18, 1941 (1941-06-18)	1941|7|10]}	US BB 1941 #260, US #23, US Hillbilly 1941 #1, USHB #1 for 22 weeks, 50 total weeks, 1,000,000 sales
2	Gene Autry	"Be Honest With Me"	Okeh 5980	August 20, 1940 (1940-08-20)	January 17, 1941 (1941-01-17)	US BB 1941 #259, US #23, US Hillbilly 1941 #2, USHB #1 for 6 week, 58 total weeks, 1,000,000 sales
3	Roy Rogers and his Saddle Pals	"New Worried Mind"	Decca 5906	November 29, 1940 (1940-11-29)	December 29, 1940 (1940-12-29)	US Hillbilly 1941 #3, USHB #1 for 3 weeks, 15 total weeks
4	Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys	"Maiden's Prayer"	Okeh 6205	February 24, 1941 (1941-02-24)	May 16, 1941 (1941-05-16)	US Hillbilly 1941 #4, USHB #1 for 3 weeks, 14 total weeks
5	Karl And Harty	"Let's All Have Another Beer"	Okeh 6066	January 24, 1941 (1941-01-24)	March 1941 (1941-03)	US Hillbilly 1941 #5, USHB #1 for 2 weeks, 15 total weeks
6	Tiny Hill and His Orchestra	"Spin The Bottle"	Okeh 6160	March 11, 1941 (1941-03-11)	April 1941 (1941-04)	US Hillbilly 1941 #6, USHB #1 for 2 weeks, 14 total weeks
7	Prairie Ramblers	"I'll Be Back In A Year (Little Darlin')"	Okeh 6053	January 22, 1941 (1941-01-22)	February 1941 (1941-02)	US Hillbilly 1941 #7, USHB #1 for 2 weeks, 13 total weeks
8	The Jesters	"Repasz Band"	Decca 3719	April 2, 1941 (1941-04-02)	April 1941 (1941-04)	US Hillbilly 1941 #8, USHB #1 for 2 weeks, 11 total weeks
9	Louise Massey and the Westerners	"My Adobe Hacienda"	Okeh 6077	January 27, 1941 (1941-01-27)	March 1941 (1941-03)	US BB 1941 #258, US #23, US Hillbilly 1941 #9, USHB #1 for 1 week, 21 total weeks
10	Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys	"Take Me Back to Tulsa"	Okeh 6101	February 24, 1941 (1941-02-24)	March 1941 (1941-03)	US Hillbilly 1941 #10, USHB #1 for 1 weeks, 19 total weeks
11	Sons of the Pioneers	"Cool Water"	Decca 5844	March 27, 1941 (1941-03-27)	April 25, 1941 (1941-04-25)	US BB 1941 #313, US #25, US Hillbilly 1941 #11, USHB #1 for 1 weeks, 18 total weeks
12	Adolph Hofner And His San Antonians	"Alamo Rag"	Okeh 6139	February 28, 1941 (1941-02-28)	April 12, 1941 (1941-04-12)	US Hillbilly 1941 #12, USHB #1 for 1 weeks, 18 total weeks
13	Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys	"Mule Skinner Blues"	Bluebird 8568	October 7, 1940 (1940-10-07)	November 10, 1940 (1940-11-10)	US Hillbilly 1941 #13, USHB #1 for 1 week, 17 total weeks
14	Jimmie Davis and Jimmy Wakely	"Too Late"	Decca 5940	February 20, 1941 (1941-02-20)	April 18, 1941 (1941-04-18)	US Hillbilly 1941 #14, USHB #1 for 1 week, 16 total weeks
15	Louise Massey and the Westerners	"Beer and Skittles"	Okeh 5916	October 11, 1940 (1940-10-11)	December 1940 (1940-12)	US BB 1941 #311, US #25, US Hillbilly 1941 #15, USHB #1 for 1 week, 16 total weeks
16	Texas Jim Robertson	"I'll Be Back In A Year (Little Darlin')"	Okeh 6053	January 22, 1941 (1941-01-22)	February 1941 (1941-02)	US Hillbilly 1941 #16, USHB #1 for 1 weeks, 15 total weeks
17	Shelton Brothers	"What's The Matter With Deep Elm"	Decca 5898	April 7, 1940 (1940-04-07)	November 1940 (1940-11)	US Hillbilly 1941 #17, USHB #1 for 1 week, 15 total weeks
18	Delmore Brothers	"When It's Time For The Whip-Poor-Will To Sing	Decca 5925	September 11, 1940 (1940-09-11)	February 28, 1941 (1941-02-28)	US Hillbilly 1941 #18, USHB #1 for 1 week, 14 total weeks
19	Gene Autry	"You Waited Too Long"	Okeh 5781	August 22, 1941 (1941-08-22)	September 5, 1941 (1941-09-05)	US Hillbilly 1941 #19, USHB #2 for 6 weeks, 21 total weeks
20	Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys	"New Worried Mind"	Okeh 6101	February 24, 1941 (1941-02-24)	March 1941 (1941-03)	US BB 1941 #337, US #27, US Hillbilly 1941 #20, USHB #2 for 3 weeks, 17 total weeks

Births

• January 18 – Bobby Goldsboro, middle-of-the-road artist best known for 1968's "Honey."
• February 8 – Henson Cargill, best known for 1968's "Skip a Rope" (died 2007).
• March 28 – Charlie McCoy, harmonica specialist.
• April 2 – Sonny Throckmorton, songwriter.
• May 31 – Johnny Paycheck, outlaw country-styled singer best known for "Take This Job and Shove It" (died 2003).
• June 8 — Alf Robertson, Swedish country musician (died 2008).
• August 14 – Connie Smith, female vocalist who grew to fame in the 1960s; Grand Ole Opry mainstay.
• September 21 – Dickey Lee, pop-country singer-songwriter.
• September 26 – David Frizzell, brother of Lefty Frizzell who grew into a country star in his own right.
• October 17 – Earl Thomas Conley, singer-songwriter who became one of country's biggest stars of the 1980s (died 2019).
• November 6 – Guy Clark, alternative-outlaw country singer-songwriter (died 2016).
• November 27 – Eddie Rabbitt, singer-songwriter who crossed over to pop in the early 1980s with hits such as "I Love a Rainy Night" and "Drivin' My Life Away" (died 1998).
• November 29 – Jody Miller, female vocalist best known for "Queen of the House" (answer song to Roger Miller's "King of the Road").

Deaths

• November 7 – Henry Whitter, 49, early country musician.

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).