1956 in country music

Events

With release of Ray Prices's "Crazy Arms", the 4/4 Shuffle is established and would transform country music, especially Honky Tonk.

Top hits of the year

Number one hits

(As certified by Billboard magazine)

February 11 - "Why Baby Why" - Webb Pierce and Red Sovine
February 25 - "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" - Elvis Presley
March 17 - "Heartbreak Hotel" - Elvis Presley
March 17 - "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby" - The Louvin Brothers
April 7 - "Blue Suede Shoes" - Carl Perkins
June 23 - "Crazy Arms" - Ray Price
July 14 - "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" - Elvis Presley
July 21 - "I Walk the Line" - Johnny Cash
September 15 - "Don't Be Cruel"/"Hound Dog" - Elvis Presley
November 10 - "Singing the Blues" - Marty Robbins

Note: Several songs were simultaneous No. 1 hits on the separate "Most Played C&W in Juke Boxes," "Most Played C&W by Jockeys" and "C&W Best Sellers in Stores" charts.

Other major hits

"The Blackboard of My Heart" - Hank Thompson
"Eat, Drink and Be Merry (Tomorrow You'll Cry)" - Porter Wagoner
"Folsom Prison Blues" - Johnny Cash
"Honky Tonk Man" - Johnny Horton
"I Take the Chance" - The Browns featuring Jim Ed Brown
"I've Got Five Dollars and it's Saturday Night" - Faron Young
"It's a Great Life (If You Don't Weaken)" - Faron Young
"Searching (For Someone Like You)" - Kitty Wells
"Sweet Dreams" - Faron Young
"You're Still Mine" - Faron Young
"I'm A One Woman Man"-Johnny Horton
"You're Free To Go"-Carl Smith
"You Are The One"-Carl Smith
"Be Bop A Lula"- Gene Vincent
"So Doggone Lonesome"-Johnny Cash
"You Don't Know Me"-Eddy Arnold
"You And Me"- Red Foley & Kitty Wells
"You're Running Wild"-Louvin Brothers
"According To My Heart"-Jim Reeves
"Yes I Know Why"-Webb Pierce
"Just One More" - George Jones
"Poor Man's Riches"-Benny Barne
"My Lips Are Sealed"-Jim Reeves
"If Jesus Came To Your House"-Porter Wagoner
"Love Me Tender"-Elvis Presley
"I've Got A New Heartache"-Ray Price
"For Rent"-Sonny James–
"Before I Met You"-Carl Smith
"Wicked Lies"-Carl Smith

Top new album releases

Births

January 18 - Mark Collie, country artist of the early 1990s.
June 19 - Doug Stone, popular country vocalist during the early- to mid-1990s.
December 9 - Sylvia Kirby, pop-styled female vocalist of the early-1990s who became best known as "Sylvia."
December 21 - Lee Roy Parnell, alternative country star who enjoyed mainstream country success during the mid-1990s.
December 30 - Suzy Bogguss, folk-styled country artist who rose to fame in the early 1990s.