1954 in country music

Events

February 20 - "Slowly" by Webb Pierce becomes the first No. 1 song on Billboard magazine's country charts to feature the pedal steel guitar. Soon, many of country music's great songs would feature the pedal steel guitar.
October 2 - Elvis Presley makes his one and only appearance on the Grand Ole Opry, and is supposedly told to "go back to driving a truck in Memphis." Two weeks later, he has the last laugh, debuting on the Louisiana Hayride and is soon making regular appearances.

No dates

The 45 RPM vinyl record has all but taken over, both at the radio station and in stores. Few disc jockeys are still playing 78 RPM records (save for oldies).
Elvis Presley makes his first Sun Records recordings in Memphis, Tennessee. His 1954 releases are only regional hits, but it proved to be just the tip of the iceberg for what happened during the next two years.

Presley was one of several artists who make their earliest recordings for Sun Records. Late in the year, Johnny Cash records two songs he wrote, "Wide Open Road" and "You're My Baby."

Top hits of the year

Number one hits

(As certified by Billboard magazine)

January 19 - "Bimbo" - Jim Reeves
February 20 - "Slowly" - Webb Pierce
February 20 - "Wake Up, Irene" - Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys
May 15 - "I Really Don't Want to Know" - Eddy Arnold
June 12 - "(Oh Baby Mine) I Get So Lonely" - Johnnie Wright and Jack Anglin
June 19 - "I Don't Hurt Anymore" - Hank Snow (The Singing Ranger) and His Rainbow Ranch Boys
July 3 - "Even Tho" - Webb Pierce
July 31 - "One By One" - Kitty Wells and Red Foley
November 6 - "More and More" - Webb Pierce

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

Other major hits

"Back Up, Buddy" - Carl Smith
"Rose Marie" - Slim Whitman
"Company's Comin'" - Porter Wagoner
"Don't Drop It"-Terry Fell
"Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight" - Johnny & Jack
"Honky Tonk Girl" - Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys
"If You Ain't Lovin' (You Ain't Livin')" - Faron Young
"If You Don't Somebody Else Will" - Jimmy and Johnny
"The New Green Light" - Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys
"Release Me" - Jimmy Heap with Perk Williams
"Release Me" - Ray Price
"Secret Love" - Slim Whitman
"Sure Fire Kisses" - Justin Tubb and Goldie Hill
"This Is The Thanks I Get" -Eddy Arnold
"This Ole House" - Stuart Hamblem
"Two Glasses, Joe" - Ernest Tubb
"Whatcha Gonna Do Now" - Tommy Collins
"You Better Not Do That" - Tommy Collins

 "Doggone It Baby I'm In Love"-Carl Smith
 "I Love You"-Ginny Wright & Jim Reeves
 "As Far As I'm Concerned"-Red & Betty Foley
 "Looking Back To See"  -Goldie Hill & Justin Tubb
 "I'll Be There" - Ray Price
 "Sparkling Brown Eyes" -Webb Pierce & The Wilburn Brothers
 "Good Deal Lucille"- Al Terry
 "Cry Cry Darling"-Jimmy Newman
 "River Of No Return"-Tennessee Ernie
 "We've Gone Too Far"- Hank Thompson
 "You're Not Mine Anymore"-Webb Pierce
 "You Can't Have My Love" - Wanda Jackson & Billy Gray
 "Hep Cat Baby" -Eddy Arnold
 "My Everything"-Eddy Arnold
 "If You Don't Somebody Else Will"-Ray Price–

Top new album releases

Births

March 28 - Reba McEntire, female country music icon since the early 1980s.
July 18 - Ricky Skaggs, artist who successfully fused bluegrass and contemporary country sounds to become a superstar in the 1980s.
October 30 - T. Graham Brown, blues-styled country artist of the 1980s.

Deaths

December 1 - Fred Rose, 56, songwriter and founder of Acuff-Rose Music. One of the first three inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame.