1929 in country music explained

This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1929.

Events

• December – Release in the United States of short film The Singing Brakeman starring country singer Jimmie Rodgers.

Top Hillbilly (Country) Recordings

The following songs were extracted from records included in Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954,^[1] record sales reported on the "Discography of American Historical Recordings" website, and other sources as specified. Numerical rankings are approximate, they are only used as a frame of reference.

Rank	Artist	Title	Label	Recorded	Released	Chart Positions
1		"Wildwood Flower"^[2] ^[3]	Victor 40000			US BB 1928 #23, US Hillbilly 1929 #1, US #3 for 1 week, 10 total weeks, 1,000,000 sales, National Recording Registry 2006
2		"Waiting For A Train"^[4]	Victor 40014			US BB 1929 #168, US #14 for 1 week, 3 total weeks, US Hillbilly 1929 #2, 1,000,000 sales
3	Jimmie Rodgers	"My Carolina Sunshine Girl"^[5]	Victor 40096			US Hillbilly 1929 #3, 1,000,000 sales^[6]
4	Carter Family	"I'm Thinking To-night Of My Blue Eyes"^[7]	Victor 40089			US BB 1929 #116, US #10 for 1 week, 4 total weeks, US Hillbilly 1929 #4
5		"If The Light Has Gone Out In Your Soul"^[8]	Victor 40010			US Hillbilly 1929 #5, 11,376 sales^[9]
6	Jimmie Rodgers	"My Old Pal" / "Daddy and Home"^[10]	Victor 21757			US Hillbilly 1929 #6, 1,000,000 sales
7		"Corrine, Corrina"^[11] ^[12]	Brunswick 7080			US Hillbilly 1929 #7
8		"Farm Relief Song"^[13]	Columbia 15449-D			US BB 1929 #77, US #7 for 1 week, 4 total weeks, US Hillbilly 1929 #8
9	Jimmie Rodgers	"You and My Old Guitar" / "My Little Lady"^[14]	Victor 40072			US Hillbilly 1929 #9, 1,000,000 sales
10	Jimmie Rodgers	"Frankie and Johnnie" / "Everybody Does It in Hawaii"^[15]	Victor 22143			US Hillbilly 1929 #10
11		"Statesboro Blues"^[16]	Victor 38001			US Hillbilly 1929 #11, National Recording Registry 2015
12	Jimmie Rodgers	"I’m Lonely and Blue" / "The Sailor’s Plea"^[17]	Victor 40054			US Hillbilly 1929 #12, 236,231 sales
13	Tom Darby and Jimmie Tarlton	"Slow Wicked Blues"^[18]	Columbia 15419			US Hillbilly 1929 #13
14	Carolina Tar Heels	"Peg And Awl"^[19]	Victor 40010			US Hillbilly 1929 #14
15	Jimmie Rodgers	"Blue Yodel No. 5 (It’s Raining Here)" / "I’m Sorry We Met"^[20]	Victor 22072			US Hillbilly 1929 #15
16	Carter Family	"Lulu Wall"^[21]	Victor 40126			US Hillbilly 1929 #16
17		"The Utah Trail"^[22]	Brunswick 4296			US BB 1929 #229, US #19 for 1 week, 1 total weeks, US Hillbilly 1929 #17
18		"There's a Brown Skin Girl Down the Road Somewhere"^[23]	Victor 40145			US Hillbilly 1929 #18
19		"Pinetop's Boogie Woogie"^[24]	Vocalion 1245			US Hillbilly 1929 #19
20		Just Because^[25]	Victor 40273			US Hillbilly 1929 #20

Births

• January 17 – Grady Martin, session guitarist and member of Nashville's "A Team" (died 2001)
• March 13 – Jan Howard, Grand Ole Opry star. Best known for "Evil on Your Mind" (died 2020).
• March 27 – Don Warden, best known for his years on The Porter Wagoner Show and as the manager of Wagoner and Dolly Parton (died 2017).
• May 1 – Sonny James, singer of the 1950s through early 1980s who once had 16 consecutive No. 1 songs—many of them covers of pop hits—on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart; "The Southern Gentleman". (died 2016)
• June 23 – June Carter Cash, member of the legendary Carter Family and wife of Johnny Cash (died 2003)
• July 9 – Jesse McReynolds, Grand Ole Opry star.
• August 12 – Buck Owens, key innovator of the "Bakersfield Sound," which resulted in immense popularity from the 1960s onward; co-host of Hee Haw from 1969–1986. (died 2006)

Further reading

• Kingsbury, Paul, "Vinyl Hayride: Country Music Album Covers 1947–1989," Country Music Foundation, 2003
• Millard, Bob, "Country Music: 70 Years of America's Favorite Music," HarperCollins, New York, 1993
• Whitburn, Joel. "Top Country Songs 1944–2005 – 6th Edition." 2005.

Notes and References

1. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954 . Record Research . 1986.
2. Web site: Victor matrix BVE-45029. Wildwood flower / Carter Family - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-04-18 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
3. Web site: Complete National Recording Registry Listing . 2022-04-18 . Library of Congress.
4. Web site: Victor matrix BVE-47223. Waiting for a train / Jimmie Rodgers - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-03-11 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
5. Web site: Victor matrix BVE-47215. My Carolina sunshine girl / Jimmie Rodgers - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-04-18 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
6. Web site: Bluegrass Messengers - Jimmie Rodgers . 2022-04-09 . www.bluegrassmessengers.com.
7. Web site: Victor matrix BVE-49859. I'm thinking to-night of my Blue Eyes / Carter Family - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-04-18 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
8. Web site: Victor matrix BVE-47237. If the light has gone out in your soul / Holiness Singers ; Ernest Phipps - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-04-18 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
9. Web site: Victor V-40010 (10-in. double-faced Hillbilly) - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-03-27 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
10. Web site: Victor matrix BVE-45090. My old pal / Jimmie Rodgers - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-04-09 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
11. Web site: Brunswick matrix NOR761. Corrine Corrina / Bo Carter ; Chas. McCoy - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-04-09 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
12. Web site: BRUNSWICK Records - 7000 "Race" series 78rpm numerical discography . 2022-04-09 . www.78discography.com.
13. Web site: Columbia matrix W148913. Farm relief song / Al Craver - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-04-09 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
14. Web site: Victor matrix BVE-45094. You and my old guitar / Jimmie Rodgers - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-04-09 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
15. Web site: Victor 22143 (Black label (popular) 10-in. double-faced) - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-04-18 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
16. Web site: Victor matrix BVE-47187. Statesboro blues / Blind Willie McTell - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-03-27 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
17. Web site: Victor V-40054 (10-in. double-faced) - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-03-27 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
18. Web site: Columbia matrix W148296. Slow wicked blues / Tom Darby ; Jimmie Tarlton - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-03-11 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
19. Web site: Victor matrix BVE-47165. Peg and awl / Carolina Tar Heels - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-03-11 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
20. Web site: Victor 22072 (Black label (popular) 10-in. double-faced). (Album WPT-22) - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-04-18 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
21. Web site: Victor matrix BVE-49865. The foggy mountain top / Carter Family - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-03-11 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
22. Web site: Brunswick matrix E29474. The Utah Trail / Frank Luther ; Carson Robison - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-04-18 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
23. Web site: Victor matrix BVE-55347. There's a brown skin girl down the road somewhere / Eck Robertson - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-03-27 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
24. Web site: Vocalion 78rpm numerical listing discography: 1000 - 1499 race series . 2022-04-09 . www.78discography.com.
25. Web site: Victor matrix BVE-56637. Just because / Nelstone's Hawaiians - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-04-09 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.