This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1931.
Jimmie Rodgers, "the Father of Country Music", continued to dominate Hillbilly (Country) music in 1931, though the Great Depression was causing record sales and royalties to spiral downward at a frightening rate (by 1934, Columbia Records would be bankrupt).[1] Only the Carter Family would come close.
Thanks to the Discography of American Historical Recordings website, the year 1931 is perhaps the most accurate top "Hillbilly" records list of all. Eighteen of the songs were ranked from sales figures kept by Victor Records (as "Number sold," under "Other information") deriving from markings on the backs of blue history cards and are included in DAHR, when known, as part of their effort to make available significant data found in original Victor documents. As John Bolig points out in the introduction to his Victor black label discography (1800-1900 series, Denver: Mainspring Press, 2008), these numbers are not to be considered authoritative. It is likely that they represent a sales audit from a specific time, and they do not appear to have been updated regularly. In addition, it is possible that the sales figures may represent cumulative sales from various issues (catalog numbers) of the masters represented on the blue history cards, and not exclusively from one such release. [2]
Billboard surveys did not approach reasonable accuracy until the late 1940s, due to the small sample size, confusion over best-selling, jukebox, and airplay charts, and any number of startup issues. At this point in history, Victor made up a large percentage of Hillbilly releases because of economic circumstances. They appear to have kept the best records by far of any of the labels.
Numerical rankings are approximate, as there were no Billboard charts in 1931; the numbers are only used for a frame of reference.
| Rank | Artist | Title | Label | Recorded | Released | Chart Positions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Blue Yodel No. 8 (Mule Skinner Blues)"[3] | Victor 23503 | US Hillbilly 1931 No. 1 | ||||
| 2 | Jimmie Rodgers | "T.B. Blues"[4] | Victor 23535 | US Hillbilly 1931 No. 2, 47,355 sales[5] | |||
| 3 | "When Your Hair Has Turned To Silver"[6] | Victor 22588 | US BB 1931 No. 48, US No. 4 for 1 week, 12 total weeks, US Hillbilly 1931 No. 3, 38,805 sales[7] | ||||
| 4 | Jimmie Rodgers | "Jimmie the Kid"[8] | Victor 23549 | US Hillbilly 1931 No. 4, 36,450 sales[9] | |||
| 5 | Jimmie Rodgers | "Travellin’ Blues"[10] | Victor 23564 | US Hillbilly 1931 No. 5, 31,734 sales[11] | |||
| 6 | Jimmie Rodgers | "Nobody Knows But Me"[12] | Victor 23518 | US Hillbilly 1931 No. 6, 28,959 sales[13] | |||
| 7 | Jimmie Rodgers | "Blue Yodel No. 9 (Standing On a Corner)"[14] | Victor 23580 | US Hillbilly 1931 No. 7, 25,071 sales,[15] Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007 | |||
| 8 | Jimmie Rodgers Assisted By The Carter Family | "Jimmie Rodgers Visits the Carter Family"[16] | Victor 23574 | US Hillbilly 1931 No. 8, 24,093 sales[17] | |||
| 9 | "Little Log Hut In The Lane"[18] | Victor 40328 | US Hillbilly 1931 No. 9, 17,990 sales[19] | ||||
| 10 | Carter Family | "On the Rock Where Moses Stood"[20] | Victor 23513 | US Hillbilly 1931 No. 10, 16,407 sales[21] | |||
| 11 | Carter Family | "Lonesome Valley"[22] | Victor 23541 | US BB 1931 No. 175, US No. 15 for 1 week, 2 total weeks, US Hillbilly 1931 No. 11, 15,107 sales[23] | |||
| 12 | Carter Family | "Where Shall I Be"[24] | Victor 23523 | US Hillbilly 1931 No. 12, 13,275 sales[25] | |||
| 13 | "No Low Down Hanging 'Round"[26] | Victor 23536 | US Hillbilly 1931 No. 13, 11,769 sales[27] | ||||
| 14 | Jimmie Rodgers with Lani McIntire's Hawaiians | "Moonlight And Skies"[28] | Victor 23574 | US Hillbilly 1931 No. 13, 24,093 sales | |||
| 15 | Fleming and Townsend | Little Home Upon the Hill[29] | Victor V-40321 | US Hillbilly 1931 No. 15, 10,888 sales[30] | |||
| 16 | Buster Carter and Preston Young | "A Lazy Farmer Boy"[31] | Columbia 15702 | US Hillbilly 1931 No. 16 | |||
| 17 | "Let's Go To Town"[32] | Vocalion 1660 | US Hillbilly 1931 No. 17 | ||||
| 18 | "Arabella Blues"[33] | Victor 23517 | US Hillbilly 1931 No. 18, 9,653 sales[34] | ||||
| 19 | Carter Family | "When I'm Gone"[35] | Victor 23569 | US Hillbilly 1931 No. 18, 9,566 sales[36] | |||
| 20 | Carter Family | "There Is Someone Waiting For Me"[37] | Victor 23554 | US Hillbilly 1931 No. 19, 9,490 sales[38] | |||
| 21 | Carter Family | "Fond Affection"[39] | Victor 40328 | US Hillbilly 1931 No. 20, 7,261 sales[40] |