1937 in country music explained

This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1937.

Events

• sales rebounded to approximately 1/3 of 1929 levels
• October 30 – Johnnie Wright and Kitty Wells are married.

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		"Steel Guitar Rag"	Vocalion 3394			US Hillbilly 1937 #1
2		"Great Speckled Bird"^[2]	Melotone 70159			US BB 1938 #236, US #13 for 1 week, 3 total weeks, US Hillbilly 1937 #2
3		"Nobody's Darling but Mine"	Decca 5090			US BB 1937 #340, US #19 for 1 week, 1 total weeks, US Hillbilly 1937 #3
4		"Singing My Troubles Away"^[3]	Bluebird 7129			US Hillbilly 1937 #4
5		"Honky Tonk Blues"	Melotone 70365			US Hillbilly 1937 #5
6		"The Last Letter"^[4]	Decca 5383			US Hillbilly 1937 #6
7		"The One Rose (That's Left In My Heart)"	Melotone 71058			US Hillbilly 1937 #7
8		"The Carter Family And Jimmie Rodgers In Texas"^[5]	Bluebird 6762			US Hillbilly 1937 #8
9		"My Little Girl I Love You"^[6]	Bluebird 6877			US Hillbilly 1937 #9
10		"Breezin' Along with the Breeze"^[7]	Vocalion 3644			US BB 1937 #227, US #13 for 1 week, 2 total weeks, US Hillbilly 1937 #10
11	Bob Skyles & His Skyrockets	"The Arkansas Bazooka Swing"^[8]	Bluebird 6876			US BB 1937 #350, US #19 for 1 week, 1 total weeks, US Hillbilly 1937 #11
12		"I Haven't Got a Pot to Cook In"	Vocalion 3402			US BB 1937 #264, US #15 for 1 week, 2 total weeks, US Hillbilly 1937 #12
13	Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys	"What's the Matter With the Mill"^[9]	Vocalion 3424			US Hillbilly 1937 #13
14		"Wondering"^[10]	Bluebird 6926			US Hillbilly 1937 #14
15	Roy Acuff and his Crazy Tennesseans	"Steel Guitar Chimes"	Melotone 70752			US Hillbilly 1937 #15
16		"There's A Bridle Hangin' on the Wall"^[11]	Montgomery Ward 4917			US Hillbilly 1937 #16
17		"The Right Key (But The Wrong Keyhole)"^[12]	Decca 5401			US Hillbilly 1937 #17
18		"Cross Road Blues"	Vocalion 3519			US Hillbilly 1937 #18
19	Gene Autry and His String Band	"It's Round-Up Time In Reno"	Melotone 71261			US Hillbilly 1937 #19
20	Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys	"Right Or Wrong"	Vocalion 3451			US Hillbilly 1937 #20
21		"I'm A Wild And Reckless Cowboy (From The West Side Of Town)"	Melotone 70469			US Hillbilly 1937 #21

Births

• March 20 – Jerry Reed, "swamp rock"-styled singer and guitarist best known for novelty hits, most notably "When You're Hot, You're Hot" (died 2008).
• April 6 – Merle Haggard, innovator of the Bakersfield Sound and a huge country star since the 1960s (died 2016).
• June 15 – Waylon Jennings, influential rock-styled country performer and originator of the 1970s "outlaw" movement (died 2002).
• August 26 – Don Bowman, musician, songwriter and comedian, original host of radio's American Country Countdown (died 2013).
• November 1 – Bill Anderson, prolific singer-songwriter and television personality whose success has lasted more than 50 years; known as "Whisperin' Bill."
• November 30 – Jimmy Bowen, prominent record producer and executive from the 1970s through 1990s.
• December 16 – Jim Glaser, singer-songwriter and member of Tompall & the Glaser Brothers (died 2019).
• December 26 – Ronnie Prophet, Canadian country music singer (died 2018).

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: MELOTONE 1937 numerical listing discography. 2022-01-06. www.78discography.com.
3. Web site: Victor matrix BS-011892. Singing my troubles away / Delmore Brothers - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-03-02 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
4. Web site: Decca matrix 62194. The last letter / Rex Griffin - Discography of American Historical Recordings. 2022-01-04. adp.library.ucsb.edu.
5. Web site: Victor matrix BVE-69428. The Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers in Texas / Carter Family ; Jimmie Rodgers - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-04-25 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
6. Web site: Victor matrix BS-07356. My little girl I love you / Oklahoma Playboys ; Jimmie Revard ; Curly Williams - Discography of American Historical Recordings. 2022-01-04. adp.library.ucsb.edu.
7. Web site: Vocalion 78rpm numerical listing discography: 3500 - 4000 . 2022-03-02 . www.78discography.com.
8. Web site: Victor matrix BS-07301. The Arkansas bazooka swing / Bob Skyles ; Skyrockets - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-03-02 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
9. Web site: Vocalion 78rpm numerical listing discography: 3000 - 3500. 2022-01-06. www.78discography.com.
10. Web site: Victor matrix BS-07227. Wondering / Riverside Ramblers ; Joe Werner - Discography of American Historical Recordings. 2022-01-06. adp.library.ucsb.edu.
11. Web site: Victor matrix BS-102242. There's a bridle hangin' on the wall / Carson Robison - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-04-25 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.
12. Web site: Decca matrix 61638. The right key / Cliff Bruner's Texas Wanderers - Discography of American Historical Recordings . 2022-04-25 . adp.library.ucsb.edu.