Billboard year-end top 50 country & western singles of 1961
This is a list of Billboard magazine's ranking of the year's top country and western singles of 1961.[1]
Patsy Cline's "I Fall to Pieces" ranked as the year's No. 1 country and western record.[1] It was released in January 1961, entered the Top 40 on Billboard's country and western chart on April 3, and spent a total of 39 weeks on the chart.[2]
George Jones had two records that finished in the year's Top 5 records: "The Window Up Above" spent 34 weeks on the chart and ranked No. 3 on the year-end chart; and "Tender Years" spent 32 weeks on the chart and ranked No. 4 for the year.[1][3]
Webb Pierce and Buck Owens led all other artists, each having four records on the year-end list.[1]
Three labels, Capitol, Decca, and RCA Victor, each had 11 records finish on the year-end list. Columbia had seven, and Mercury five.[1]
Rank | Peak[note 1][4] | Title | Artist(s) | Label |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "I Fall to Pieces" | Patsy Cline | Decca |
2 | 2 | "Foolin' Around" | Buck Owens | Capitol |
3 | 2 | "The Window Up Above" | George Jones | Mercury |
4 | 1 | "Tender Years" | George Jones | Mercury |
5 | 2 | "Three Hearts in a Tangle" | Roy Drusky | Decca |
6 | 1 | "Hello Walls" | Faron Young | Capitol |
7 | 1 | "Don't Worry" | Marty Robbins | Columbia |
8 | 1 | "Heartbreak U.S.A." | Kitty Wells | Decca |
9 | 2 | "Sea of Heartbreak" | Don Gibson | RCA Victor |
10 | 1 | "On the Wings of a Dove" | Ferlin Husky | Capitol |
11 | 3 | "Sweet Lips" | Webb Pierce | Decca |
12 | 4 | "I'll Just Have Another Cup of Coffee" | Claude Gray | Mercury |
13 | 3 | "I Missed Me" | Jim Reeves | RCA Victor |
14 | 5 | "Hillbilly Heaven" | Tex Ritter | Capitol |
15 | 5 | "Heart over Mind" | Ray Price | Columbia |
16 | 2 | "Under the Influence of Love" | Buck Owens | Capitol |
17 | 1 | "North to Alaska" | Johnny Horton | Columbia |
18 | 1 | "Walk On By" | Leroy Van Dyke | Mercury |
19 | 3 | "My Ears Should Burn" | Claude Gray | Mercury |
20 | 5 | "Beggar to a King" | Hank Snow | RCA Victor |
21 | 5 | "Let Forgiveness In" | Webb Pierce | Decca |
22 | 7 | "Loving You (Was Worth This Broken Heart)" | Bob Gallion | Hickory |
23 | 7 | "I Think I Know" | Marion Worth | Columbia |
24 | 6 | "When Two Worlds Collide" | Roger Miller | RCA Victor |
25 | 4 | "The Blizzard" | Jim Reeves | RCA Victor |
26 | 4 | "Loose Talk" | Buck Owens, Rose Maddox | Capitol |
27 | 7 | "Odds and Ends (Bits and Pieces)" | Warren Smith | Liberty |
28 | 4 | "Fallen Angel" | Webb Pierce | Decca |
29 | 7 | "Big River, Big Man" | Claude King | Columbia |
30 | 10 | "Louisiana Man" | Rusty and Doug | Hickory |
31 | 5 | "My Last Date (With You)" | Skeeter Davis | RCA Victor |
32 | 6 | "Sweet Dreams" | Don Gibson | RCA Victor |
33 | 4 | "You're the Reason" | Bobby Edwards | Crest |
34 | 3 | "It's Your World" | Marty Robbins | Columbia |
35 | 9 | "Po' Folks" | Bill Anderson | Decca |
36 | 9 | "I Went Out of My Way" | Roy Drusky | Decca |
37 | 4 | "Hello Fool" | Ralph Emery | Liberty |
38 | 9 | "Walk Out Backward" | Bill Anderson | Decca |
39 | 10 | "Your Old Love Letters" | Porter Wagoner | RCA Victor |
40 | 7 | "Oklahoma Hills" | Hank Thompson | Capitol |
41 | 2 | "Excuse Me" | Buck Owens | Capitol |
42 | 12 | "I Love You Best of All" | Louvin Brothers | Capitol |
43 | 7 | "Happy Birthday to Me" | Hank Locklin | RCA Victor |
44 | 5 | "Walking the Streets" | Webb Pierce | Decca |
45 | 9 | "Right or Wrong" | Wanda Jackson | Capitol |
46 | 1 | "Big Bad John" | Jimmy Dean | Columbia |
47 | 8 | "San Antonio Rose" | Floyd Cramer | RCA Victor |
48 | 9 | "Three Steps to a Phone (Millions of Miles)" | George Hamilton IV | RCA Victor |
49 | 8 | "Backtrack" | Faron Young | Capitol |
50 | 10 | "I'd Rather Loan You Out" | Roy Drusky | Decca |
See also
- List of Hot C&W Sides number ones of 1961
- List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1961
- 1961 in country music
Notes
- ^ This column recites the record's peak position on Billboard's weekly charts.
References
- ^ a b c d e "Hot C.&W. and R.&B. sides of the year". The Billboard. December 18, 1961. p. 14.
- ^ Joel Whitburn (1996). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits. Billboard Books. p. 74. ISBN 08230.
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value: length (help) - ^ Whitburn, p. 166.
- ^ Joel Whitburn (1995). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits. Billboard Books. ISBN 0823076326.