Country Music Hall of Fame 1961

The year was 1961

Hall of Fame Inductees

Election to the Country Music Hall of Fame is the highest honor in country music. The Hall of Fame award was created in 1961 and in its debut year the inductees were: Jimmie Rodgers, Fred Rose and Hank Williams.

1961 Jimmie Rodgers

James Charles Rodgers has probably affected country music more profoundly than any other singer in the history of the genre. Born in Mississippi in 1897, he became known for his singing and banjo playing during his days as an itinerant railroad worker.

Though wracked by tuberculosis, the Singing Brakeman pursued his dream of becoming a professional performer. He first recorded for Victor in 1927, and by 1929 his "blue yodels," synthesizing black and white musical forms, had helped make him a national sensation. Rodgers was unsurpassed as a solo entertainer, but illness often curtailed personal appearances and finally claimed him in 1933. (CMHOF)

1961 Fred Rose

Knowles Fred Rose, one of country music's greatest songwriters, was born in Indiana in 1898 and spent much of his life as a Tin Pan Alley musician. Between 1933 and 1942, Rose worked in Nashville and Hollywood, writing hits for Gene Autry and others. In 1942 he and Roy Acuff created Acuff-Rose Publications, Nashville's first major country music publishing house.

A superb talent scout, producer, and promoter, Rose nurtured the careers of many artists and songwriters, Hank Williams chief among them. Rose died in 1954. His election to the Hall of Fame as a charter member in 1961 underscores the importance of his many contributions to country music. (CMHOF)

1961 Hank Williams

Hiram Williams, born in Alabama in 1923, began singing in a church choir as a child. By his teens, he was working radio stations and honky-tonks with his Drifting Cowboys band.

In 1946 Williams began working with Fred Rose, who recognized Hank's raw talent and later signed him as a songwriter and helped him get established on KWKH's Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport. A magnetic performer, Hank's show-stopping guest spot on the Opry in 1949 won him a place in the Opry lineup.

Personal problems and a reputation for instability cost Williams his Opry membership in mid-1952. Since his death in 1953, however, the songs he wrote and sang have lived on, performed by country and pop musicians alike. Election to the Hall of Fame in 1961 enshrined a singer already revered by countless fans. (CMHOF)

Harlan Howard
Songwriting Legend

Harlan Howard's songwriting career
was in it's prime in the 1960's

1958

"Pick Me Up on Your Way Down" Charlie Walker

1959

"Heartaches by the Number" Ray Price

1960

"Excuse Me (I Think I've Got a Heartache)"Buck Owens

"Above and Beyond" Buck Owens

1961

"Foolin' Around" Buck Owens

"Heartbreak U.S.A." Kitty Wells
"I Fall to Pieces" Patsy Cline

1962

"When I Get Thru With You (You'll Love Me Too) Patsy Cline

1963

"You Comb Her Hair" George Jones

"Busted" Johnny Cash & The Carter Family

1965

"She's Gone Gone Gone" Lefty Frizzell

"I've Got a Tiger by the Tail" Buck Owens

"I Won't Forget You" Jim Reeves

Country Music News
from 1961

Willie Nelson

Arriving at the beginning of 1961, an invitation from Ray Price's invitation began a watershed year for Nelson. Not only did he play with Price -- eventually taking members of the Cherokee Cowboys to form his own touring band -- but his songs also provided major hits for several other artists. Faron Young took "Hello Walls" to number one for nine weeks, Billy Walker made "Funny How Time Slips Away" into a Top 40 country smash, and Patsy Cline made "Crazy" into a Top Ten pop crossover hit. Earlier in the year, he signed a contract with Liberty Records, and began releasing a series of singles that were usually drenched in strings.

In 1961 Faron Young took a song written by Willie Nelson to No. 1. Hello Walls

Roger Miller wrote it but Claude Gray had the hit on "My Ears Should Burn When Fools Are Talked About." It went to number 3 in 1961.

First all-day bluegrass event staged in Luray, Virginia

Patsy Cline recorded "Crazy"

Patsy Cline injured
in automobile accident

Hank Garland seriously injured in auto wreck near Springfield, Tennessee

Buck Owens and Rose Maddox recorded the Top Five single "Loose Talk" for Capitol and the Top Ten single "Mental Cruelty" for Capitol

Buck Owens Sings Harlan Howard

"I would like to be remembered as a good entertainer, a good person. I think, maybe better as a good person."
Marty Robbins

In February 1961, Marty Robbins was about to enjoy his 7th number one record.

"Don't Worry" made the charts February 6th, 1961 and went on to hold the number one spot for 10 weeks. It was charted for 19 weeks.

And the follow0up to "Don't Worry" was "Jimmy Martinez" which topped out at
number 24 after making the charts June 3rd, 1961. It was on the charts for
4 weeks.

Marty won the first Grammy award ever presented to a country artist, for his performance of "El Paso;" 1961.

1961 charters for Ray Price

Heart Over Mind
24th Hour
Soft Rain
Here We Are Again
Ray tells TCB how one of his many hits came to be written: "One time we were on a bus and of course Willie was in my band, Buddy Emmons and all of the A Team at one time or another. Willie was playing poker with the boys and I said let’s go write a song. He said I’ll be back in a few minutes. I came back and said who was winning, he said while I’ve done lost, how about we go back and working on that song. I said I’m sorry – I’ve already wrote it." he laughs "It was a song called Soft Rain."

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