1941 in country music

This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1941.

Events

• January 1 - Radio programmers begin a 10-month ban on the ASCAP catalog when they fail to reach an agreement. Instead, disc jockeys begin to rely on BMI and its catalog of "hillbilly" music.
• October - The Grand Ole Opry organizes a "Camel Country" tour in a show of support for American servicemen, many of whom would be off to war two months later.

Top hits of the year

• "A Year Ago Tonight" - Gene Autry
• "Alamo Rag" - Adolph Hofner
• "Along the Santa Fe Trail" - Bing Crosby
• "Be Honest With Me" - Roy Acuff
• "Be Honest With Me" - Gene Autry
• "Be Honest With Me" - Red Foley
• "Be Honest With Me" - Jimmy Wakely
• "Big Beaver" - Bob Wills
• "Come Back Little Pal" - Roy Acuff
• "Cool Water" - Sons of the Pioneers
• "Draftee Blues" - Johnny Bond
• "Gone And Left Me Blues" - Jimmy Wakely
• "I Hung My Head And I Cried" - Jimmie Davis
• "I'll Never Let You Go Little Darling" - Gene Autry
• "I'll Never Let You Go Little Darling" - Jimmy Wakely
• "In My Adobe Hacienda" - Louise Massey
• "It Makes No Difference Now" - Gene Autry
• "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" - Patsy Montana
• "I Wonder Why You Said Gooebye" - Ernest Tubb
• "I Wonder Where You Are Tonight" - Jimmy Wakely
• "Lil Liza Jane" - Bob Wills
• "Live and Let Live" - Wiley Walker and Gene Sullivan
• "Maiden's Prayer" - Bob Wills
• "My Mary" - Jimmie Davis
• "Mean Mama Blues" - Ernest Tubb
• "New San Antonio Rose" - Bing Crosby
• "Old Shep" - Red Foley
• "Please Remember Me" - Ernest Tubb
• "The Precious Jewel" - Roy Acuff
• "Sweethearts Or Strangers" - Jimmie Davis
• "Take Me Back To Tulsa" - Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
• "Tears On My Pillow" - Gene Autry
• "Time Changes Everything" - Bob Wills
• "Too Late" - Jimmie Davis
• "Twin Guitar Special" - Bob Wills
• "You Are My Sunshine" - Gene Autry
• "Walking the Floor Over You" - Ernest Tubb
• "When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again" - Wiley Walker and Gene Sullivan
• "Won't You Ride In My Little Red Wagon" - Hank Penny
• "Worried Mind" - Roy Acuff
• "Worried Mind" - Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
• "Worried Mind" - Texas Jim Lewis
• "Worried Mind" - Roy Rogers

Births

• January 18 - Bobby Goldsboro, middle-of-the-road artist best known for 1968's "Honey."
• February 8 - Henson Cargill, best known for 1968's "Skip a Rope." (died 2007)
• March 28 - Charlie McCoy, harmonica specialist.
• April 2 - Sonny Throckmorton, songwriter.
• May 31 - Johnny Paycheck, outlaw country-styled singer best known for "Take This Job and Shove It" (died 2003).
• August 14 - Connie Smith, female vocalist who grew to fame in the 1960s; Grand Ole Opry mainstay.
• September 21 - Dickey Lee, pop-country singer-songwriter.
• September 26 - David Frizzell, brother of Lefty Frizzell who grew into a country star in his own right.
• October 17 - Earl Thomas Conley, singer-songwriter who became one of country's biggest stars of the 1980s.
• November 6 - Guy Clark, alternative-outlaw country singer-songwriter.
• November 27 - Eddie Rabbitt, singer-songwriter who crossed over to pop in the early 1980s with hits such as "I Love a Rainy Night" and "Drivin' My Life Away" (died 1998)
• November 29 - Jody Miller, female vocalist best known for "Queen of the House" (answer song to Roger Miller's "King of the Road").

Deaths

• November 7 - Henry Whitter, 49, early country musician.

Further reading

• Kingsbury, Paul, "Vinyl Hayride: Country Music Album Covers 1947-1989," Country Music Foundation, 2003 (ISBN 0-8118-3572-3)
• Millard, Bob, "Country Music: 70 Years of America's Favorite Music," HarperCollins, New York, 1993 (ISBN 0-06-273244-7)
• Whitburn, Joel. "Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954: The History of American Popular Music," Record Research Inc., Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, 1986 (ISBN 0-89820-083-0).