This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1931.
Events
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). Only the Carter Family would come close.
Top Hillbilly (Country) Recordings 1931
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.
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 Jimmie Rodgers "Blue Yodel No. 8 (Mule Skinner Blues)" Victor 23503 US Hillbilly 1931 No. 1 2 Jimmie Rodgers "T.B. Blues" Victor 23535 US Hillbilly 1931 No. 2, 47,355 sales 3 Bud Billings (Frank Luther) and Carson Robison "When Your Hair Has Turned To Silver" Victor 22588 US BB 1931 No. 48, US No. 4 for 1 week, 12 total weeks, US Hillbilly 1931 No. 3, 38,805 sales 4 Jimmie Rodgers "Jimmie the Kid" Victor 23549 US Hillbilly 1931 No. 4, 36,450 sales 5 Jimmie Rodgers "Travellin’ Blues" Victor 23564 US Hillbilly 1931 No. 5, 31,734 sales 6 Jimmie Rodgers "Nobody Knows But Me" Victor 23518 US Hillbilly 1931 No. 6, 28,959 sales 7 Jimmie Rodgers "Blue Yodel No. 9 (Standing On a Corner)" Victor 23580 US Hillbilly 1931 No. 7, 25,071 sales, Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007 8 Jimmie Rodgers Assisted By The Carter Family "Jimmie Rodgers Visits the Carter Family" Victor 23574 US Hillbilly 1931 No. 8, 24,093 sales 9 Carter Family "Little Log Hut In The Lane" Victor 40328 US Hillbilly 1931 No. 9, 17,990 sales 10 Carter Family "On the Rock Where Moses Stood" Victor 23513 US Hillbilly 1931 No. 10, 16,407 sales 11 Carter Family "Lonesome Valley" Victor 23541 US BB 1931 No. 175, US No. 15 for 1 week, 2 total weeks, US Hillbilly 1931 No. 11, 15,107 sales 12 Carter Family "Where Shall I Be" Victor 23523 US Hillbilly 1931 No. 12, 13,275 sales 13 Allen Brothers "No Low Down Hanging 'Round" Victor 23536 US Hillbilly 1931 No. 13, 11,769 sales 14 Jimmie Rodgers with Lani McIntire's Hawaiians "Moonlight And Skies" Victor 23574 US Hillbilly 1931 No. 13, 24,093 sales 15 Fleming and Townsend Little Home Upon the Hill Victor V-40321 US Hillbilly 1931 No. 15, 10,888 sales 16 Buster Carter and Preston Young "A Lazy Farmer Boy" Columbia 15702 US Hillbilly 1931 No. 16 17 Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie "Let's Go To Town" Vocalion 1660 US Hillbilly 1931 No. 17 18 Jimmie Davis "Arabella Blues" Victor 23517 US Hillbilly 1931 No. 18, 9,653 sales 19 Carter Family "When I'm Gone" Victor 23569 US Hillbilly 1931 No. 18, 9,566 sales 20 Carter Family "There Is Someone Waiting For Me" Victor 23554 US Hillbilly 1931 No. 19, 9,490 sales 21 Carter Family "Fond Affection" Victor 40328 US Hillbilly 1931 No. 20, 7,261 sales
Births July 26 – Fred Foster, record producer and songwriter (died 2019). September 12 – George Jones, "The Possum," one of the genre's all-time greatest vocalists (died 2013). November 8 – Harold Shedd, record producer most associated with the 1980s success of Alabama. December 30 – Skeeter Davis, the top vocalist in country music during the 1960s, best known for the hit song "The End of the World" (died 2004).
Deaths May 21 – Charlie Poole, banjo player and leader of The North Carolina Ramblers (heart attack)
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 ()
References