These are lists of Billboard magazine's "Top Country & Western Records" for 1951, ranked by retail sales and juke box plays.

Overview Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold Heart" was 1951's No. 1 country hit based on retail sales and No. 6 based on juke box plays. Lefty Frizzell's "I Want to Be with You Always" ranked No. 1 based on juke box plays and No. 2 based on retail sales. The year's other top hits included: Frizzell's "Always Late with Your Kisses" (No. 2 retail, No. 2 juke box), Hank Snow's "The Rhumba Boogie" (No. 4 retail, No. 5 juke box), Eddy Arnold's "I Wanna Play House With You" (No. 2 juke box, No. 5 retail), and Tennessee Ernie Ford's "The Shotgun Boogie" (No. 4 juke box, No. 7 retail).

Leading artists and labels The Billboard year-end charts were cited as proof that Lefty Frizzell was "the nation's number one western and country recording star." Frizzell led all other artists with seven records appearing on the Billboard year-end charts. Eddy Arnold placed second with six records followed by Hank Williams (five), Hank Snow (five), and Carl Smith (three).

The RCA Victor and Columbia labels dominated the 1951 year-end country charts, with 14 records from RCA Victor and 12 from Columbia. Decca, which had dominated the 1950 year-end country charts with 11 records, managed to land only one record on the 1951 year-end charts.

Other promulgators While Billboard is considered the authoritative source, at least one other publisher, Music VF, created its own list of the top country hits of 1951. Music VF's list was led by (1) "Slow Poke" by Pee Wee King, (2) "Mockin' Bird Hill" by Les Paul and Mary Ford, (3) "On Top of Old Smoky" by The Weavers, (4) "Down Yonder" by Del Wood, and (5) "Mockin' Bird Hill" by the Pinetoppers.

Country music in 1951

During the early 1950s, there was tremendous growth in the popularity of country music, as artists like Eddy Arnold sold records at a level that rivaled Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and other top pop artists.Cusic, Don. "The Emergence of the Country Music Business: 1945-1955." Studies in Popular Culture, vol. 17, no. 2, 1995, pp. 17–29. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23413699. Accessed 2 Dec. 2020. Patti Page's "Tennessee Waltz", produced and recorded in Nashville, crossed over to become a No. 1 hit on pop charts in 1951, and "more than any other single song, established Nashville as a source of songs for the pop market.Cusic, p. 27. Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold Heart" was another prominent example of country music crossing over in 1951; the song was such a massive hit that five versions reached the pop Top 30, and Tony Bennett's version spent six weeks at No. 1. The creation of a separate Billboard chart to track the top country hits confirmed the increased importance of the genre.Cusic, p. 19.

Top records Retailyear-end Juke boxyear-end PeakThis column recites the record's peak position on Billboard's weekly charts. Title Artist(s) Label1 6 1 "Cold, Cold Heart" Hank Williams M-G-M2 1 1 "I Want to Be with You Always" Lefty Frizzell Columbia3 3 1 "Always Late with Your Kisses" Lefty Frizzell Columbia4 5 1 "The Rhumba Boogie" Hank Snow RCA Victor5 2 1 "I Wanna Play House With You" Eddy Arnold RCA Victor6 13 1 "There's Been a Change in Me" Eddy Arnold RCA Victor7 4 1 "The Shotgun Boogie" Tennessee Ernie Ford Capitol8 7 1 "Hey, Good Lookin'" Hank Williams M-G-M9 11 2 "Mom and Dad's Waltz" Lefty Frizzell Columbia10 17 1 "The Golden Rocket" Hank Snow RCA Victor11 NR 1 "I'm Movin' On Hank Snow RCA Victor12 8 1 "Kentucky Waltz" Eddy Arnold RCA Victor13 10 1 "Slow Poke" Pee Wee King RCA Victor14 9 2 "Let's Live a Little" Carl Smith Columbia15 19 1 "I Love You a Thousand Ways" Lefty Frizzell Columbia16 30 4 "Poison Love" Johnnie and Jack RCA Victor17 12 2 Hank Snow Anita Carter RCA Victor18 25 4 "Bluebird Island" Anita Carter Hank Snow RCA Victor19 29 5 "Peace in the Valley" Red Foley Decca20 23 4 "Mr. Moon" Carl Smith Columbia21 20 1 "If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time" Lefty Frizzell Columbia22 NR 5 "Heart Strings" Eddy Arnold RCA Victor23 26 2 "Somebody's Been Beating My Time" Eddy Arnold RCA Victor24 NR 6 "Travelin' Blues" Lefty Frizzell Columbia25 21 "Beautiful Brown Eyes" Jimmy Wakely Capitol26 NR 4 "Look What Thoughts Will Do" Lefty Frizzell Columbia27 15 3 "Howlin' at the Moon" Hank Williams M-G-M28 NR 1 "Let Old Mother Nature Have Her Way" Carl Smith Columbia29 28 4 "Crazy Heart" Hank Williams M-G-M30 NR 8 "It's No Secret" Stuart Hamblen ColumbiaNR 14 2 "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)" Hank Williams M-G-MNR 16 3 "Mockin' Bird Hill" Pinetoppers CoralNR 18 5 "Down Yonder" Del Wood TennesseeNR 22 4 "Something Old, Something New" Eddy Arnold RCA VictorNR 24 2 "Tennessee Waltz" Patti Page MercuryNR 27 5 "Cryin' Heart Blues" Johnnie and Jack RCA VictorNR 30 7 "Sick, Sober and Sorry Johnny Bond Columbia

See also List of Billboard number-one country songs of 1951 Billboard year-end top 30 singles of 1951 1951 in country music

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