This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1981. [edit] Events - March 14 — The final showing of Live From The Grand Ole Opry on the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) occurs on this night. The show actually went beyond the televised segment, but the show was ended with a clip of Marty Robbins singing "El Paso" (a song he used to close out his Opry segment at midnight) from the year before. Because of cost over-runs and other technicalities, this was the final run for the annual show on PBS that featured the music of Tom T. Hall, Del Reeves, Hank Snow, Roy Acuff and Minnie Pearl, and many other performers.
[edit] No dates - The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Country Music, an eight-volume, 143-track collection, is released. The box set is considered one of the first important retrospectives of the genre and contains extensive liner notes, depicting the importance of each song or artist included.
- Songs included range from 1922's "Sally Gooden" to 1975's "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" by Willie Nelson. Specifically, each volume is titled as follows: "1920's," "1930's Southeast," "1930's Southwest," "1941-1953" (two records), "1953-1963," "Bluegrass" and "1963-1975."
[edit] Top hits of the year [edit] Number one hits [edit] United States (as certified by Billboard) - Notes
- 1^ No. 1 song of the year, as determined by Billboard.
- A^ First Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist.
- B^ Last Billboard No. 1 hit for that artist.
[edit] Canada (as certified by RPM) - Notes
- 1^ No. 1 song of the year, as determined by RPM.
- A^ First RPM No. 1 hit for that artist.
- B^ Last RPM No. 1 hit for that artist.
- C^ Only RPM No. 1 hit for that artist.
[edit] Other major hits [edit] Singles released by American artists [edit] Singles released by Canadian artists [edit] Top new album releases [edit] Other top albums [edit] On television [edit] Regular series [edit] Specials - June — Country Top 20 - Host Dennis Weaver presented the top 20 songs from January-June 1981. Performances from Alabama, The Gatlin Brothers, The Oak Ridge Boys, John Schneider, T. G. Sheppard, Dottie West and Shelly West. (syndicated)
- October — Country Galaxy of Stars - A two-hour special featuring performances by country music's top stars. (syndicated)
- December — Country Top 20 - A review of the top 20 songs from July-December 1981, with hosts Charly McClain and Roger Miller. Performers included John Conlee, Gail Davies, Crystal Gayle, Johnny Lee, Eddie Rabbitt, Eddy Raven, Joe Stampley, Sylvia and Hank Williams, Jr. (syndicated)
[edit] Births [edit] Deaths [edit] Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees [edit] Major awards [edit] Grammy Awards [edit] Juno Awards [edit] Academy of Country Music [edit] Country Music Association [edit] Further reading - Kingsbury, Paul, "The Grand Ole Opry: History of Country Music. 70 Years of the Songs, the Stars and the Stories," Villard Books, Random House; Opryland USA, 1995
- 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, "Top Country Songs 1944-2005 - 6th Edition." 2005.
[edit] Other links [edit] External links |
