Top-10 Honky-Tonk Songs (1944 ~ 1993)
Perhaps no other style of country music has had a greater influence on today's artists than the style known as honky-tonk. Honky-tonk music embodied the spirit of dancing and drinking and of loving and losing the one you love. Its greatest practitioners owe their singing style to Jimmie Rodgers and much of the music to the steel guitar and drums of Bob Wills and western swing. Honky-tonks originated in dance halls of the southwest. They offered a place for hard-working people to unwind at the end of a long, hard day on the job. The music that developed in these dance halls, served as country music's backbone for more than half a century.
The honky-tonk dance halls spawned an incredible group of male singers, like Williams, Price and Pierce. Women were important in the evolution of honky-tonk music. Patsy Montana, Rose Maddox, Kitty Wells and Jean Shepard, helped establish both the honky-tonk sound and a new country music sound in which women took the lead and sang laments.
The following honky-tonk songs are ranked using data from Record Research, who pulls their information from Billboard's Country Music Chart.
1) Webb Pierce: "In the Jailhouse Now" is a novelty blues song originally found in Vaudeville performances from the early twentieth century, usually credited to Jimmie Rodgers. Rodgers recorded the song in 1928 (Camden, New Jersey), which featured Rodgers on vocals and guitar, with Ellsworth T. Cozzens playing banjo.
Webb Pierce was one of the most popular honky-tonk vocalists of the 1950s. His version of the song is ranked as the 3rd all-time biggest song in country music. It spent 21 weeks at number one on the Billboard chart in 1955.
2) Ray Price: Ray started out as a Hank Williams protégé and ended up as a crooning country smoothie. In between, he was one of the best honky-tonk singers ever. Crazy Arms (No. 1, 1956) is listed as the 4th all-time biggest song in country music. It claimed the Billboard No. 1 chart spot, where it remained for an astounding 20 weeks.
3) Hank Williams: Hank's Grand Ole Opry performance of "Lovesick Blues" (No. 1, 1949) is still considered the Ryman Auditorium's greatest moment as Williams answered six encores. He is the undisputed king of honky-tonk songs, charting 17 honky-tonk songs from 1949 to 1953. "Lovesick Blues" is listed as the 11th all-time biggest song in country music. It spent 16 weeks at number one on the Billboard chart.
4) Hank Williams: Jambbalaya (On the Bayou)" is listed as the 20th all-time biggest song in country music. It climbed to the Billboard No. 1 chart spot, where it remained for an astounding 14 weeks. Released in 1952, crediting Williams as the sole author, it was performed as a country honky-tonk song.
5) Ray Price: Ray became one of the leaders of the1950s honky-tonk music, with hits such as "City Lights." Ray's classic song is listed as the 28th all-time biggest song in country music. It spent 13 weeks at number one on the Billboard chart in 1958.
6) Lefty Frizzell: Lefty is the model for almost all contemporary male hard country singers. His Columbia recording "Always Late" (No. 1, 1950) became a massive hit, claiming Billboard's top spot for 12 weeks in 1951. It is listed as the 33rd all-time biggest song in country music. It spent 28 weeks on Billboard's top-forty chart.
7) Ernest Tubb (ET): Ernest was one of the originator's of the honky-tonk sound. ET's recording of "Walking the Floor over You" (1942), became a million-seller. This song would have ruled the charts, but Billboard was not charting country music prior to 1944. When he died (1984), the country music world mourned the man that writer Chet Flippo once accurately described as "honky-tonk music personified."
8) Carl Smith: Carl was an extremely popular and successful 1950s honky-tonk star and the only Nashville artists to setup shop outside the USA. He hosted the Carl Smith Country Music Hall on Canada's CTV for five years. "Let Old Mother Nature Have Her Way" (No. 1, 1951), spent 33 weeks on the Billboard top-forty chart and 8 weeks at number one.
9) Kitty Wells: Kitty immediately comes to mind when you think about women in honky-tonk music. Her recording of "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" (No. 1, 1952) spent 18 weeks on the Billboard top-forty chart and 6 weeks at number one.
10) Johnny Horton: Johnny had a unique voice that enhanced the honky-tonk sound. He recorded several honky-tonk songs that stand among the best ever cut. “Honky-tonk Man’ (No. 9, 1956) spent 12 weeks on the Billboard top-forty chart.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Researched, compiled and written by Richard Bell, Roots of Country Music, May 2, 2010.
