The first Grammy Award for outstanding performances in the country music genre is presented. The Kingston Trio wins the only country-specific award, for Best Country and Western Performance, with "Tom Dooley." It wouldn't be until 1965 when more country-specific Grammy categories were started. Until 1966 (when the Academy of Country Music began presenting awards), the Grammy Awards would be the only method to honor remarkable accomplishments in the genre.
A young sharecropper's son named Buck Owens scores his first significant chart hit with "Second Fiddle." That song, plus the follow-up – "Under Your Spell Again", his first Billboard Top 10 hit – provides country fans with the earliest examples of Owens' trademark "Bakersfield" sound.
Dolly Parton records for the first time, on the small Goldband Records label. Her first recorded song is a rockabilly song called "Puppy Love."
George Jones scores the first No. 1 of his 50-plus year career with "White Lightnin'." Jones would go on to become the first artist to have No. 1 hits in four consecutive decades, his last No. 1 hit coming in 1983 with "I Always Get Lucky with You."
Johnny Horton's "The Battle Of New Orleans" is named the Billboard Year-End No. 1 song of the year on both the Billboard country and Hot 100 charts. To date, it is the only time this feat has occurred.
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 (ISBN0-8118-3572-3)
Millard, Bob, "Country Music: 70 Years of America's Favorite Music," HarperCollins, New York, 1993 (ISBN0-06-273244-7)
Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs 1944–2005 – 6th Edition." 2005.