# 1934 in country music

This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1934.

## Events

* August – Decca Records, Inc. established in New York City
* July – Columbia Phonograph Company purchased by the American Record Corporation (ARC)

## Top Hillbilly (Country) Recordings

The Great Depression continued to wreak havoc on the American record industry in 1934. The Grigsby-Grunow Company, owner of Columbia Phonograph Company, failed, and Columbia was put up for sale. Columbia operations, catalogue and trademarks, as well as Okeh Records, were purchased by the American Record Corporation (ARC) for $70,000 in July 1934. Columbia's pressing and warehouse facilities, along with equipment and machines, were absorbed by ARC, but for the next four years, both labels were dormant. Decca Records, Ltd., London, UK, formed Decca Records, Inc. in the United States, and began operations in August 1934. Three former Brunswick managers, including Jack Kapp, were hired.
The following songs were extracted from records included in Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954, record sales reported on the "Discography of American Historical Recordings" website, and other sources as specified. Numerical rankings are approximate, they are only used as a frame of reference.
| Rank | Artist | Title | Label | Recorded | Released | Chart Positions |
| 1 | Sons of the Pioneers | "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" | Decca 5047 | August 8, 1934 (1934-08-08) | November 10, 1934 (1934-11-10) | US BB 1934 #203, US #13 for 1 week, 2 total weeks, US Hillbilly 1934 #1, National Recording Registry 2010, Grammy Hall of Fame 2002 |
| 2 | Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers | "Down Yonder" | Bluebird 5562 | March 29, 1934 (1934-03-29) | July 18, 1934 (1934-07-18) | US BB 1934 #139, US #10 for 1 week, 6 total weeks, US Hillbilly 1934 #2 |
| 3 | Delmore Brothers | "Brown's Ferry Blues" | Bluebird 5403 | December 6, 1933 (1933-12-06) | April 4, 1934 (1934-04-04) | US Hillbilly 1934 #3 |
| 4 | Tex Owens | "The Cattle Call" | Decca 5015 | August 8, 1934 (1934-08-08) | October 11, 1934 (1934-10-11) | US Hillbilly 1934 #4 |
| 5 | Linda Parker, Acc. By Cumberland Ridge Runners | "Take Me Back To Renfro Valley" | Conqueror 8164 | April 11, 1933 (1933-04-11) | December 1933 (1933-12) | US Hillbilly 1934 #5 |
| 6 | Kokomo Arnold | "Milk Cow Blues" | Decca 7026 | September 10, 1934 (1934-09-10) | November 1934 (1934-11) | US Hillbilly 1934 #6 |
| 7 | W. Lee O'Daniel and His Light Crust Doughboys with Leon Huff | "My Mary" (by Hamblen) | Vocalion 2872 | October 1, 1934 (1934-10-01) | November 1934 (1934-11) | US Hillbilly 1934 #7 |
| 8 | Rambling Red Foley with the Cumberland Ridge Runners | "I Got The Freight Train Blues" | Perfect 12996 | March 21, 1934 (1934-03-21) | April 18, 1934 (1934-04-18) | US Hillbilly 1934 #8 |
| 9 | Delmore Brothers | "I've Got The Big River Blues" | Bluebird 5531 | December 6, 1933 (1933-12-06) | July 5, 1934 (1934-07-05) | US Hillbilly 1934 #9 |
| 10 | Riley Puckett | "Ragged but Right" | Bluebird 5587 | March 29, 1934 (1934-03-29) | August 15, 1934 (1934-08-15) | US Hillbilly 1934 #10 |
| 11 | W. Lee O'Daniel and His Light Crust Doughboys | "Beautiful Texas" (O'Daniel) | Vocalion 2621 | October 10, 1933 (1933-10-10) | February 1934 (1934-02) | US Hillbilly 1934 #11 |
| 12 | Jimmie Rodgers | "Jimmie Rodgers' Last Blue Yodel" | Bluebird 5281 | May 18, 1933 (1933-05-18) | December 1933 (1933-12) | US Hillbilly 1934 #12 |
| 13 | Westerners (Massey Family) | "Ridin' Down That Old Texas Trail" (by Dott Massey) | Melotone 13006 | March 21, 1934 (1934-03-21) | May 1934 (1934-05) | US Hillbilly 1934 #13 |
| 14 | Stuart Hamblen and His Covered Wagon Jubilee | "Texas Plains" (by Hamblen) | Decca 5001 | August 3, 1934 (1934-08-03) | September 1934 (1934-09) | US Hillbilly 1934 #14 |
| 15 | Charlie Patton | "Stone Pony Blues" | Vocalion 2680 | February 14, 1934 (1934-02-14) | April 1934 (1934-04) | US Hillbilly 1934 #15 |
| 16 | Three Little Maids | "Since The Angels Took Mother Away"(by Jenny Lou Carson) | Bluebird 5336 | December 12, 1933 (1933-12-12) | February 1934 (1934-02) | US Hillbilly 1934 #16 |
| 17 | Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers | "On Tanners Farm" | Bluebird 5665 | February 14, 1934 (1934-02-14) | October 17, 1934 (1934-10-17) | US Hillbilly 1934 #17 |
| 18 | Sons of the Pioneers | "Way Out There" | Decca 5013 | August 8, 1934 (1934-08-08) | September 26, 1934 (1934-09-26) | US Hillbilly 1934 #18 |
| 19 | Jimmie Davis | "Beautiful Texas" (O'Daniel) | Bluebird 5394 | August 5, 1933 (1933-08-05) | April 1934 (1934-04) | US Hillbilly 1934 #19 |
| 20 | Ernest Phipps and His Holiness Singers | "A Little Talk With Jesus" | Bluebird 5540 | October 30, 1928 (1928-10-30) | July 10, 1934 (1934-07-10) | US Hillbilly 1934 #20 |

## Births

* March 18 – Charley Pride, singer and songwriter, country music's first African-American star (d. 2020)
* March 31 – John D. Loudermilk, singer and songwriter (died 2016).
* April 1 – Jim Ed Brown, pop-styled singer who enjoyed success as part of a family group (The Browns), as a solo artist and as part of a duet (with Helen Cornelius), spanning the 1950s through early 1980s (died 2015).
* August 5 – Vern Gosdin, "The Voice" of many honky tonk-styled hits from the 1970s through early 1990s (died 2009).
* August 27 – Frances Preston, music executive (died 2012).
* October 24 – Sanger D. Shafer, AKA "Whitey" Shafer, songwriter (died 2019).