{"id":14938,"date":"2026-06-08T10:06:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T16:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.birminghamrecord.com\/brc\/?p=14938"},"modified":"2026-06-08T10:06:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T16:06:33","slug":"newsletter-for-june-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.birminghamrecord.com\/brc\/newsletter-for-june-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Newsletter For June 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

BIRMINGHAM RECORD COLLECTORS<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

DEDICATED TO THE COLLECTING OF MUSIC, ITS PRESERVATION AND LASTING FRIENDSHIP<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

THIS MONTH’S MEETING WILL BE THE FIRST SUNDAY, JUNE 14TH\u00a02:00 PM<\/u><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

HOMEWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY 1721 OXMOOR RD BIRMINGHAM, AL 35209<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

NEXT MONTH’S MEETING WILL BE HELD THE SECOND SUNDAY, JULY 12TH AT\u00a02:00 PM<\/u><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

HOMEWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY 1721 OXMOOR RD BIRMINGHAM, AL 35209<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

THIS MONTH’S MEETING<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Seeing some of the old radio\u00a0surveys that were brought to the meeting and remembering how fun and \u2018important\u2019 they were to those of us growing up \u2018back in the day\u2019 made for a fun meeting.\u00a0\u00a0Who would have thought that one day they would be a collectible item.\u00a0\u00a0To know that this is something that goes from the Maine to California and that there are websites for real enthusiast makes for an entertaining hobby.\u00a0\u00a0Thanks, guys for educating us about the interest in this hobby.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This month we will take something we learned concerning those radio surveys and bring it to reality.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Looking at surveys from the late 1950\u2019s through the late 1960\u2019s we saw quite a variety of music genres mixed together.\u00a0\u00a0And when I look back at it that was part of the enjoyment of music.\u00a0\u00a0There was no country, no pop, no rock & roll, no R&B.\u00a0\u00a0To me it was just music on my favorite radio stations.\u00a0\u00a0I enjoyed it all.\u00a0\u00a0But there is one of those genres that we seemed to have overlooked at our meetings that brought us some outstanding music.\u00a0\u00a0That is Country or as some call it, Country & Western.\u00a0\u00a0We will be playing some of the Country hits that crossed over from C&W charts to the Pop charts.\u00a0\u00a0If you liked those crossovers then, drop by and hear some of that great music you sang along with.\u00a0\u00a0I bet you haven\u2019t heard some in a long time and probably have forgotten some of them.\u00a0\u00a0See ya there!<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

BRC RECORD SHOW COMING SOON<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are just 2 months away from our 41st annual record show.\u00a0 Preparations are underway but there is plenty to do so we still need volunteers now and at the show.\u00a0 Dates:\u00a0 Friday, Saturday, Sunday August 14-16.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Place: Gardendale Civic Center<\/strong><\/p>\n

Time:\u00a0 Friday – 10-2 for BRC members only.\u00a0 2-7 for the public.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Saturday – 9-5<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Sunday – 10-4<\/strong><\/p>\n

Plan on attending, bring a friend and spread the word.\u00a0 See ya there!!<\/strong><\/p>\n

COUNTRY CROSSOVERS \u2013 COUNTRY TO POP<\/strong><\/p>\n

I do not know what C\/W song crossed over to the Pop charts first but the first C\/W song to go to the top of the Pop charts was Al Dexter\u2019s \u2018Pistol Packin\u2019 Mama\u2019 in 1943.\u00a0\u00a0This song paved the way for other country artists to have success on both charts.\u00a0\u00a0As I said earlier, I think after a while all genres just became music to listen to not necessarily a mix of genres to listen to.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

What has been on my mind lately are the country songs I heard growing up that I enjoyed that were played right alongside Elvis, Chuck, Dion, Ricky, Bo and so on.\u00a0\u00a0See how many of these you remember and how they made listening to radio fun.\u00a0\u00a0Below are songs and artists from the mid 1950\u2019s and the later part of the 1960\u2019s I remember well but first I want to mention a few artists who would become very famous C\/W stars but tried rock & roll in their repertoire early in their career.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Marty Robbins would go on to have 84 C\/W charted songs 16 of which made #1.\u00a0\u00a0After having a hand full of C\/W hits Columbia Records released in 1955, \u2018Maybelline\u2019 and in 1956 \u2018Long Tall Sally\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0Columbia released his version of \u2018That\u2019s All Right\u2019 in 1955 a song which helped put Elvis on the map when he recorded it in 1954.\u00a0\u00a0Marty\u2019s version did go to #7 on the C\/W charts.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Conway Twitty would chart 97 songs on the C\/W charts, the first being in 1966 but before that success started, he had 16 songs chart on the pop charts between 1957-1962 including his #1 song, \u2018It\u2019s Only Make Believe\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0Other rock style songs he did during that time included \u2018Hey Little Lucy!\u2019, \u2018Lonely Blue Boy\u2019 and \u2018Long Black Train\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0He style was a combination of Elvis and Buddy Holly.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Charlie Rich did some really good rockers before his success began in the country vein.\u00a0\u00a0He had 45 C\/W songs that charted plus 9 that went to #1.\u00a0\u00a0He had 2 Pop charted songs before he made the C\/W charts.\u00a0\u00a0Those were \u2018Lonely Weekends\u2019 and \u2018Mohair Sam\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0He had a few songs that bubbled under the Top 100 on the Pop charts including \u2018Just A Little Bit Sweet\u2019 and a good rocking version of \u2018Big Boss Man\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0Other releases that did not chart were \u2018Whirlwind\u2019 and \u2018Sittin\u2019 And Thinkin\u2019.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bobby Bare\u2019s early releases included 10 of his first 12 C\/W hits that crossed over.\u00a0\u00a0But his first song to chart was on the pop charts.\u00a0\u00a0It was released on the Fraternity label and mistakenly listed the singer as Bill Parsons.\u00a0\u00a0The song, \u2018The All American Boy\u2019 hit #2 on the Pop charts in 1958. After that his success on both charts started and his success solely on the C\/W charts started in 1966 where he would go on to have 56 more hits there.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jerry Reed had a release on Capitol in 1957 that had the rock and teener feel.\u00a0\u00a0No country there.\u00a0\u00a0\u2018In My Own Backyard\u2019 and \u2018Ba-Bee\u2019 were the cuts.\u00a0\u00a0He had 2 releases that made the Top 100 on the Pop charts before he made the C\/W charts.\u00a0\u00a0\u2018Goodnight Irene\u2019 and \u2018Hully Gully Guitar\u2019 got him started there but he then had 2 decades of hits on the C\/W charts.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It has been said that Wanda Jackson started out as a rocker but then went country but she did have some success on the C\/W chart first then tried rock & roll and then back to country.\u00a0\u00a0She had 2 Top 20 hits on the country side then 1 rocker on the pop chart, \u2018Let\u2019s Have A Party\u2019 and then 28 more C\/W hits over a 13 year period.\u00a0\u00a0But she had a few early LP\u2019s that included quite a few rock, R&B and pop style songs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are others I am sure but let\u2019s move on to some of the songs that hit both the charts and listeners at the time just enjoyed it and didn\u2019t hear country vs rock.\u00a0\u00a0First, in no particular order would be Carl Butler\u2019s \u2018Don\u2019t Let Me Cross Over\u2019.\u00a0\u00a01962, #1 country and #88 pop.\u00a0\u00a0Don Gibson\u2019s \u2018Oh Lonesome Me\u2019.\u00a0\u00a01958 #1 country and #7 pop.\u00a0\u00a0David Houston\u2019s \u2018Almost Persuaded\u2019. 1966 #1 country and #24 pop.\u00a0\u00a0Hank Locklin\u2019s \u2018Please Help Me I\u2019m Fallin\u2019.\u00a0\u00a01960 #1 country and #8 pop.\u00a0\u00a0Ferlin Husky\u2019s \u2018Gone\u2019.\u00a0\u00a01957 #1 country # 4 pop. He also had \u2018Wings Of A Dove\u2019.\u00a0\u00a01960 #1 country #12 pop.\u00a0\u00a0Dave Dudley\u2019s \u2018Six Days On The Road\u2019.\u00a0\u00a01963 #2 country #32 pop.\u00a0\u00a0LeRoy Van Dyke\u2019s \u2018Walk On By\u2019.\u00a0\u00a01961 #1 country and #5 pop.\u00a0\u00a0Faron Young\u2019s \u2018Hello Walls\u2019.\u00a0\u00a01961 #1 country and #12 pop.\u00a0\u00a0Billy Grammer\u2019s \u2018Gotta Travel On\u2019.\u00a0\u00a01959 #5 country and # 4 pop.\u00a0\u00a0Claude King\u2019s \u2018Wolverton Mountain\u2019.\u00a0\u00a01962 #1 country and #6 pop.\u00a0\u00a0Tammy Wynette\u2019s \u2018D-I-V-O-R-C-E.\u00a0\u00a01968 #1 country and #63 pop.\u00a0\u00a0Bobby Edwards\u2019 \u2018You\u2019re The Reason\u2019.\u00a0\u00a01961 #4 country and #11 pop.\u00a0\u00a0George Hamilton\u2019s \u2018Abilene\u2019.\u00a0\u00a01963 #1 country and #15 pop.\u00a0\u00a0Johnny Horton\u2019s \u2018Honky Tonk Man\u2019.\u00a0\u00a01962 #11 country and #96 pop.\u00a0\u00a0This song was released first in 1956 making it to # 9 country but did nothing pop.\u00a0\u00a0Wanda Jackson\u2019s \u2018Right Or Wrong\u2019.\u00a0\u00a01961 #9 country #29 pop.\u00a0\u00a0Webb Pierce\u2019s \u2018I Ain\u2019t Never\u2019.\u00a0\u00a01959 #2 country and #24 pop.\u00a0\u00a0A guy that you may think had quite a few crossovers was George Jones, but he didn\u2019t.\u00a0\u00a0He had 7 crossovers with \u2018White Lightnin\u2019\u2019 being his most successful. 1959 #1 country and #73 pop.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of the more prominent \u2018crossovers\u2019 follow here.\u00a0\u00a0Patsy Cline\u2019s first 10 releases crossed over.\u00a0\u00a0Her most successful was \u2018Crazy\u2019.\u00a0\u00a01961 #2 country and #9 pop.\u00a0\u00a0Eddy Arnold had 30 crossovers out of 145 C\/W charted songs.\u00a0\u00a0The one I remember most over my radio airwaves would be \u2018What\u2019s He Doing In My World\u2019.\u00a0\u00a01965 #1 country and #60 pop.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jim Reeves had 23 of his 80 C\/W hits crossover.\u00a0\u00a0I remember most of his but the best was his \u2018He\u2019ll Have To Go\u2019. 1959 #1 country and #2 pop.\u00a0\u00a0Marty Robbins had 20 of his 94 C\/W hits crossover.\u00a0\u00a0I probably remember him on the pop airwaves more than anyone including these: \u201cSinging The Blues\u2019.\u00a0\u00a01956 #1 country and #17 pop.\u00a0\u00a0\u2018A White Sport Coat (And A Pink Carnation)\u2019. 1957 #1 country and #2 pop.\u00a0\u00a0\u2018El Paso\u2019. 1959 #1 country and #1 pop.\u00a0\u00a0\u2018Don\u2019t Worry\u2019.\u00a0\u00a01961 31 country # 3 pop.\u00a0\u00a0\u2018Devil Woman\u2019.\u00a0\u00a01962 #1 country and #16 pop.\u00a0\u00a0The song of Marty\u2019s that was probably #1 in the Birmingham area that never charted country but did make it to #45 pop was \u2018Cap And Gown\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0Every year at the end of the school year it was played around here for all the graduates.\u00a0\u00a0It was always fun waiting to hear it year after year and then I heard it my graduation year.\u00a0\u00a0Bobby Bare\u2019s success for crossing over was mentioned above but I did not mention a song.\u00a0\u00a0How about \u2018Shame on Me\u2019.\u00a0\u00a01962 #18 country and #23 pop.\u00a0\u00a0Probably the biggest name would be Johnny Cash.\u00a0\u00a0He had 41 of his 135 country hits crossover to pop.\u00a0\u00a0Of all the great songs he did his most successful was the novelty song \u2018A Boy Named Sue\u2019.\u00a0\u00a01969 #1 country and #1 pop.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I know there are more but these are the ones I remember best during my coming-of-age time.\u00a0\u00a0It was a fun time to listen to the radio.\u00a0\u00a0Hope this list brought back some great memories of your own.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

BRC RADIO<\/strong><\/p>\n

Check out the BRC Radio podcasts on our websit – birminghamrecord.com\u00a0 Click on RADIO and choose from shows that go bask as far as 2013.\u00a0 Currently we have 3 different hosts and they all play a variety of music.\u00a0 Here are the latest shows you can find on our site.<\/strong><\/p>\n

June 7 –\u00a0The Vinyl Experience With Tom Faison – Music Of The Mind<\/a>
\nMay 31 –\u00a0Country hits that crossed over to the pop\/rock charts<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

May 17 –\u00a0Sounds of the Girls and Girl Groups<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0See ya,\u00a0\u00a0Charlie<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BIRMINGHAM RECORD COLLECTORS DEDICATED TO THE COLLECTING OF MUSIC, ITS PRESERVATION AND LASTING FRIENDSHIP THIS MONTH’S MEETING WILL BE THE FIRST SUNDAY, JUNE 14TH\u00a02:00 PM HOMEWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY 1721 OXMOOR RD BIRMINGHAM, AL 35209 NEXT MONTH’S MEETING WILL BE HELD THE SECOND SUNDAY, JULY 12TH AT\u00a02:00 PM HOMEWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY 1721 OXMOOR RD BIRMINGHAM, AL […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newletters","comments-open"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p46vzC-3SW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.birminghamrecord.com\/brc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.birminghamrecord.com\/brc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.birminghamrecord.com\/brc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.birminghamrecord.com\/brc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.birminghamrecord.com\/brc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14938"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.birminghamrecord.com\/brc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14939,"href":"http:\/\/www.birminghamrecord.com\/brc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14938\/revisions\/14939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.birminghamrecord.com\/brc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.birminghamrecord.com\/brc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.birminghamrecord.com\/brc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}