Whitburn, Joel Hot Country Songs 1944-2012 (8th Edition)

(2013/Record Research) Hardcover, 22x28 cm, 512 pages.
Hot Country Songs 1944-2012 covers the complete history of Billboard magazine's Country Singles chart, from the very first "Juke Box Folk Records" chart in January, 1944, through the last "Hot Country Songs" chart of December, 2012. This eighth edition is bigger and better than ever with more data and new features displayed on every page of its larger 8.5x11 inch size.

• Songwriters and B-sides!
• 225 Weeks of Chart Data Updates
• Approx. 800 New Titles
• Large 8.5" x 11" Size

Artist Section

• Chart discographies are in true chronological order
• Complete chart data on every song (debut date, peak position, weeks on chart)
• Short biography for every artist
• NEW! Every Song's Writer(s)
• Every B-side
• RIAA gold/platinum certifications
• Record label & number
• "Hot 100" and "Bubbling Under" Positions for crossover hits
• Top 5 Hits shaded for easy identification
• NEW! Joel's personal list of Top 100 Country Songs!
• And so much more!

Chronological Listing of Every #1 Hit

Song Title Index

Lists of Artist & Song Rankings and Achievements

Joel Whitburn

From pastime to passion to profitable enterprise, the growth of Record Research has been the outgrowth of Joel Whitburn’s hobby. Joel began collecting records as a teenager in the 1950s. As his collection grew, he began to sort, categorize and file each record according to the highest position it reached on Billboard magazine's charts. He went on to publish this information — first on individual artists’ cards, then in book form in 1970 — and a business was born.

Today, Joel leads a team of researchers who delve into all of Billboard’s music charts to an unmatched degree of depth and detail. Widely recognized as the most authoritative historian on charted music, Joel has also collaborated with Warner/Rhino Records in creating a series of 150 CD albums, plus five CD albums with Curb Records. Joel’s own record collection remains unrivaled the world over and includes every charted Hot 100 and pop single (back to 1936), every charted pop album (back to 1945), collections of nearly every charted Country, R&B, Bubbling Under The Hot 100 and Adult Contemporaryrecords. Ever the consummate collector, Joel also owns one of the world’s largest picture sleeve collections, many of which he displays in the series of books (Top 40 Hits, Top 40 Albums, Top 40 Country Hits, Top 40 R&B Hits) he writes for Billboard’s book division. To date, Record Research has published nearly 200 books, over 50 of which are currently in the catalog.

Joel's site, www.recordresearch.com, brought his enormous database online in 2009. The MusicVault, complete with chart data and record photos, has proved to be an immediate, reliable wellspring of data