Billboard Top Race Records of 1948
Billboard Top Race Records of 1948 is a year-end chart compiled by Billboard magazine ranking the year's top race records based on record sales.Billboard assigned point totals to each record based on its sales.[1]
"Long Gone", an instrumental by Sonny Thompson with the "Sharps and Flats" was the year's No. 1 race record with 195 points. Thompson had another instrumental record, "Late Freight", that made the year-end list at No. 13.
"Good Rocking Tonight" by Wynonie Harris finished in the No. 2 spot with 145 points. The song anticipated elements of rock and roll music and has been cited as one of the candidates for the title of the first rock and roll record.[2][3][4]
"Tomorrow Night", a blues record by Lonnie Johnson, finished third with 129 points. The record was a remake of a 1939 version by Horace Heidt. Johson's version held the No. 1 spot on the race chart for seven weeks and crossed over to reach the No. 19 spot on the pop chart.
"Nature Boy" by King Cole, with an orchestra conducted by Frank De Vol, was the only song to be included in Billboard's year-end lists for both race and pop records. It finished at No. 11 among the year's race records and No. 14 among the pop records.[1][5]
King Records led all other labels with six records on the year-end chart, followed by Miracle and Capitol with three records each.[1]
| Rank | Title | Artist(s) | Label | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Long Gone" | Sonny Thompson | Miracle | 195 |
| 2 | "Good Rocking Tonight" | Wynonie Harris | King | 145 |
| 3 | "Tomorrow Night" | Lonnie Johnson | King | 129 |
| 4 | "Pretty Mama Blues" | Ivory Joe Hunter | 4 Star | 125 |
| 5 | "I Can't Go on Without You" | Bull Moose Jackson | King | 117 |
| 6 | "Messin' Around" | Memphis Slim | Miracle | 108 |
| 7 | "My Heart Belongs to You" | Arbee Stidham | RCA Victor | 97 |
| 8 | "Corn Bread" | Hal Singer Sextette | Savoy | 79 |
| 9 | "Run Joe" | Louis Jordan | Decca | 62 |
| 10 | "Blues After Hours" | Pee Wee Crayton | Modern | 55 |
| 11 | "Nature Boy" | Nat King Cole | Capitol | 47 |
| 12 | "All My Love Belongs to You" | Bull Moose Jackson | King | 42 |
| 13 | "Late Freight" | Sonny Thompson | Miracle | 41 |
| 14 | "Send for Me if You Need Me" | The Ravens | National | 39 |
| 14 | "Am I Asking Too Much?" | Dinah Washington | Mercury | 39 |
| 15 | "Hop, Skip and Jump" | Roy Milton | Specialty | 38 |
| 16 | "King Size Papa" | Julia Lee | Capitol | 34 |
| 17 | "Long About Midnight" | Roy Brown | DeLuxe | 32 |
| 18 | "It's Too Soon to Know" | The Orioles | Natural | 28 |
| 19 | "It's Too Soon to Know" | Dinah Washington | Mercury | 23 |
| 20 | "Fine Brown Frame" | Nellie Lutcher | Capitol | 20 |
| 21 | "Don't Burn the Candle at Both Ends" | Louis Jordan | Decca | 19 |
| 22 | "Everything I Do Is Wrong" | Roy Milton | Specialty | 15 |
| 23 | "Bewildered" | Red Miller Trio | Bullet | 12 |
| 24 | "Pleasing You" | Lonnie Johnson | King | 11 |
| 25 | "Blues for the Red Boy" | Todd Rhodes | King | 10 |
References
- "The Year's Top Race Records". The Billboard. January 1, 1949. p. 13.
- "Morgan Wright's HoyHoy.com: The Dawn of Rock 'n Roll". Hoyhoy.com. May 2, 1954. Archived from the original on June 24, 2011. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
- 5 Candidates for the First Rock 'n' Roll Song
- "The first rock'n'roll record is released". The Guardian. 12 June 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
- "The Year's Top Popular Retail Record Sellers" (PDF). The Billboard. 61 (1): 12-13. January 1, 1949.