Talk:Pistol Packin' Mama

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1943 was dominated by the Musician's Strike, which since August 1942, had prevented the recording of commercial music by the record companies. As the strike dragged on, the labels began releasing material from their artists' back catalogues, until by mid-1943, that ran out too. Fortunately for Okeh records, they released Al Dexter's "Pistol Packin' Mama" (PPM), backed by "Rosalita", in April. It caught fire quickly, thanks to reports in Billboard magazine, and the nation's jukeboxes, which had run out of fresh material to play. Another double-sided hit for Okeh, "No Letter Today" / "Born To Lose", by Ted Dafan's Texans, ran second with PPM for the rest of 1943 into 1944. Although Billboard did not publish it's first Folk-Hillbilly chart until January 8, 1944, PPM became the first "Hillbilly" record to reach no. 1 on the U.S. Popular sales chart, on October 30, 1943, on it's way to selling 2 million copies. In Billboard's 1943 Yearbook, released in September, PPM by Dexter was the only hillbilly record to join Glen Miller and Tommy Dorsey in the best-selling record list.

Top vocalist Bing Crosby, always a major fan of "hillbilly" music, was finally able to record a cover version with the Andrews Sisters on September 27, when his label, Decca, became the first to settle with the union. The single, released October 21, followed Dexter's to the top, revitalizing popularity and sales into 1944. Tillywilly17 (talk) 13:33, 14 July 2021 (UTC)