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
^ abc"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. Vol. 61, no. 1. January 1, 1949. p. 12-13.
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