"Pistol Packin' Mama" was a "Hillbilly"-Honky Tonk record released at the height of World War II that became a nationwide sensation, and the first "Country" song to top the Billboard popular music chart.

It sold quickly, helped by reports in Billboard magazine and great popularity in jukeboxes, which had run out of fresh material to play.

Although Billboard did not publish its first Folk-Hillbilly chart until January 8, 1944, "Pistol Packin' Mama" became the first "Hillbilly" record to reach no.

[9][10] It entered the Jukebox chart on July 31, 1943,[11] where it stayed for 28 weeks (the last 14 shared with the Bing Crosby version), another unheard of achievement for a "Hillbilly" tune.

[12] Crosby, always a major fan of "hillbilly" music,[13] 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.