OCTOBER 18

1926: Chuck Berry was born in San Jose. A seminal rock & roll guitarist, he sees many of his songs remade as country hits, including George Jones & Johnny Paycheck’s “Mabellene,” Buck Owens’ “Johnny B. Goode” and Emmylou Harris’ “(You Never Can Tell) C’est La Vie.”

1949: Tennessee Ernie Ford recorded “Mule Train” at Capitol’s Melrose studios in Los Angeles, with Merle Travis mimicking the sound of a whip by running a quasi-whistle through an echo chamber.

1952: Hank Williams married Billie Jean Jones Eshliman in Minden, LA. On the way back to Shreveport, their car ran out of gas.

1968: Bob Wills was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame during the second annual Country Music Association awards at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.

1968: Plans were announced for the creation of the Opryland theme park in Nashville. Affiliated with the Grand Ole Opry, the grounds eventually provided a home for Roy Acuff, while the park spawned such acts as Little Texas, Diamond Rio, Chely Wright and Deborah Allen.

1968: Glen Campbell won two honors, Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year, during the second annual Country Music Association awards at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. NBC taped the show for the first time for a November telecast.

1972: Fourteen-year-old Marty Stuart made his recording debut as a member of Lester Flatt’s band at Nashville’s RCA Studio B. The session included a performance of “Don’t Get Above Your Raising.”

1980: Don Williams’ “I Believe In You” took the #1 position on the Billboard country chart.

1984: Mickey Gilley was honored with a star at 6922 Hollywood Boulevard on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1987: An Alabama judge ruled that Jett Williams is legally the daughter of Hank Williams.

1993: “Music City Tonight,” hosted by Lorianne Crook and Charlie Chase, replaced the Ralph Emery-hosted “Nashville Now” as TNN’s evening talk show.

1994: MCA released Mark Chesnutt’s “Goin’ Through The Big D.”

1995: Patty Loveless recorded “You Can Feel Bad” and “She Drew A Broken Heart” at Woodland Sound Studio in Nashville.

1997: Deana Carter ended up at #1 on the Billboard chart with “How Do I Get There.”

2002: Songwriter Don Hecht died at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami Beach, following a heart attack. He wrote Patsy Cline’s first hit, “Walkin’ After Midnight.”

2009: Tammy Wynette was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, along with “I Hope You Dance” author Mark D. Sanders and “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool” creator Kye Fleming, during an event at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel.

That same day, Toby Keith was named Songwriter/Artist of the Decade and “Live Like You Were Dying” author Craig Wiseman is honored as Songwriter of the Decade by the Nashville Songwriters Association International.

2014: Songwriter Paul Craft died at Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital in Nashville. Among his best-known titles were Moe Bandy’s “Hank Williams, You Wrote My Life,” Mark Chesnutt’s “Brother Jukebox” and Bobby Bare’s “Dropkick Me, Jesus.”

2016:  Kris Kristofferson was recognized with the Woody Guthrie Prize for embodying the spirit of the late singer/songwriter.

2019: Cody Jinks album, “The Wanting,” was released.