Apr 1, 1921: Arthur “Guitar Boogie” Smith is born in Clinton, South Carolina. His 1948 single “Guitar Boogie” is one of three singles that lands in country music’s Top 10, while his song “Feuding Banjos” becomes “Dueling Banjos” in the movie “Deliverance”
Apr 1, 1927: RCA Records introduces the first automatic record changer in Germany
Apr 1, 1934: Jim Ed Brown is born in Sparkman, Arkansas. After coming to prominence with his two sisters in The Browns, he launches a solo career that nets a classic in 1967 with “Pop A Top,” then strings together seven Top 10 duets with Helen Cornelius
Apr 1, 1939: Songwriter Royce Porter is born in Sweetwater, Texas. He writes such hits as George Strait’s “It Ain’t Cool To Be Crazy About You” and “Ocean Front Property,” Keith Whitley’s “Homecoming ’63” and Kenny Chesney’s “A Chance”
Apr 1, 1951: Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell kick off the only concert tour they will work together in Little Rock, Arkansas
Apr 1, 1966: Johnny Paycheck holds his first recording session for Aubrey Mayhew’s Little Darlin’ label at RCA Studio B in Nashville
Apr 1, 1967: The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum opens in a barn-like structure on Music Row in Nashville. It remains at that location for 34 years, before moving downtown
Apr 1, 1975: Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn record “Feelins"” at Bradley’s Barn in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee
Apr 1, 1975: Jack Clement fires his staff at Jack’s Tracks recording studio in Nashville, annoyed by an equipment failure. Some return to work for him; engineer Garth Fundis does not. Fundis goes on to produce Don Williams, Keith Whitley and Trisha Yearwood
Apr 1, 1978: Waylon Jennings records “Don’t You Think This Outlaw Bit’s Done Got Out Of Hand” during a session at the Jack Clement Studios in Nashville. Also, after first recording it two days prior, he spends part of the session on “I’ve Always Been Crazy”
Apr 1, 1979: Mark Herndon joins Alabama as the band’s drummer
Apr 1, 1982: After working as a backing band for singer/songwriter Don King, Sawyer Brown makes its debut as a group–under the name Savannah–at Knight’s Corral in Nashville
Apr 1, 1989: George Strait commands the #1 position on the Billboard country chart with “Baby’s Gotten Good At Goodbye”
Apr 1, 1996: Interesting pairings: Classic rock band Bad Company re-records “Oh, Atlanta” in a Nashville studio, joined by Alison Krauss and Vince Gill
Apr 1, 2008: MCA releases George Strait’s album “Troubadour”
Apr 1, 2019: Loretta Lynn is celebrated with a birthday concert at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. The cast includes Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson and George Strait with proceeds going to charity
