Apr 29, 1925: Trumpet player Danny Davis is born in Dorchester, Massachusetts. His band, The Nashville Brass, blends country music with swing, winning a Grammy and six Country Music Association awards. He produces hits for Waylon Jennings and Don Gibson
Apr 30, 1933: Willie Nelson is born in Abbott, Texas, though some relatives insist the birth was April 29. After writing “Crazy” and “Hello Walls,” he becomes a major figure in the ’70s outlaw movement, earning a plaque in the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993
Apr 29, 1934: Country historian Bob Pinson is born in Texas. He’s the primary builder of the Country Music Foundation’s music library, which consists of approximately 200,000 discs at the time of his death in 2003
Apr 29, 1943: Duane Allen is born in Taylortown, Texas. In 1966, he joins The Oak Ridge Boys, who successfully convert 11 years later from gospel music to country. Their version of “Elvira” sells 2 million copies, as they register more than 30 Top 10 hits through 1991, joining the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2015
Apr 29, 1951: NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt is born in Kannapolis, North Carolina. He’s namechecked in the 2003 Chris Cagle single “Chicks Dig It” and the 2009 Tim McGraw hit “Southern Voice”
Apr 29, 1954: Goldie Hill and Justin Tubb record “Looking Back To See”
Apr 29, 1954: Karen Brooks is born in Dallas. Voted the Academy of Country Music’s Top New Female Vocalist in 1983, she scores a #1 hit with T.G. Sheppard on “Faking Love,” and writes Emmylou Harris’ “Tennessee Rose”
Apr 29, 1957: Columbia releases Marty Robbins’ first album, “A Song Of Robbins”
Apr 29, 1968: Decca releases Loretta Lynn’s “Fist City” album
Apr 29, 1971: George Jones & Tammy Wynette record their first hit as a duo, “Take Me,” in the afternoon at Nashville’s Columbia Recording Studios
Apr 29, 1975: Merle Haggard records “Running Kind” in Nashville at the Jack Clement Studios
Apr 29, 1982: Alabama wins three trophies at the 17th annual Academy of Country Music Awards, aired on NBC from Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. The band claims Entertainer of the Year; Top Vocal Group; and Album of the Year, for “Feels So Right”
Apr 29, 1989: RCA releases Clint Black’s debut album, “Killin’ Time”
Apr 29, 1991: Curb releases Hal Ketchum’s debut album, “Past The Point Of Rescue”
Apr 29, 1997: Patty Loveless records “You Don’t Seem To Miss Me” with George Jones in Nashville
Apr 29, 2002: Alison Krauss + Union Station begin a two-night stand at the Palace Theater in Louisville, Kentucky. The shows are recorded for a concert album, “Alison Krauss + Union Station – Live”
Apr 29, 2003: The documentary “King Of Bluegrass: The Life And Times Of Jimmy Martin” has its world premiere in Nashville. In attendance: Tom T. Hall, Marty Stuart, Earl Scruggs, Mac Wiseman and Del McCoury
