Apr 9, 1932: Carl Perkins is born in Tiptonville, Tennessee. He becomes a rockabilly pioneer through his single “Blue Suede Shoes.” He also writes Johnny Cash’s “Daddy Sang Bass,” Patsy Cline’s “So Wrong” and The Judds’ “Let Me Tell You About Love”
Apr 9, 1942: Margo Smith is born in Dayton, Ohio. Tabbed the Tennessee Yodeler, she grabs eight hits in the 1970s–mostly remakes, including covers of “Don’t Break The Heart That Loves You,” “It Only Hurts For A Little While” and “Little Things Mean A Lot”
Apr 9, 1944: Drummer Gene Parsons is born in Los Angeles. He joins The Byrds, pivotal in the development of country-rock, beginning with the 1969 album “Dr. Byrd & Mr. Hyde.” He leaves in 1972, following the album “Further Along”
Apr 9, 1945: Gus Hardin is born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A tough-voiced club singer, she rises to prominence in the mid-1980s, earning Top 10 releases with “After The Last Goodbye” and a duet with Earl Thomas Conley, “All Tangled Up In Love”
Apr 9, 1945: Con Hunley is born in Luttrell, Tennessee. The R&B-influenced singer nabs 11 Top 20 singles in the late-1970s and early-’80s without cracking the Top 10
Apr 9, 1948: MGM releases Hank Williams’ “Honky Tonkin"”
Apr 9, 1951: Songwriter Bob Corbin is born in Butler, Pennsylvania. He joins Dave Hanner to form The Corbin/Hanner Band but finds his largest success by writing Alabama’s “Can’t Keep A Good Man Down” and “(There’s A) Fire In The Night”
Apr 9, 1953: Singer/songwriter Hal Ketchum is born in Greenwich, New York. He joins the Grand Ole Opry in 1994 on the back of such melodic singles as “Small Town Saturday Night,” “Past The Point Of Rescue” and “Sure Love”
Apr 9, 1958: Sun releases “Sweet Woman,” the debut single by future country hitmaker Ed Bruce
Apr 9, 1969: Porter Wagoner becomes the first person to record Dolly Parton’s “Coat Of Many Colors,” two years before she has a hit with it
Apr 9, 1975: Charley Pride records “Hope You’re Feelin’ Me (Like I’m Feelin’ You)”
Apr 9, 1979: Waylon Jennings overdubs new lyrics to his 1974 recording of “Amanda,” before including it on his “Greatest Hits”
Apr 9, 1979: Ed Bruce records “Girls, Women And Ladies” in a midday session at Nashville’s Sound Stage
Apr 9, 1988: George Strait realizes a #1 single in Billboard with “Famous Last Words Of A Fool”
Apr 9, 1990: Liberty releases Tanya Tucker’s “Tennessee Woman” album
Apr 9, 1991: RCA releases Lorrie Morgan’s “Something In Red” album
Apr 9, 2006: Fiddler Gordon Terry dies at his daughter’s home in Spring Hill, Tennessee, after battling diabetes. Noted for his work with Bill Monroe, Johnny Cash, Faron Young and others, he also had an on-screen role in the Clint Eastwood picture “Honkytonk Man”
Apr 9, 2016: Marty Stuart and Connie Smith sing “Silver Wings” during the funeral for Merle Haggard at his ranch in Palo Cedro, California. Kris Kristofferson performs “Sing Me Back Home,” and Haggard’s sons–Marty, Noel and Ben Haggard–deliver “Today I Started Loving You Again”
