APRIL 18
1930: Songwriter Don Hecht is born. He wrote the Patsy Cline hit “Walkin’ After Midnight.”
1939: Gene Autry recorded “Back In The Saddle Again” in Los Angeles for the western movie “Rovin’ Tumbleweeds.”
1962: Johnny Cash and “Bonanza” star Lorne Greene held a recording session at the Columbia Studios in Hollywood. The track was never released.
1963: Bobby Bare recorded “Detroit City” in Nashville during an afternoon session at RCA Studio B. He also cut “She Called Me Baby,” destined to become a hit more than 10 years later for Charlie Rich.
1968: A friend accidentally shot Roger Miller in the left hand with an air pistol in his Los Angeles home. It took 90 minutes for doctors to remove the pellet, delaying a promotional trip to London.
1981: Alabama took “Old Flame” to #1 on the Billboard country chart.
1982: HBO honored the Killer with “Twenty Five Years Of Jerry Lee… A Celebration,” featuring Johnny Cash, Dottie West, Kris Kristofferson, Carl Perkins, Charlie Rich, Mickey Gilley and The Oak Ridge Boys.
1987: The Bellamy Brothers brought “Kids Of The Baby Boom” to #1 in Billboard.
1988: MCA released Reba McEntire’s “Reba” album.
1991: The Internal Revenue Service sold a 668-acre spread owned by Willie Nelson at auction for $86,100.
1992: Aaron Tippin picked up his first #1 country single in Billboard: “There Ain’t Nothin’ Wrong With The Radio.”
1994: George Strait recorded “Adalida” at Nashville’s Emerald Sound Studios.
1998: Diamond Rio joined the cast of the Grand Ole Opry, following an introduction by Little Jimmy Dickens. The first song the band performs as members: “Meet In The Middle.”
1998: Jo Dee Messina said hello to the top spot on the Billboard country singles chart with the Phil Vassar-penned “Bye Bye.”
2002: The Tennessean reported Tammy Wynette’s four daughters settled a $50-million lawsuit against Dr. Wallis Marsh out of court. Filed in 1999, the suit implicated Marsh in the 1998 death of the singer.
2012: TV executive Dick Clark died following a heart attack in Santa Monica, CA. The “American Bandstand” host founded a production company, Dick Clark Productions, that handled the Academy of Country Music Awards.
