APRIL 26
1927: Songwriter Cecil Null was born in War, WV. He wrote The Davis Sisters’ 1953 hit “I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know.”
1938: Rock guitarist Duane Eddy was born in Corning, NY. Eddy became the first husband of Jessi Colter after scoring early rock ‘n’ roll hits with his “twang” guitar on “Rebel-Rouser” and “Because They’re Young.”
1941: Ernest Tubb recorded “Walking The Floor Over You,” “Our Baby’s Book,” “When The World Has Turned You Down,” “I’ll Always Be Glad To Take You Back” and “Mean Mama Blues” at the Biggs Studio in Dallas.
1946: “The Long Black Veil” songwriter Marijohn Wilkin had a son, John “Bucky” Wilkin, in Tulsa, OK. He sang lead on the 1964 Ronny & The Daytonas pop hit “G.T.O.” and played on several Waylon Jennings singles.
1956: Bass player Dave Pomeroy was born in Naples, Italy. His credits include Trisha Yearwood’s “The Song Remembers When,” Keith Whitley’s “I Wonder Do You Think Of Me” and Kathy Mattea’s “Where’ve You Been.”
1966: Bobby Bare recorded “The Streets Of Baltimore.”
1972: Bass player Michael Jeffers was born in Kingsport, TN. He’s an original member of Pinmonkey, a Nashville band that nets a nomination from the Academy of Country Music in 2003 for Top Vocal Duo or Group.
1980: Dottie West’s “A Lesson In Leavin’” went to #1 on the Billboard country chart
1994: American released Johnny Cash’s first album for the label, “American Recordings.” The CD is a stripped-down project overseen by rap-rock producer Rick Rubin.
1999: Jo Dee Messina’s “Lesson In Leavin” single was released. Here’s a fun fact for you – the tune’s release date was also the same day in 1980 that Dottie West’s original version of the song hit #1 on the charts.
2008: “Be My Baby Tonight” songwriter Richard Fagan slashed his publisher’s wrist in a household argument in Nashville. The publisher bled to death while Fagan went out drinking, leading to a drunk-driving arrest.
2013: George Jones died at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville. Widely regarded as one of the genre’s all-time greatest singers, the Country Music Hall of Fame member left such traditional-country landmarks as “The Grand Tour,” “The Race Is On” and “He Stopped Loving Her Today.”
