Aug 11, 1917
Henry Cannon is born in Franklin, Tennessee. He marries Sarah Colley–a.k.a. Minnie Pearl–and becomes a pilot for Hank Williams, Eddy Arnold and Elvis Presley
Aug 11, 1946
John Conlee is born in Versailles, Kentucky. After careers as a mortician and a disc jockey, his 1978 single “Rose Colored Glasses” starts a 10-year string of blue-collar singles. He joins the Grand Ole Opry in 1981
Aug 11, 1949
Bass player Dan “Bee” Spears is born in the San Antonio area. Beginning in 1968, he spends more than 40 years in Willie Nelson’s Family Band, appearing on such hits as “Whiskey River,” “Blue Skies” and “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain”
Aug 11, 1951
Hank Williams hits #1 in Billboard’s country chart with “Hey, Good Lookin"”
Aug 11, 1952
Roy Acuff makes the cover of Newsweek
Aug 11, 1952
Grand Ole Opry manager Jim Denny fires Hank Williams from the Opry after the troubled singer, already on thin ice, missed an August 9 Opry appearance
Aug 11, 1964
The Music City News, established by Faron Young, celebrates its first anniversary with a pair of figure eight races at the Nashville Speedway. The winners: Willie Nelson and Roy Drusky
Aug 11, 1971
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band records with Maybelle Carter, Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, Randy Scruggs, Vassar Clements and Merle Travis at Nashville’s Woodland Sound. The day’s output includes the title track for the “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” album
Aug 11, 1973
“Hee Haw” co-host Roy Clark appears on the cover of TV Guide
Aug 11, 1979
Eddie Rabbitt’s “Suspicions” reigns at #1 on the Billboard country chart
Aug 11, 1981
RCA releases Ronnie Milsap’s album “There’s No Gettin’ Over Me”
Aug 11, 1986
MCA releases the Lee Greenwood album “Love Will Find Its Way To You”
Aug 11, 1992
RCA releases Alabama’s “American Pride” album
Aug 11, 1993
The Statler Brothers, The Mandrell Sisters and Brenda Lee tape a special edition of “Family Feud” at Opryland in Nashville
Aug 11, 1998
Giant releases the debut album by The Wilkinsons, “Nothing But Love”
Aug 11, 2001
Blake Shelton picks up his first #1 single in Billboard with “Austin,” which remains at the top for five weeks
