Aug 22, 1906
Victrola patents the phonograph. The hand-carved machine retails for $200
Aug 22, 1910
Rod Brasfield is born in Smithville, Mississippi. He works as a Grand Ole Opry comedian from 1944-1958 and gives Hank Williams Jr. his nickname, Bocephus
Aug 22, 1956
Elvis Presley begins filming his first movie, “The Reno Brothers,” in Los Angeles. By the time of its release, it’s re-titled “Love Me Tender”
Aug 22, 1957
Holly Dunn is born in San Antonio, Texas. The 1987 winner of the Country Music Association’s Horizon Award, the singer/songwriter emerges on MTM Records for a short run as a hitmaker, earning membership in the Grand Ole Opry in 1989
Aug 22, 1960
Floyd Collin Wraye is born in DeQueen, Arkansas. Under the stage name Collin Raye, he uses a powerhouse voice to make commercially successful social statements through such hits as “Little Rock,” “In This Life” and “I Think About You”
Aug 22, 1961
Spade Cooley is sentenced to life in prison for killing his wife in April. He’s sent to Vacaville Medical Center
Aug 22, 1961
Willie Nelson holds his first recording session for Liberty Records, yielding his first solo hit, “Touch Me”
Aug 22, 1961
Conway Twitty and three band members escape injury when they run from their car on an Iowa highway just before the vehicle explodes. They lose $15,000 in clothing and equipment, plus a briefcase full of money from their Midwest tour
Aug 22, 1964
Johnny Cash takes radio programmers to task in an ad in Billboard magazine for not playing “The Ballad Of Ira Hayes,” asking “Where are your guts?” It becomes a point of controversy, creating a movement to have him stripped of CMA membership
Aug 22, 1968
George Jones and Tammy Wynette announce their marriage, although it doesn’t actually take place for another six months
Aug 22, 1975
Merle Haggard records “It’s All In The Movies” in Hollywood
Aug 22, 1979
Johnny Cash performs an entire show in Cohasset, Massachusetts, with gauze on his head, never explaining his appearance to the audience. Cash had purposely rebroken his nose that day, feeling another doctor had set it improperly after a recent accident
Aug 22, 1987
Roy Clark joins the Grand Ole Opry
Aug 22, 1987
Restless Heart appears at #1 on the Billboard country singles chart with “Why Does It Have To Be (Wrong Or Right)”
Aug 22, 1995
Epic releases Collin Raye’s “I Think About You” album
Aug 22, 1995
MCA releases Vince Gill’s “Go Rest High On That Mountain,” with background vocals by Ricky Skaggs and Patty Loveless
Aug 22, 2008
A number of media outlets mistakenly report Dolly Parton has passed away. She eventually laughs it off: “I did about have a heart attack when I found out I was dead”
Aug 22, 2009
Some 160,000 fans set a world record for Largest Group Karaoke Song with the Garth Brooks hit “Friends In Low Places” at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee. Kyle Busch wins the Sharpie 500 NASCAR race
