AUGUST 11
1917: Henry Cannon was born in Franklin, TN. He married Sarah Colley–a.k.a. Minnie Pearl–and became a pilot for Hank Williams, Eddy Arnold and Elvis Presley.
1946: John Conlee was born in Versailles, KY. After careers as a mortician and a disc jockey, his 1978 single “Rose Colored Glasses” started a 10-year string of blue-collar singles. He joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1981.
1949: Bass player Dan “Bee” Spears was 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.”
1951: Hank Williams hit #1 in Billboard’s country chart with “Hey, Good Lookin’.”
1952: Roy Acuff made the cover of Newsweek.
1952: Grand Ole Opry manager Jim Denny fired Hank Williams from the Opry after the troubled singer, already on thin ice, missed an August 9 Opry appearance.
1964: The Music City News, established by Faron Young, celebrated its first anniversary with a pair of figure eight races at the Nashville Speedway. The winners: Willie Nelson and Roy Drusky.
1971: The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band recorded with Maybelle Carter, Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, Randy Scruggs, Vassar Clements and Merle Travis at Nashville’s Woodland Sound. The day’s output included the title track for the “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” album.
1973: “Hee Haw” co-host Roy Clark appeared on the cover of TV Guide.
1979: Eddie Rabbitt’s “Suspicions” reigned at #1 on the Billboard country chart.
1981: RCA released Ronnie Milsap’s album “There’s No Gettin’ Over Me.”
1986: MCA released the Lee Greenwood album “Love Will Find Its Way To You.“
1992: RCA released Alabama’s “American Pride” album.
1993: The Statler Brothers, The Mandrell Sisters and Brenda Lee taped a special edition of “Family Feud” at Opryland in Nashville.
1994: Neal McCoy earned his first gold album for “No Doubt About It.”
1998: Giant released the debut album by The Wilkinsons, “Nothing But Love.”
2001: Blake Shelton picked up his first #1 single in Billboard with “Austin,” which remains at the top for five weeks
2018: Dolly Parton won the inaugural Dolly Parton Excellence In Leadership Award during a ceremony at Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
