AUGUST 2
1935: Songwriter Hank Cochran was born in Isola, MS. His credits include Vern Gosdin’s “Set ‘Em Up Joe,” Patsy Cline’s “I Fall To Pieces,” George Strait’s “Ocean Front Property” and Eddy Arnold’s “Make The World Go Away,” among others. He joined the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2014.
1937: Songwriter Ted Harris was born in Lakeland, FL. His credits include Marie Osmond’s “Paper Roses,” Charley Pride’s “The Happiness Of Having You” and Steve Wariner and Glen Campbell’s “The Hand That Rocks The Cradle.”
1941: Songwriter Homer Banks was born in Memphis. He penned the soul hits “(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want To Be Right” and “Touch A Hand, Make A Friend,” which were remade for country by Barbara Mandrell and The Oak Ridge Boys, respectively.
1948: Steel guitarist Hank DeVito was born. After establishing himself as a member of Emmylou Harris’ Hot Band, he also wrote such hits as Juice Newton’s “Queen Of Hearts,” Rosanne Cash’s “My Baby Thinks He’s A Train” and Hal Ketchum’s “Small Town Saturday Night.”
1951: Andrew Gold was born in Burbank, CA. Known for his pop hit “Lonely Boy” and for writing the theme to “The Golden Girls,” Gold played guitar and/or sang background on hits by Linda Ronstadt and Wynonna Judd, and wrote Judd’s “I Saw The Light.”
1953: The Davis Sisters were involved in a head-on car accident in Cincinnati. Betty Jack Davis was killed, while Skeeter Davis survived. The driver of the other automobile later plead guilty to manslaughter.
1972: Mel Tillis recorded “Sawmill” in Nashville.
1982: “I make a better whore than a secretary“: Dolly Parton, is quoted while promoting the movie “The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas,” on the cover of People magazine.
1985: Epic released the George Jones album “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes.”
1986: George Strait made a stop at #1 on the Billboard country chart with “Nobody In His Right Mind Would’ve Left Her.”
1988: Reprise releases Dwight Yoakam’s album “Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room.”
1990: Garth Brooks’ self-titled debut album was certified gold.
1994: Arista released The Tractors’ self-titled debut album.
2000: Felony charges were dropped against Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney over a backstage incident involving a horse in Buffalo, New York, in June. They were still, however, charged with misdemeanor offenses.
2002: Producer/songwriter Joe Allison died in Nashville, following a lengthy illness. A former head of Liberty’s country division, he wrote “He’ll Have To Go” and “Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young,” entering the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1978.
2003: Brooks & Dunn’s “Red Dirt Road” beat a path to #1 on the Billboard country chart.
2014: Bristol, Virginia, declared Ralph Stanley Day as the Birthplace of Country Music Museum opened. The facility honored July/August 1927 recording sessions known as the Big Bang of Country Music.
2016: A California court dismissed a lawsuit filed by Sara Evans’ ex-husband, Craig Schelske, against TMZ. He had claimed he was not a public figure, thus should not have been mentioned in an unfavorable newscast. The court said he, in fact, made himself a public figure through his divorce proceedings.
2017: Former “Duke Of Hazzard” star Tom Wopat was arrested in Waltham, MA, for sexual assault and cocaine possession. He took a plea deal and avoided jail time.
