AUGUST 22
1906: Victrola patented the phonograph. The hand-carved machine originally retailed for $200
1910: Rod Brasfield was born in Smithville, MS. He worked as a Grand Ole Opry comedian from 1944-1958 and gave Hank Williams Jr. his nickname, Bocephus.
1956: Elvis Presley began filming his first movie, “The Reno Brothers,” in Los Angeles. By the time of its release, it was re-titled “Love Me Tender.”
1957: Holly Dunn was born in San Antonio, TX. The 1987 winner of the Country Music Association’s Horizon Award, the singer/songwriter emerged on MTM Records for a short run as a hitmaker, earning membership in the Grand Ole Opry in 1989.
1960: Floyd Collin Wraye was born in DeQueen, AR. 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.”
1961: Spade Cooley was sentenced to life in prison for killing his wife in April. He’s sent to Vacaville Medical Center.
1961: Willie Nelson held his first recording session for Liberty Records, yielding his first solo hit, “Touch Me.”
1961: Conway Twitty and three band members escaped injury when they ran from their car on an Iowa highway just before the vehicle exploded. They lost $15,000 in clothing and equipment, plus a briefcase full of money from their Midwest tour.
1964: Johnny Cash took radio programmers to task in an ad in Billboard magazine for not playing “The Ballad Of Ira Hayes,” asking “Where are your guts?” It became a point of controversy, creating a movement to have him stripped of CMA membership.
1968: George Jones and Tammy Wynette announced their marriage, although it wouldn’t actually take place for another six months.
1975: Merle Haggard recorded “It’s All In The Movies” in Hollywood.
1979: Johnny Cash performed an entire show in Cohasset, MA, 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.
1987: Roy Clark joined the Grand Ole Opry.
1987: Restless Heart appeared at #1 on the Billboard country singles chart with “Why Does It Have To Be (Wrong Or Right).”
1995: Epic released Collin Raye’s “I Think About You” album.
1995: MCA released Vince Gill’s “Go Rest High On That Mountain,” with background vocals by Ricky Skaggs and Patty Loveless.
2008: A number of media outlets mistakenly reported Dolly Parton had passed away. She eventually laughed it off: “I did about have a heart attack when I found out I was dead!”
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 Bristol, Tennessee. Kyle Busch won the Sharpie 500 NASCAR race.
