AUGUST 7
1904: Record executive Dave Kapp was born in Chicago, IL. He worked with Decca in the country field and formed his own Kapp label, affecting such artists as Milton Brown, Ernest Tubb, Mel Tillis and Bob Wills.
1925: Songwriter Felice Bryant was born in Milwaukee, WI. With husband Boudleaux Bryant, she wrote hits such as “Hole In My Pocket,” by Ricky Van Shelton; “Devoted To You,” by The Everly Brothers; and “Rocky Top,” by The Osborne Brothers. The Bryants entered the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1991.
1942: B.J. Thomas was born in Hugo, OK. Primarily a pop artist, he succeeded in country with 1975’s “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song” and four more Top 10 singles in 1983-1984.
1944: Kerry Chater was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. After playing bass with Gary Puckett & The Union Gap, he became a country songwriter, penning such titles as “I.O.U.,” “I Know A Heartache When I See One” and “You Look So Good In Love.”
1946: With a recording session scheduled for the next day, Merle Travis wrote “Sixteen Tons,” drawing on a letter from his brother, coal miner John Travis, for the hook: “You load 16 tons and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt.”
1948: Hank Williams made his first appearance on “The Louisiana Hayride.” His opening number was “Move It On Over.”
1950: Rodney Crowell was born in Houston, TX. The multi-talented performer netted five #1 singles from his 1988 album “Diamonds & Dirt,” produced hits for Rosanne Cash and wrote hits for Waylon Jennings, Crystal Gayle and Tim McGraw, among others.
1954: Johnny Cash married Vivian Liberto in San Antonio, TX. The couple, who share their daughter, Rosanne, moved to Memphis, where he formed a trio that was signed to Sun Records. The couple divorced in 1967 amid Johnny’s trouble with drug addiction. With the help of June Carter, Johnny beat his addiction and eventually married June in 1968.
1961: Patsy Cline’s “I Fall To Pieces” reached #1 on the Billboard country singles chart.
1962: Banjo player Alison Brown was born in Hartford, CT. She became a critically acclaimed Nashville musician, forming her own label, Compass Records, with husband Garry West. Alison won a Grammy award in 2001.
1965: Raul Malo was born in Miami, FL. He sings lead for The Mavericks, an edgy foursome that won multiple Vocal Group of the Year honors in the 1990s. He later built a stylistically diverse solo career before The Mavericks regrouped.
1978: John Conlee recorded “Lady Lay Down” at Nashville’s Woodland Sound.
1981: B.J. Thomas joined the Grand Ole Opry on his 39th birthday, singing “(Hey, Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song,” “I Recall A Gypsy Woman” and the Hank Williams classic “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.”
1981: MCA releases “Barbara Mandrell Live” a popular album that features “Wish You Were Here” And “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool.”
1989: Warner Bros. releases Travis Tritt’s debut single, “Country Club.”
1992: Doug Stone’s “From The Heart” album was released.
1997: The Mayor of New York City declared it to be “Garth Brooks Day” in the Big Apple, as Garth played his historic concert in Central Park. A record 980,000 people showed up to see Garth perform with special guests Billy Joel and Don McLean. HBO’s live telecast of the free concert in New York set a ratings record for the cable network. “Garth Live From Central Park” drew HBO’s largest audience for an original program that year and topped the four major broadcast networks in HBO homes.
2011: Bass player Marshall Grant, of Johnny Cash’s Tennessee Two, died at St. Bernard’s Medical Center in Jonesboro, AR. He played on most of Cash’s hits plus “Flowers On The Wall” by his management client, The Statler Brothers.
2018: Ronnie Dunn and K.T. Oslin were announced as 2018 inductees in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, alongside “Blue Bayou” author Joe Melson, “Boondocks” composer Wayne Kirkpatrick and “Fool Hearted Memory” creator Byron Hill.
