Hank Williams performed on The Louisiana Hayride in 1952 in what turned out to be his final appearance on the show.
George Jones recorded What’s Your Mama’s Name at Nashville’s Columbia Studios in 1972. The following month, Tanya Tucker cuts the definitive version of the song.
Patty Loveless and Kathy Mattea covered Someday Soon as John Denver’s Montana Skies Christmas aired on CBS in 1991. Clint Black also appeared on the TV special.
George Strait’s Pure Country soundtrack is certified for shipments of 5 million copies, while his Strait Out Of The Box went double-platinum in 1995. MCA labelmate Vince Gill also went triple-platinum with When Love Finds You.
Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountains Rise: A Benefit For The My People Fund raises $9 million for fire victims in East Tennessee in 2016. The lineup included Chris Stapleton, Jamey Johson, Big & Rich, Reba McEntire, Chris Janson and Chris Young. Dolly Parton sang Islands In The Stream with Kenny Rogers.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Pioneering record producer Eli Oberstein was born in New York City in 1901. He worked with The Delmore Brothers, The Blue Sky Boys, Ernest Tubb, The Monroe Brothers and The Hackberry Ramblers.
Wesley Tuttle was born in Lamar, CO in 1917. The guitarist and yodeler worked with Merle Travis and The Sons Of The Pioneers, and contributed to the soundtrack of Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs before earning a handful of his own mid-1940s hits.
Songwriter Wayne Walker was born in Quapaw, OK in 1925. His credits include: Ray Price’s I’ve Got A New Heartache, Patsy Cline’s Leavin’ On Your Mind, Mel Tillis’ Burning Memories and Jack Greene’s All The Time, among others.
Buck White, of The Whites, was born in Oklahoma City in 1930. Along with daughters Cheryl and Sharon, he earned bluegrass-inflected hits in the early-1980s with Hangin’ Around, You Put The Blue In Me and Give Me Back That Old Familiar Feeling. He’s also the father-in-law of Ricky Skaggs.
Randy Owen was born in Fort Payne, AL in 1949. As the lead singer of Alabama, Randy helped influence a country/southern rock movement that has yielded numerous gold and platinum honors and a place in the Country Music Hall of Fame.
John Anderson was born in Orlando, FL in 1954. Borrowing vocally from Lefty Frizzell, he earned the Country Music Association’s Horizon award in 1983 and has had hits with songs like Swingin’, Money In The Bank and Straight Tequila Night.
