Four-year-old Johnny Cash and his family returned to their home in Dyess, AR in 1937. It was damaged in January by severe flooding from the Tyonza River. The event inspired his 1959 hit Five Feet High And Rising.
Felice and Boudleaux Bryant first met at Milwaukee’s Schroeder Hotel in 1945, leading to marriage and a songwriting partnership that yielded such hits as Bye Bye Love and Wake Up Little Susie, plus membership in the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Elvis Presley opened for Hank Snow in Odessa, TX in 1955. In the audience? Roy Orbison.
Hank Williams Jr. sang along with the voice of Hank Williams Sr. in 1965 while recording the Grammy-nominated album Father & Son. The session’s efforts included Why Don’t You Love Me, Move It On Over and Lost Highway
Roger Miller recorded Walkin’ In The Sunshine in Nashville in 1967.
In 1969 George Jones married Tammy Wynette in Ringgold, GA, six months after they announced the marriage. They were married for six years, until their divorce, which was finalized on March 21, 1975.
Johnny Cash recorded Man In Black in Nashville at the Columbia Recording Studio in 1971.
Marty Robbins wrecked a 1974 Dodge in the Daytona 500 at the Daytona Motor Speedway in Florida. Benny Parsons eventually won that 1975 race.
Crystal Gayle recorded Why Have You Left The One You Left Me For during a 1978 afternoon session at Jack’s Tracks in Nashville.
In 1986 Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson starred in the NBC-TV movie The Last Days Of Frank & Jesse James. The cast also included Ed Bruce, David Allan Coe and June Carter Cash.
Tennessee Ernie Ford’s 50th Anniversary Special featured a guest appearance by The Everly Brothers in 1990.
Alan Jackson and Randy Travis wrote She Got The Rhythm (And I Got The Blues) over lunch on Travis’ bus in Columbus, OH in 1991.
Straight Ahead became the first platinum album for Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers Band in 1995.
DreamWorks’ country division released the first single in its history in 1998, Randy Travis’ Out Of My Bones.
Kenny Chesney premiered his TV special The Color Orange: The Condredge Holloway Story in Knoxville in 2011.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Jimmy Wakely was born in Mineola, AR in 1914. He introduced the cheatin’ song to country music, with his 1948 recordings One Has My Name, The Other Has My Heart and Slipping Around, which paired him with pop singer Margaret Whiting.
Jo Walker-Meador was born in Orlinda, TN in 1924. She served as executive director of the Country Music Association from 1962-1991.
R&B songwriter Otis Blackwell was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1931. He wrote classics like Elvis Presley’s Don’t Be Cruel and All Shook Up and Jerry Lee Lewis’ Great Balls Of Fire
Bass player Doug Phelps was born in Leachville, AR in 1960. He became a founding member of The Kentucky HeadHunters but left in 1992 with his brother, Ricky Lee, to form Brother Phelps. He rejoined The HeadHunters in 1996.
