The Missouri Mountaineers, led by guitarist Jack Shook, made their Grand Ole Opry debut in 1935. The band was a regular on the Opry for nearly five years. Shook went on to play on recordings by Hank Williams, Hank Snow, Eddy Arnold and Faron Young.
Pen pals Ernest Tubb and Hank Snow met in person for the first time in 1949 during a show at Fort Worth’s North Side Coliseum. It took nearly a year, but Tubb helped Snow land a spot on the Grand Ole Opry.
Buddy Holly played his final concert in 1959, using a band that includes Waylon Jennings and Tommy Allsup, in Clear Lake, Iowa. It was also the last show for J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper) and Ritchie Valens
The Oklahoma Senate designated Faded Love as the official state song in 1988.
The Country Music Association voted during quarterly meetings in San Diego to reinstate the CMA Video of the Year award in 1989. Instead of the artist, however, the trophy would go to the director.
Conway Twitty announced he planned to sell Twitty City in 1990. The tourist complex he opened in June 1982. The asking price: $6 million.
Willie Nelson agreed to pay $9 million of the $16.7 million he owed the Internal Revenue Service in a 1993 meeting at the IRS office in Austin, TX. More than $3 million of that figure had already been paid
The Country Music Hall Of Fame announced plans to move from Music Row in 1994. They projected the move to be complete by 1996, but it didn’t actually happen until May 2001.
Songwriter Hal Blair died at his home in Biggs, CA in 2001. His credits include: Elvis Presley’s I Was The One, Hank Snow’s Ninety Miles An Hour (Down A Dead End Street) and Hank Locklin’s Please Help Me, I’m Falling.
Louise Scruggs, the wife and manager of Earl Scruggs, died at Nashville’s Baptist Hospital from a respiratory ailment in 2006. The first female manager in bluegrass history, her relationship with Earl also produced musicians Randy, Steve and Gary Scruggs.
Dolly Parton was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame during a 2009 ceremony at the Richland Country Club in Nashville.
RECORDED ON FEBRUARY 2
1932: Jimmie Rodgers recorded Roll Along, Kentucky Moon at the Jefferson Hotel in Dallas.
1937: Texas Ruby and Zeke Clements held their first recording session in Dallas, recording one song as a duo, while Texas Ruby recorded T For Texas as a solo artist
1939: Lulu Belle & Scotty Wiseman record Mountain Dew, a much-covered country standard written by Wiseman
1957: Ernest Tubb & The Wilburn Brothers record Mister Love in the early evening at the Bradley Film & Recording Studio on Nashville’s Music Row
1961: Little Jimmy Dickens recorded Farewell Party at the Bradley Film & Recording Studio in Nashville. The song had to wait 18 years to become a hit, for Gene Watson.
1970: Tom T. Hall recorded Salute To A Switchblade in a late-night session at the Monument Studio in Nashville
1971: Conway Twitty recorded How Much More Can She Stand during an evening session at Bradley’s Barn in Mt. Juliet
1981: George Strait records his first hit, Unwound, at Music City Music Hall in Nashville
1982: Marty Robbins records Some Memories Just Won’t Die in Nashville
1989: Willie Nelson records Nothing I Can Do About It Now
1990: Waylon Jennings recorded the first commercial version of Where Corn Don’t Grow at Nashville’s Eleven-Eleven Sound. The song became a hit for Travis Tritt in 1997.
RELEASED ON FEBRUARY 2
1951: MGM released Hank Williams’ Cold, Cold Heart and Dear John
1952: MGM releases Hank Williams’ single Honky Tonk Blues backed with I’m Sorry For You, My Friend
1970: Capitol released Buck Owens & Susan Raye’s We’re Gonna Get Together
1976: MCA releases Loretta Lynn’s album When The Tingle Becomes A Chill
1977: Warner Bros. released Emmylou Harris’ (You Never Can Tell) C’est La Vie, written by Chuck Berry
1979: ABC released John Conlee’s Backside Of Thirty
1981: MCA released Conway Twitty’s Rest Your Love On Me
1987: RCA/Curb released The Judds’ Heartland album
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Emmett Miller was born in Macon, GA in 1900. He is believed to have influenced Jimmie Rodgers, while Bob Wills and Merle Haggard both cite him as an important act. Miller was the first to record Lovesick Blues, which launched Hank Williams to superstardom.
Rusty Kershaw was born in Tiel Ridge, LA in 1938. He joined brother Doug Kershaw to create the Cajun act Rusty & Doug, which registered four country hits from 1955-1961, including Louisiana Man and Diggy Diggy Lo.
Songwriter Gene MacLellan was born in Val-d’Or, Quebec in 1938. He authored the pop hit, Put Your Hand In The Hand and Anne Murray’s Snowbird.
Songwriter Red Lane was born in Bogalusa, LA in 1939. His credits include Conway Twitty’s Darling You Know I Wouldn’t Lie, Dottie West’s Country Girl and John Conlee’s Miss Emily’s Picture.
Pop singer/songwriter Graham Nash was born in Blackpool, England in 1942. A member of The Hollies and Crosby, Stills & Nash, he earned a country Grammy nomination in 1995 for CSN’s recording of Teach Your Children with Suzy Bogguss and Kathy Mattea.
Howard Bellamy was born in Darby, FL in 1946. Along with sibling David, The Bellamy Brothers net over 25 hits from 1979-1990, employing baby-boomer themes and double entendres. They earned 17 CMA nominations as a duo or group, but never won.
