Lyricist Johnny Burke died in New York in 1964. Known for such standards as Pennies From Heaven and Swing On A Star, he also co-wrote Erroll Garner’s Misty, which became a country hit for Ray Stevens in 1975.
Ronnie Milsap recorded It Was Almost Like A Song at Woodland Sound in Nashville in 1977.
Merle Haggard recorded Ramblin’ Fever in a 1977 afternoon session at Nashville’s Fireside Studio. He also cut There Ain’t No Good Chain Gang, a hit the following year for Johnny Cash & Waylon Jennings.
George Jones won Best Country Vocal Performance (Male) for He Stopped Loving Her Today, during the 23rd annual Grammy Awards in 1981.
RCA released Alabama’s Mountain Music album in 1982.
Rosanne Cash won Best Country Vocal Performance (Female) during the 28th annual Grammy Awards in 1986 for I Don’t Know Why You Don’t Want Me, a song she wrote after losing in 1983.
Randy Travis set a new concert attendance record at the Houston Astrodome, attracting 49,702 fans in 1988.
Dwight Yoakam took I Sang Dixie to #1 on the Billboard country chart in 1989.
Five years after the death of her father and former duet partner, Jeannie Kendall’s first solo album was released by Rounder Records in 2003. The eponymous project included an appearance by Alan Jackson.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Ralph Stanley, of The Stanley Brothers, was born in Stratton, VA in 1927. His duo The Stanley Brothers was one of the pioneering acts in bluegrass, and his later band, the Clinch Mountain Boys, graduated Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley.
Faron Young was born in Shreveport, LA in 1932. One of country’s most colorful figures, he founded The Music City News and launched more than 40 hits from 1953-1974 on his way to admission in 2000 to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
