FEBRUARY 10
1946: Bass player and supporting vocalist Kenny Edwards was born in Santa Monica, CA. He appears on hits by Linda Ronstadt, David Lee Murphy, Kathy Mattea, Wynonna and The Charlie Daniels Band.
1947: Bass player Chris Ethridge was born in Meridian, MS. He co-founded The Flying Burrito Brothers and played on a bundle of Willie Nelson hits, including “Blue Skies,” “Georgia On My Mind” and “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain.”
1960: Singer/songwriter/musician Lionel Cartwright was born in Gallipolis, OH. His relaxed vocal style leads to four Top 10 singles from 1989-1991, the biggest coming with “Leap Of Faith.”
1961: Flatt & Scruggs recorded The Carter Family classic “You Are My Flower” at Nashville’s Bradley Recording Studios with Mother Maybelle Carter backing them on autoharp. A live version of the song became a hit three years later.
1965: Lefty Frizzell recorded “She’s Gone, Gone, Gone” at the Columbia Studios in Nashville.
1972: George Jones recorded “Loving You Could Never Be Better” in a 10 a.m. session at Nashville’s Columbia Studios.
1977: RCA released Dolly Parton’s album “New Harvest… First Gathering.”
1978: Ronnie Milsap’s album, “It Was Almost Like A Song,” was certified gold.
1979: Eddie Rabbitt began a three-week stay at #1 on Billboard’s country chart with the theme from the Clint Eastwood movie “Every Which Way But Loose.”
1983: George Jones showed up late in Jackson, MS, for a hearing on cocaine possession charges from the previous March.
1984: Alabama topped the country charts with “Roll On [18 Wheeler].”
1986: Record producer “Uncle” Art Satherley died at his home in Fountain Valley, CA. Elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1971, he ran Columbia Records’ country efforts from 1938-1952, producing Bob Wills, Gene Autry, Bill Monroe and others.
1986: “The Highwayman” album by Waylon, Willie, Johnny, Kris Kristofferson was certified gold.
1986: MCA released Reba McEntire’s “Whoever’s In New England” album.
1987: Randy Travis collected his first platinum album, honoring “Storms Of Life.”
2000: Jim Varney, one of America’s most beloved comedic actors, died of lung cancer at his home in White House, TN. He was 50 years old. Starring in nine “Ernest” movies and as Jed Clampett in the movie “Beverly Hillbillies,” he was also the voice of “Slinky Dog.” He also performed in many other film and television productions. His burial was in Lexington, KY with a public memorial service in Nashville, TN.
2003: Marty Stuart and Merle Haggard recorded together for the first time. The Nashville session features “Farmer’s Blues,” written by Stuart with his wife, Connie Smith.
2004: Nettwerk released Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel.”
2007: Bob Wills nabbed a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in a Recording Academy merit award event at Los Angeles’ Wilshire Ebell Theatre, with Booker T. & The MG’s, Joan Baez and The Grateful Dead. Also honored: Estelle Axton and Stephen Sondheim.
