FEBRUARY 15
1917: Wally Fowler, the founder of The Oak Ridge Boys, is born near Adairsville, Georgia. He joins the Grand Ole Opry in 1945, but turns almost strictly to gospel music when The Oak Ridge Quartet takes off in 1947
1918: Hank Locklin is born in McLellan, Florida. A 1960 addition to the Grand Ole Opry, he earns 10 Top 10 hits from 1949-1967, led by “Please Help Me, I’m Falling”
1940: A performance rights organization, BMI, is founded to compete with ASCAP. Short for Broadcast Music, Inc., BMI collects and distributes royalties to songwriters for the public performance of their works
1962: Ray Charles records “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Born To Lose” and “You Don’t Know Me” for his album “Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music” at United Studios in Los Angeles
1966: Earl Scruggs, Marty Robbins, Stringbean, Waylon Jennings, The Carter Family and Tex Ritter appear on the ABC special “Anatomy Of Pop: The Music Explosion.” Also featured: Tony Bennett, The Supremes, Richard Rodgers and Peter, Paul & Mary
1967: Jack Greene records the Mel Tillis-penned “All The Time”
1971: Connie Smith records “Just One Time”
1975: RCA releases “An Evening With John Denver”
1975: T.G. Sheppard collects his first #1 country single in Billboard magazine with “Devil In The Bottle”
1978: Crystal Gayle becomes the first country-based female artist to receive a platinum album, for “We Must Believe In Magic”
1979: Willie Nelson wins two trophies during the 21st annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles: Best Country Vocal Performance, Male, for “Georgia On My Mind”; and Best Country Vocal Duo or Group–shared with Waylon Jennings–for “Mammas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys”
1983: The Statler Brothers record “Elizabeth” and “Oh Baby Mine (I Get So Lonely)” during the afternoon at the Sound Stage Studios in Nashville
1987: Columbia releases Ricky Van Shelton’s debut album, “Wild-Eyed Dream”
1990: George Strait records “Love Without End, Amen” at Nashville’s Emerald Sound Studios
1992: “What She’s Doing Now” leads Garth Brooks to a four-week stay at #1 on the Billboard country singles chart
