FEBRUARY 8

1948: Dan Seals is born in McCamey, Texas. After establishing a pop career as one-half of England Dan & John Ford Coley, he becomes a consistent country presence in the 1980s, behind “Bop,” “You Still Move Me” and “Big Wheels In The Moonlight”

1952: Ray Price records “Talk To Your Heart” during the afternoon at the Castle Studio in Nashville’s Tulane Hotel. The performance is rejected, and the ultimate single–his first hit–is recorded six days later

1960: Congress begins hearings to investigate payola in music and radio. Future Academy of Country Music awards producer Dick Clark survives the scandal. Rock deejay Alan Freed, credited as a co-writer on “Sincerely,” is destroyed

1960: Jim Reeves collects a #1 country single in Billboard magazine with “He’ll Have To Go”

1961: George Jones records “Tender Years” in Nashville at the Bradley Recording Studio

1974: Waylon Jennings records “I’m A Ramblin’ Man” at Nashville’s RCA Studio B

1975: Little Jimmy Dickens returns to the Grand Ole Opry, 18 years after he resigned from the show. Dickens had departed because he was being sponsored by a company that rivaled an Opry advertiser

1980: MCA releases Conway Twitty’s album “Heart & Soul”

1985: The Charlie Daniels Band records “Drinkin’ My Baby Goodbye” at Woodland Sound Studio in Nashville

1994: Atlantic releases Neal McCoy’s “No Doubt About It” album

1996: President Bill Clinton signs the Telecommunications Act, de-regulating the broadcast industry and setting off a flurry of purchases that results in the consolidation of the radio industry. The result: fewer people decide what country songs become hits

1997: Mark Chesnutt makes a timely appearance at the top of the Billboard country chart with “It’s A Little Too Late”

1999: The Hank Williams Museum is established in Montgomery, Alabama

2004: Alison Krauss wins three times in the 46th annual Grammy Awards at Los Angeles’ Staples Center. “Alison Krauss + Union Station – Live” wins Best Bluegrass Album, “Cluck Old Hen” takes Best Country Instrumental Performance, and she shares Best Country Collaboration with James Taylor, for “How’s The World Treating You”

2017: Randy Travis is the subject of a tribute concert at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Guests include Garth Brooks, Alabama, Chris Janson, Josh Turner, Kenny Rogers, Montgomery Gentry and Jamey Johnson