JANUARY 30

1931: Comic and musician Harold Morrison was born in High Lonesome, MO. He opened many of Loretta Lynn’s shows and played on her hits “Fist City,” “Happy Birthday” and “Blue Kentucky Girl.”

1934: Songwriter Melvin Endsley was born in Drasco, AR. Endsley wrote Marty Robbins’ “Knee Deep In The Blues” and “Singing The Blues.”

1937: Norma Jean Bowman was born in Pell City, AL. Under the stage name Jeanne Pruett, she joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1973, coinciding with the biggest recording of her career, “Satin Sheets.”

1938: Norma Jean Beasler was born near Welliston, OK. Known professionally as Norma Jean, she became a regular on TV’s “The Porter Wagoner Show,” replaced by Dolly Parton when she left the show in 1967 to get married.

1940: Record producer Jerry Bradley was born in Nashville. He succeeded Chet Atkins in 1973 as the head of RCA’s country division, producing hits for Charley Pride, Dave & Sugar and Johnny Russell; and overseeing the peaks of Waylon Jennings and Dolly Parton.

1958: 20-year-old Merle Haggard was convicted of second-degree burglary, after a botched break-in attempt at a Bakersfield, CA nightclub. He served two years and nine months in prison at San Quentin, and he really did “turn 21 in prison,” as he sang in his hit “Mama Tried.” He was paroled in 1960, and eventually pardoned by then-California governor, Ronald Reagan, in 1972.

1961: Capitol releases Buck Owens’ self-titled album, the first of 50 compiled for the company over the next 15 years.

1968: Bobby Goldsboro recorded “Honey” at Nashville’s RCA Studio B.

1972:  Kris Kristofferson got five nominations at the Grammys for three songs: “Help Me Make It Through The Night,” “For the Good Times,” and “Me and Bobby McGee.”

1979: The Oak Ridge Boys recorded “Dream On” at a Woodland Sound session in Nashville.

1981: Epic released George Jones’ “Still The Same Ole Me” album.

1981: At the American Music Awards, Kenny Rogers won four awards including Favorite Country Single for “Coward of the County,” and Country Album for “The Gambler.” The Eagles, The Statler Brothers, and Barbara Mandrell also won awards.

1985: Randy Travis recorded four songs in his first recording session for Warner Bros. Among them is “Prairie Rose,” destined for the soundtrack to “Rustler’s Rhapsody,” and “On The Other Hand.”

1986: George Strait recorded “Nobody In His Right Mind Would’ve Left Her” at the Sound Stage in Nashville.

1988: Kathy Mattea collected her first #1 country single in Billboard with “Goin’ Gone.”

1989: RCA released Alabama’s “Southern Star” album.

1990: Warner Bros. Records released Hank Williams Jr.’s “Lone Wolf” album.

1990: Alabama recorded “Here We Are.”

1994: The Judds sang “Love Can Build A Bridge” during a “Rockin’ Country” halftime show at the Super Bowl that featured Clint Black, Travis Tritt and Tanya Tucker. The Dallas Cowboys beat the Buffalo Bills, 30-13, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

1999: Jo Dee Messina hit #1 on the Billboard country singles chart with “Stand Beside Me.”

2000: Faith Hill sang the national anthem at Super Bowl XXXIV, with Travis Tritt performing in the pre-game show.  Unfortunately, their performances weren’t enough to send the Titans home with a ring – the Rams took the prize and defeated Titans 23-to-16.

2001: LeAnn Rimes’ album, “I Need You,” arrived in stores. Around the time of the release, LeAnn took the highly unusual step of publicly distancing herself from the project. In fact, she denounced the existence of the album, saying it was an unauthorized move by the record company. LeAnn and her record company later kissed and made up.

2002: The success of Alan Jackson’s “Drive” album was kicking into high gear internationally. Following the previous chart-topping success in the U.S., the project debuted on the Canadian album charts in the #1 spot! If that’s not enough, he also kept Canadian rockers Nickelback in the #2 slot. SoundScan Canada also noted that this wasn’t a close victory for Alan — his sales of 12,900 put him well ahead of the group whose album, “Silver Side Up,” sold 9,100 copies.

2022: Keyboard player Hargus “Pig” Robbins died. A 2012 inductee in the Country Music Hall of Fame, he took part in hundreds of hits, including singles by George Jones, Charlie Rich, Bob Dylan, Alan Jackson, Ronnie Milsap and Ray Charles.