JANUARY 4
1929: Victor releases The Carter Family’s “Wildwood Flower.”
1945: Jay Dee Maness is born in Loma Linda, CA. He becomes a session steel player and a member of The Desert Rose Band. Among his credits are hits by Buck Owens, Anne Murray and Glen Campbell.
1953: Hank Williams’ funeral draws more than 20,000 people in Montgomery, AL. A country choir led by Webb Pierce, Red Foley, Little Jimmy Dickens and Carl Smith performs “I Saw The Light.” Ernest Tubb offers “Beyond The Sunset.”
1955: Kathy Forester, of The Forester Sisters, is born in Lookout Mountain, GA. The Foresters emerge as a rare all-female harmony group in 1985, and the quartet scores 15 hits in the next six years.
1957: Patty Loveless is born in Elkhorn City, KY. A distant cousin of Loretta Lynn, Loveless’ pure, powerful style leads to membership in the Grand Ole Opry and 1996 recognition from the Country Music Association as Female Vocalist of the Year.
1958: Bob Wills gives his blessing to rock & roll in The Tulsa Tribune: “Why, man, that’s the same kind of music we’ve been playin’ since 1928! It’s just basic rhythm and has gone by a lot of different names in my time.”
1962: George Jones records “She Thinks I Still Care” at the Bradley Film & Recording Studio in Nashville.
1965: Leo Fender sells his company, Fender Guitars, for $13 million to CBS.
1966: Deana Carter is born in Nashville. The daughter of guitarist Fred Carter, her 1996 hit “Strawberry Wine” nets the Country Music Association’s Song and Single of the Year. She also co-writes the Kenny Chesney/Grace Potter duet “You And Tequila.”
1969: George Jones, Mel Tillis, Tammy Wynette and Dolly Parton join the Grand Ole Opry. Wynette and Tillis remain members a relatively short time.
1969: Johnny Cash earns a #1 single in Billboard with “Daddy Sang Bass.” Written by Carl Perkins, it features vocal appearances by The Statler Brothers and The Carter Family.
1977: Loretta Lynn ranks #8 on Mr. Blackwell’s annual list of the 10 worst-dressed women. “The right dress,” he says, “in the wrong century.”
1982: Steve and Carol Earle have a son at Nashville’s Baptist Hospital. The boy is named Justin Townes Earle–his middle name in honor of Townes Van Zandt.
1991: Alan Jackson records “Dallas” and “Love’s Got A Hold On You.”
1992: Collin Raye posts his first #1 country single with “Love, Me.”
1993: Wynonna Judd begins recording her second album, “Tell Me Why.”
