JULY 12
1942: Singer/songwriter Steve Young was born in Newnan, GA. He landed songs with Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams Jr. and The Eagles, who scored a minor hit with his “Seven Bridges Road.”
1952: Keyboard player Randy McCormick was born in Rogersville, AL. He co-wrote Eddie Rabbitt’s “Suspicions” and Conway Twitty’s “Crazy In Love,” and played on singles by George Strait, Ricky Van Shelton and Kenny Chesney, among others.
1954: Guitarist Scotty Moore became Elvis Presley’s first manager.
1959: Earl Scruggs performed at the first Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island using Hylo Brown & The Timberliners as his backing group.
1960: Floyd Cramer recorded “Last Date” at RCA Studio B in Nashville.
1960: Marty Robbins recorded “Don’t Worry” in an afternoon session at Nashville’s Bradley Film & Recording Studio.
1966: The Wilburn Brothers recorded “Hurt Her Once For Me.”
1967: “That Tennessee Beat” debuted in movie theaters with Merle Travis, The Statler Brothers, Minnie Pearl, Floyd “Lightnin"” Chance, Pete Drake, Buddy Mize, Boots Randolph and The Stoney Mountain Cloggers.
1971: Linda Ronstadt performed at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA, with a backing band featuring Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner. It marked the first time that the group that would become The Eagles played together.
1972: Tom T. Hall recorded “(Old Dogs-Children And) Watermelon Wine” around noon at Mercury Custom Recording Studio in Nashville.
1977: The Oak Ridge Boys recorded “You’re The One” during an afternoon session at Nashville’s Woodland Sound.
1980: Charley Pride’s remake of Hank Williams’ “You Win Again” appeared at #1 on the Billboard country chart.
1982: Filming began in Nashville for the CBS movie “Country Gold.” In the cast: Barbara Mandrell, Reba McEntire, The Bellamy Brothers, Mel Tillis, Stella Parton, Boxcar Willie, Lynn Anderson, Ralph Emery and songwriters Keith Stegall and Gerry House.
1988: A judge awarded Mickey Gilley $17 million after he sued ex-manager Sherwood Cryer to have his name removed from Gilley’s in Pasadena, TX. Gilley maintained Cryer had allowed the club, associated with the movie “Urban Cowboy,” to go to seed.
1988: Warner Bros. released Randy Travis’ “Old 8 x 10” album.
1993: Kenny Chesney began recording his first album.
1994: Keyboard player Brady Seals made his last appearance as a member of Little Texas in Charlotte, MI.
1998: Songwriter Jimmy Driftwood died of heart failure at a hospital in Fayetteville, AR. Briefly a member of the Grand Ole Opry, he is best remembered for writing Johnny Horton’s “The Battle Of New Orleans” and Eddy Arnold’s “Tennessee Stud.”
2019: Russell Smith died of cancer at Williamson Medical Center in Franklin, TN. He sang lead for The Amazing Rhythm Aces and wrote their signature hit, “Third Rate Romance.” He also penned Randy Travis’ “Look Heart, No Hands,” Don Williams’ “Heartbeat In The Darkness” and Ricky Van Shelton’s “Keep It Between The Lines.”
