JULY 23
1910: Recording engineer Aaron Shelton was born in Erin, TN. He co-founded the Castle Recording Studio–one of Nashville’s first recording sites–and ran the board for hits by Hank Williams, Kitty Wells, Red Foley and Carl Smith, among others.
1940: Johnny Darrell was born in Hopewell, AL. He had country hits in the 1960s with “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town” and “With Pen In Hand.”
1948: Record producer/guitarist Pete Anderson was born in Detroit. Anderson gained acclaim for his work with Dwight Yoakam, producing and playing on such hits as “Honky Tonk Man,” “Little Sister” and “Fast As You.”
1950: “The Gene Autry Show” debuted on CBS-TV, taking Autry, sidekick Pat Buttram and Champion from the big screen to the small screen. “Back In The Saddle Again” served as the program’s theme song.
1970: Sonny James recorded Ivory Joe Hunter’s “Empty Arms” at the Columbia Recording Studios in Nashville.
1971: Alison Krauss was born in Decatur, IL. The fiddler/vocalist led the bluegrass group Union Station, joining the Grand Ole Opry in 1993 and has won more Grammy awards than any other woman in history.
1982: Epic released Mickey Gilley’s album “Put Your Dreams Away.”
1983: “Pancho And Lefty” propelled Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard to the top spot on the Billboard country chart.
1988: Vern Gosdin picked up a #1 single in Billboard with a song that celebrates Ernest Tubb, “Set ‘Em Up Joe.”
1994: Alan Jackson hosted a free concert at his house on Center Hill Lake in Tennessee. No tickets were printed, no advertisements paid for. Attendance was strictly word-of-mouth.
1994: Alan Jackson’s remake of Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues” tops the Billboard country singles chart.
1997: “Strawberry Wine” took Song of the Year at the Nashville Songwriters Association International’s 30th Songwriter Achievement Awards. Vince Gill won Songwriter/Artist of the Year for the third time. Mark D. Sanders claimed Top Songwriter.
2003: George Jones Country Sausage debuted in grocery stores. The Possum spent the morning giving free samples to shoppers in the aisles at two Kroger outlets in the suburbs of Nashville.
