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Country Music History – July 3

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JULY 3

1922: Fiddler Harold Hensley was born in Whitetop, VA. He performed in the 1950s and ’60s on hits by Hank Thompson, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Skeets McDonald and Loretta Lynn, among others.

1946: Johnny Lee was born in Texas City, TX. A sidekick of Mickey Gilley, he emerged from obscurity when the million-selling “Lookin’ For Love” appeared in the 1980 film “Urban Cowboy,” then piled up a five-year run of hits.

1950: The USS Valley Forge launched the first carrier air strike of the Korean War. Among the crewmen on the ship is Scotty Moore, future guitarist for Elvis Presley.

1957: Songwriter Frank J. Myers was born in Dayton, OH. He built such credits as John Michael Montgomery’s “I Swear,” Chris Young’s “Tomorrow,” Lonestar’s “I’m Already There” and Reba McEntire’s “One Honest Heart.”

1958: Aaron Tippin was born in Pensacola, FL. His hard-tipped vocals netted him a strong 1990s presence behind such hits as “That’s As Close I’ll Get To Loving You,” “You’ve Got To Stand For Something” and “There Ain’t Nothing Wrong With The Radio.”

1965: Roy Rogers’ 33-year-old horse, Trigger, died in California. The silver screen cowboy had the horse mounted and placed on display in his museum.

1965: The cover of TV Guide belonged to Jimmy Dean.

1969: A Smithsonian concert on the Mall in Washington, D.C., honored Bill Monroe. He performed with Charlie Monroe and Birch Monroe. The show also features J.E. Mainer and Wade Mainer.

1970: Johnny Cash refused to shoot a bedroom scene in the movie “A Gunfight” when actress Karen Black, who portrayed a prostitute, was expected to be nude. Cash won: she wore clothes.

1979: Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn recorded “You Know Just What I’d Do” and “It’s True Love” at Nashville’s Woodland Sound Studio.

1980: “Honeysuckle Rose” made its world premiere in Austin, TX. Willie Nelson starred in the movie, about a touring country star, using the picture to introduce his song “On The Road Again.”

1980: Merle Haggard wrote the epilogue to his autobiography on the way to Austin for Willie Nelson’s Fourth of July Picnic.

1982: “Any Day Now” took Ronnie Milsap to #1 on the Billboard country chart.

1993: Alison Krauss was introduced by Garth Brooks as she joined the Grand Ole Opry.

1993: Garth Brooks checked in at #1 on the Billboard country chart with “That Summer.”

1997: Bobby Bare, Waylon Jennings, Mel Tillis and Jerry Reed took over the Masterfonics studio in Nashville, where they recorded a live album, “Old Dogs.” The audience included Shel Silverstein, Jan Howard, Carl Smith and Bobby Bare Jr.

2001: Johnny Russell died at Nashville’s Baptist Hospital after a lengthy battle with diabetes. The Grand Ole Opry member had three hits in the early-1970s, and wrote Buck Owens’ “Act Naturally” and George Strait’s “Let’s Fall To Pieces Together.”

2001: Roy Nichols, longtime guitarist for Merle Haggard, died at Bakersfield’s Mercy Hospital. Nichols played on “Mama Tried” and “Big City,” among Haggard hits, plus Johnny Cash’s “Tennessee Flat-Top Box.” He also wrote Haggard’s “Street Singer.”

2012: Actor Andy Griffith died of a heart attack at his home in Manteo, NC. A Grammy winner for the album “I Love To Tell The Story–25 Timeless Hymns,” he appeared in the video for Brad Paisley’s “Waitin’ On A Woman.”