JUNE 16
1939: Billy “Crash” Craddock was born in Greensboro, NC. Employing a sound and style influenced by Elvis Presley and rockabilly, he became a key 1970s figure behind such hits as “Rub It In,” “Ruby, Baby” and “Sweet Magnolia Blossom.”
1942: Bass player John Rostill was born in Birmingham, England. He played with Tom Jones and the British group The Shadows, and wrote the Olivia Newton-John hits “Please Mr. Please,” “Let Me Be There” and “If You Love Me (Let Me Know).”
1951: Hank and Audrey Williams held a grand opening for a new clothing store, Hank & Audrey’s Corral, at 724 Commerce Street in downtown Nashville. Lefty Frizzell was on hand for the activities.
1959: Buck Owens recorded his first Top 10 hit, “Under Your Spell Again,” at the Capitol Recording Studio in Hollywood.
1967: Rumors emerged that Porter Wagoner had been killed and that his female singing partner, Norma Jean, was critically injured after a South Carolina man with a name similar to Wagoner was shot. Wagoner’s roadshow was in Little Rock at the time.
1967: Johnny Rivers, author of the future country hit “Poor Side Of Town,” performed on the opening night of the historic Monterey Pop Festival in California. He shared the bill with Simon & Garfunkel, Lou Rawls and The Association.
1972: JMI released Don Williams’ first solo single, “Don’t You Believe.”
1974: Marty Robbins finished fifth in a 1974 Dodge in the Motorstate 400 at the Michigan International Speedway. It marked the best finish of Robbins’ professional racing career.
1974: Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton performed at Opryland in a show that Parton called “the last time we’ll play together.” Parton dedicated the final song to Wagoner in front of an audience that included Paul McCartney.
1975: Tennessee Ernie Ford performed at the White House for West German leader Walter Scheel at the invitation of president Gerald Ford.
1978: Kenny Rogers recorded “The Gambler” in a morning session at Nashville’s Jack Clement Studios. Rogers returned in the late-afternoon to cut “All I Ever Need Is You” with Dottie West.
1980: Bob Nolan, of the original Sons Of The Pioneers, died of a heart attack while boating in California. The western vocal group, for whom Nolan co-wrote “Cool Water” and “Tumbling Tumbleweeds,” entered the Country Music Hall of Fame four months later.
1980: Dolly Parton recorded “But You Know I Love You.”
1981: George Strait recorded “If You’re Thinking You Want A Stranger (There’s One Coming Home)” in an afternoon session at Nashville’s Music City Music Hall.
1983: Showtime debuted “Dottie West: Full Circle,” a music special featuring John Schneider, David Frizzell & Shelly West and Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers Band.
1987: Waylon Jennings recorded “My Rough And Rowdy Days” at Nashville’s Sound Stage.
1995: Merle Haggard and Buck Owens performed together on stage for the first time in 25 years at the Kern County Fairgrounds in Bakersfield, CA. Dwight Yoakam joined the pair for one song.
1998: Artist manager Jack McFadden died of liver cirrhosis in Nashville. During his career, his clients included Buck Owens, Keith Whitley, Merle Haggard, Lorrie Morgan and Billy Ray Cyrus, among others.
1999: The Country Music Association announced Dolly Parton, Conway Twitty and Johnny Bond would be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
2000: The Country Music Association announced Charley Pride and Faron Young as the 2000 inductees in the Country Music Hall of Fame. They are the final members to be installed before the Hall moved into a new building in downtown Nashville.
2003: MTV renamed The National Network as Spike TV, bringing the TNN moniker to an end. The cable channel had started out as The Nashville Network, the channel devoted exclusively to country music.
2011: Garth Brooks was added to the Songwriters Hall of Fame during an event at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York along with Leon Russell, “Southern Nights” author Allen Toussaint and “Slow Hand” composer John Bettis.