The Star-Spangled Banner was officially recognized as the national anthem in 1931.
Ernest Stoneman, of The Stoneman Family, taped an appearance on NBC-TV’s The Big Surprise. His 1956 run on the game show lastd five weeks, as he earn $10,000.
Lefty Frizzell recorded The Long Black Veil during an evening session at Nashville’s Bradley Film & Recording Studio in 1959. He recorded the song just hours after Marijohn Wilkin and Danny Dill wrote it.
Patsy Cline gave what proved to be her final show in 1963. She sang at a benefit for the widow of Kansas City deejay “Cactus Jack” Call. Also appearing: Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas, Dottie West, Billy Walker, George Jones and Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper.
Buffalo Springfield, an important link in the growth of country-rock, formed in Los Angeles in 1966. Founding members include guitarists Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Richie Furay, drummer Dewey Martin and bass player Bruce Palmer.
Johnny Cash played a singer who murdered his wife in a 1974 episode of NBC-TV’s Columbo. In the episode, Cash sang Sunday Morning Coming Down.
Johnny Cash starred in the CBS-TV movie The Pride Of Jesse Hallam in 1981. He portrayed an adult dealing with illiteracy. In the special, Cash sang I’m Just An Old Chunk Of Coal (But I’m Gonna Be A Diamond Someday).
Exile gains their first #1 country hit with Woke Up In Love in 1984.
Reprise released Dwight Yoakam’s Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. album in 1986.
Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson performed at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo at the Astrodome in 1990, kicking off their first concert tour as the Highwaymen.
Warner Bros. released Little Texas’ debut album, First Time For Everything in 1992.
Joe Diffie recorded Pickup Man at the Soundshop in Nashville in 1994.
Harlan Howard died in Nashville in 2002. The dean of country songwriters wrote The Judds’ Why Not Me, Patty Loveless’ Blame It On Your Heart, Patsy Cline’s I Fall To Pieces and Highway 101’s Somewhere Tonight, among many others.
George Strait played the final Houston Livestock & Rodeo Show concert in 2002. It was held at Houston’s Astrodome, with more than 68,000 in attendance. He dedicated Love Without End, Amen to George and Barbara Bush, who are part of the crowd
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Doc Watson was born in Deep Gap, NC in 1923. A blind acoustic guitarist, he joined The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on its Will The Circle Be Unbroken album and collected seven Grammy awards.
Songwriter Bob DiPiero was born in Youngstown, OH in 1951. His hits include Tim McGraw’s Southern Voice, Montgomery Gentry’s Gone, George Strait’s Blue Clear Sky and The Oak Ridge Boys’ American Made. He married, and later divorced, Pam Tillis.
Johnny Cash and June Carter had a son, John Carter Cash, in Nashville in 1970.
