Mar 7, 1944
Singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt is born in Fort Worth, Texas. A vivid songwriter and wild personality, he authors a pair of 1980s hits: Merle Haggard & Willie Nelson cover “Pancho And Lefty”; Emmylou Harris & Don Williams do “If I Needed You”
Mar 7, 1951
Webb Pierce conducts his first recording session for Decca Records, at the Castle Studio in Nashville. The session includes “Drifting Texas Sand,” which he re-records nine years later
Mar 7, 1963
Jack Anglin dies in an auto accident on the way to Patsy Cline’s memorial service in Nashville. A former member of The Anglin Brothers trio, he joined Johnnie Wright to create Johnnie & Jack, earning hits from 1951-1958
Mar 7, 1964
Jim & Jesse and Ernie Ashworth join the Grand Ole Opry
Mar 7, 1971
Gilley’s nightclub opens in Pasadena, Texas. Named for part-owner Mickey Gilley, the home of the mechanical bull provides the inspiration for the 1980 movie “Urban Cowboy,” which results in a short-term country trend
Mar 7, 1972
Buck Owens records “Made In Japan” at his own studio in Bakersfield
Mar 7, 1973
Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell receive gold awards with both the “Dueling Banjos” album and its title track
Mar 7, 1978
Dolly Parton records “Heartbreaker” and “I Really Got The Feeling” at Sound Labs in Hollywood
Mar 7, 1978
The Oak Ridge Boys record “Come On In” at Woodland Sound in Nashville. The session also yields “Callin’ Baton Rouge,” destined to become a hit for Garth Brooks
Mar 7, 1979
Webb Pierce’s controversial guitar-shaped swimming pool on Music Row is sold at auction. Top bid: $150,000 from Pierce’s former business partner, William Donoho
Mar 7, 1983
“Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story” airs on NBC-TV with Richard Thomas in the lead role. A still-unknown Naomi Judd has a small part, as does Bocephus’ manager, Merle Kilgore
Mar 7, 1983
The Nashville Network debuts on cable TV. Vince Gill and Rosanne Cash perform on TNN’s very first show
Mar 7, 1986
Randy Travis makes his debut on the Grand Ole Opry. After an introduction from Little Jimmy Dickens, he performs “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”
Mar 7, 1988
Johnny Cash, Roy Acuff, Jessi Colter, Emmylou Harris and Waylon Jennings record Acuff’s “As Long As I Live” at Nashville’s JMI Recording Studio. Cash also enlists Rosanne Cash and The Everly Brothers on “Ballad Of A Teenage Queen”
Mar 7, 2001
The Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts cite 365 Songs of the Century, including more than 50 country titles. Among them: Lee Ann Womack’s “I Hope You Dance,” featuring The Sons Of The Desert
Mar 7, 2005
Merle Haggard launches a tour with Bob Dylan in Seattle. Dylan, whose band includes former BR549 steel guitarist Don Herron, sings Haggard’s “Sing Me Back Home” during his set
Mar 7, 2013
Claude King dies of a heart attack in Shreveport, Louisiana. He earned a half-dozen country hits during the 1960s, topped by the #1 single “Wolverton Mountain”
