MARCH 17
1917: Lily Mae Ledford was born in Pilot, KY. She became the leader of The Coon Creek Girls, the first all-female stringband, and the first country act to perform at the White House. She also gave birth to Exile’s J.P. Pennington.
1919: Pop singer Nat “King” Cole was born in Montgomery, AL. He charted more than 100 records during his career, including the original version of “Mona Lisa,” which became a country hit for Moon Mullican, Jimmy Wakely and Willie Nelson.
1932: Dick Curless was born in Fort Fairfield, ME. Nicknamed the Baron of Country Music, he drove into the Top 10 in 1965 with his trucker classic “A Tombstone Every Mile.”
1955: Paul Overstreet was born in Antioch, MS. The singer/songwriter is a member of Schuyler, Knobloch & Overstreet before going solo. He also wrote numerous hits for others, including “On The Other Hand” and “Forever And Ever, Amen.”
1956: Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel” reached #1 on the Billboard country singles chart.
1964: Sun Records owner Sam Phillips fired Nashville studio manager Scotty Moore–Elvis Presley’s former guitarist–after Moore recorded an instrumental album, “The Guitar That Changed The World.”
1969: Capitol released Glen Campbell’s “Galveston“–the single and the album.
1972: An outdoors festival in Dripping Springs, TX, was one of the first to draw hippies and traditional country fans. In the lineup: Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn, Roy Acuff, Buck Owens, Kris Kristofferson, Tex Ritter and Tom T. Hall.
1973: Merle Haggard played the White House to honor First Lady Pat Nixon’s birthday, singing “Okie From Muskogee” and “The Fightin’ Side Of Me.” The show, featuring The Osborne Brothers, was booked by Bob Eubanks, host of “The Newlywed Game.”
1983: Randy Travis auditioned for the TNN talent contest, “You Can Be A Star.” The producers passed.
1983: Ricky Skaggs earned his first gold album, for “Waitin’ For The Sun To Shine.”
1986: RCA released Ronnie Milsap’s “Lost In The Fifties Tonight” album.
1990: Aaron Tippin co-wrote “Ain’t Nothin’ Wrong With The Radio.”
1990: Randy Travis began a four-week stay at #1 on the Billboard country chart with “Hard Rock Bottom Of Your Heart.”
2008: The lineup from Exile’s commercial peak years reunited for a benefit concert. It’s the first time in more than two decades that Sonny Lemaire, J.P. Pennington, Les Taylor, Marlon Hargis and Steve Goetzman had performed together.
2015: Loretta Lynn and B.B. King were honored with Governor’s Arts Awards at the Tennessee Governor’s Mansion in Nashville.
