MARCH 30

1917: Record executive Randy Wood is born in Morrison, Tennessee. He founds Dot Records, which plays a key role in the careers of Donna Fargo, Joe Stampley, Mac Wiseman and Roy Clark

1942: Johnny Wright and Kitty Wells have a son, Bobby Wright, delivered in Charleston, West Virginia. He has a minor hit in 1971 with “Here I Go Again” and takes a role in the TV show “McHale’s Navy”

1945: Rock singer, songwriter and guitarist Eric Clapton is born in Ripley, England. A member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, his “Lay Down Sally” becomes a minor country hit in 1978

1955: Randy Vanwarmer is born in Denver, Colorado. Following his pop hit “Just When I Needed You Most,” he writes the country hits “I Guess It Never Hurts To Hurt Sometimes,” “I Will Whisper Your Name” and “I’m In A Hurry (And Don’t Know Why)”

1973: The Earl Scruggs Revue performs Jimmie Rodgers’ “Blue Yodel No. 1 (T For Texas)” as Ray Charles hosts “The Midnight Special” with guests Carol Burnett and Aretha Franklin on NBC-TV. Charles sings “Georgia On My Mind”

1974: Tanya Tucker hits #1 in Billboard with “Would Lay With Me (In A Field Of Stone),” written by David Allan Coe

 1976: The collaborative album “Wanted: The Outlaws”–featuring Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Tompall Glaser and Jessi Colter–is certified gold

1978: Waylon Jennings begins recording “I’ve Always Been Crazy” in an overnight session at the Jack Clement Studios in Nashville

1980: George Jones & Tammy Wynette perform in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, kicking off their first concert tour since divorcing five years prior

1981: RCA releases Ronnie Milsap’s album of Jim Reeves covers, “Out Where The Bright Lights Are Glowing”

1981: RCA releases Sylvia’s debut album, “Drifter”

1983: The FCC approves a $245-million sale of Los Angeles’ KTLA-TV by Gene Autry’s Golden West Broadcasters and the Signal companies. Autry gets $20 million from the deal and becomes the sole owner of the California Angels and several other properties

1986: The video for Dwight Yoakam’s “Honky Tonk Man” airs on MTV

1988: “Hee Haw” tapes its 20th anniversary show at the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, Oklahoma, with former co-host Buck Owens joining such regulars as Roy Clark and Grandpa Jones, plus special guests Dolly Parton, George Jones and Conway Twitty

1989: Gilley’s nightclub, the subject of a $17-million lawsuit filed against former manager Sherwood Cryer by namesake Mickey Gilley, closes its doors in Pasadena, Texas

1992: Time magazine puts Garth Brooks on the cover, calling him a “jumping-jack-flash performer who can bring 40-year-olds to tears with existential hymns about accepting life’s compromises” on the pages inside. Presumably a good thing

2006: Brad Paisley shoots part of the video for “The World” during a concert at Knoxville’s Thompson-Boling Arena

2011: Singer/songwriter Harley Allen dies of lung cancer at home in Brentwood, Tennessee. Among his credits: Alan Jackson’s “Everything I Love,” Joe Nichols’ “I’ll Wait For You” and Darryl Worley’s “Awful, Beautiful Life”