MARCH 31
1922: Fiddler Howdy Forrester was born in Vernon, TN. He joined Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys for two years in the 1940s and played with Roy Acuff during the ’50s.
1926: Fiddler Tommy Jackson was born in Birmingham, AL. He became noted for his double-stop technique–bowing two strings at once–while playing on hits by Hank Williams, Webb Pierce, Ernest Tubb and Ray Price.
1928: Lefty Frizzell was born in Corsicana, TX. He influenced Merle Haggard, Keith Whitley and Randy Travis through such hits as “If You’ve Got The Money I’ve Got The Time” and “Always Late (With Your Kisses)” on his way to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
1933: Anita Carter, of The Carter Sisters, was born in Maces Spring, VA. She broke away from the family group to net three Top 10 singles from 1951-1968, as a solo act, and in efforts with Hank Snow and Waylon Jennings.
1934: Hall Of Fame songwriter John D. Loudermilk was born in Durham, NC. His hits include “Indian Reservation,” by Paul Revere & The Raiders; “Abilene,” by George Hamilton IV; and “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye,” by Eddy Arnold.
1934: During a 30-mile drive to appear on the Grand Ole Opry, dulcimer player Kitty Cora Cline witnessed a horrible auto accident. She vowed to never again travel by car, ending the six-year Opry span of the show’s first female soloist.
1935: Herb Alpert was born in Los Angeles, CA. The trumpet-playing pop star formed A & M Records in 1962, then signed Waylon Jennings to his first recording contract a year later. A&M yielded country hits by The Carpenters, Hoyt Axton and Toby Keith.
1957: Sun labelmates Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis begin a toured together in Little Rock, Arkansas.
1962: Patsy Cline claimed a #1 country single in Billboard with “She’s Got You.”
1971: ABC-TV aired the last edition of “The Johnny Cash Show” with Homer & Jethro, Merle Travis, The Statler Brothers, Mother Maybelle Carter, and her daughters, Helen, Anita and June. Cash and June Carter sang “Jackson” and “If I Were A Carpenter.”
1977: Columbia released Janie Fricke’s debut album, “Singer Of Songs.”
1978: Willie Nelson began a one-week engagement at Harrah’s Tahoe, where he recorded the album “Willie & Family Live.”
1981: Annette O’Toole portrayed Tammy Wynette in the CBS-TV adaptation of “Stand By Your Man.” Actor Tim McIntire played the role of George Jones.
1985: Epic releases Dan Fogelberg’s country album, “High Country Snows,” featuring musicians Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen, who form The Desert Rose Band with several players from the subsequent tour.
1992: MCA Records released Wynonna Judd’s first solo album, “Wynonna.”
1995: Carl Story died in Greenville, SC, from complications following triple bypass heart surgery. Considered the Father of Bluegrass Gospel, he played fiddle with Bill Monroe and wrote Mickey Gilley’s “I Overlooked An Orchid.”
2007: Billy Joe Shaver shot a barroom patron in the face outside Papa Joe’s Texas Saloon in Lorene. Shaver claimed the man was drunk and pulled a knife on him; the victim disputed the story.
2011: Mel McDaniel died of lung cancer at his home in Hendersonville, TN. A Grand Ole Opry member, he earned 1980s hits with “Louisiana Saturday Night,” “Right In The Palm Of Your Hand” and “Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On.”
