MAY 14
1933: Jimmie Rodgers arrived in New York, checking in at the Taft Hotel, to prepare for a series of recording sessions. They proved to be the last recordings of his career.
1973: Capitol releases Buck Owens’ “Ain’t It Amazing, Gracie” album, which includes the original solo version of “Streets Of Bakersfield.”
1984: Elvis Presley’s jet plane, the “Lisa Marie,” went on display at Graceland.
1990: “The Very Best Of Conway Twitty” was certified platinum, becoming the singer’s first album to reach the 1 million mark.
1990: Faron Young cracked three ribs when he hit a tree with his riding lawn mower while cutting grass in the dead of night.
1991: Arista releases Alan Jackson’s “Don’t Rock The Jukebox” album.
1995: “Naomi & Wynonna: Love Can Build A Bridge” premieres on NBC-TV as a two-part mini-series. Kathleen York and Viveka Davis starred as The Judds.
2008: Kitty Wells’ “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” was added by the Library of Congress to the National Recording Registry, along with Roy Orbison’s “Oh, Pretty Woman” and audio of Smokey Robinson, Joni Mitchell, Thomas A. Dorsey, Ronald Reagan and Michael Jackson.
2008: Vince Gill sang “You Don’t Know Me” and The Jordanaires performed “(There’ll Be) Peace In The Valley (For Me)” during a memorial for Eddy Arnold at the Ryman Auditorium. Others on hand include Steve Wariner, Hal Ketchum, Bill Anderson, Jim Ed Brown, Roni Stoneman, Harold Bradley and John D. Loudermilk.
2011: Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton married at the Don Strange Ranch near Boerne, TX. Guests in attendance included Reba McEntire, Dierks Bentley, Kacey Musgraves, Martina McBride and The Bellamy Brothers.
2021: For the first time since the COVID-19 shutdown in March 2020, the Grand Ole Opry was held without a capacity restriction. Lorrie Morgan opened with “Five Minutes” and the Oak Ridge Boys closed with “Elvira.” Also booked were Michael Ray, Charles Esten, Riders In The Sky and making her Opry debut, Brittney Spencer.
