May 7, 1931
Songwriter Jerry Chesnut is born in Loyall, Kentucky. Among his credits: Travis Tritt’s “T-R-O-U-B-L-E,” Del Reeves’ “Looking At The World Through A Windshield,” Faron Young’s “It’s Four In The Morning” and George Jones’ “A Good Year For The Roses”
May 7, 1946
Bill Danoff is born in Springfield, Massachusetts. He co-founds The Starland Vocal Band, which earns a pop hit with “Afternoon Delight,” and writes John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and “Please, Daddy (Don’t Get Drunk This Christmas)”
May 7, 1949
Hank Williams makes his first appearance at #1 on the Billboard country singles chart with “Lovesick Blues”
May 7, 1953
Songwriter John Jarrard is born in Gainesville, Georgia. He authors such hits as George Strait’s “Blue Clear Sky,” John Anderson’s “Money In The Bank,” Diamond Rio’s “Mirror Mirror” and Collin Raye’s “My Kind Of Girl”
May 7, 1992
Filming begins on George Strait’s first movie, “Pure Country.” The picture also features an appearance by John Doe, a co-founder of the Los Angeles punk group X
May 7, 1994
Clint Black jogs to #1 on the Billboard country chart with “Good Run Of Bad Luck”
May 7, 1996
When Nashville’s election ballot includes a referendum on bringing the NFL’s Houston Oilers to Tennessee, Chet Atkins votes “no.” “It seems like somebody gets hurt every play,” he tells The Tennessean. “I don’t like that”
May 7, 1958
Conway Twitty records “It’s Only Make Believe” at the Bradley Film & Recording Studio in Nashville
May 7, 1970
Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed record the Grammy-nominated album “Me And Jerry” in a single day at Nashville’s RCA Studio B. Among the songs: “MacArthur Park,” “Tennessee Stud,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and “Something”
May 7, 1972
Marty Robbins refuses to accept an award or financial earnings at the Winston 500 in Talladega, Alabama, when he admits to driving the last 100 miles in a car with an illegal carburetor. Robbins reached speeds of 189 mph
May 7, 1978
Rosanne Cash makes her national TV debut in the special “Johnny Cash: Spring Fever.” Also appearing: June Carter Cash, Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter and Ray Charles, who performs “Half As Much” and “Let It Be Me.” Charles and Cash also duet on “Busted”
May 7, 1991
Warner Bros. releases Travis Tritt’s “Here’s A Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)”
May 7, 1996
Mercury releases Sammy Kershaw’s “Politics, Religion And Her” album
May 7, 1996
Warner Bros. releases the “Twister” soundtrack, featuring Shania Twain’s “No One Needs To Know,” plus music from Alison Krauss + Union Station, Mark Knopfler, k.d. lang, Stevie Nicks & Lindsey Buckingham and Goo Goo Dolls, among others
May 7, 1998
Eddie Rabbitt dies from lung cancer at Baptist Hospital in Nashville, leaving behind a string of pop crossover successes, including “I Love A Rainy Night,” “Drivin’ My Life Away,” “Someone Could Lose A Heart Tonight” and “Suspicions”
