MAY 8
1928: Fiddler Benny Martin was born in Sparta, TN. Beginning professionally as a teenager, he became a sideman for Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, Kitty Wells and Roy Acuff, among others.
1940: Ricky Nelson was born in Teaneck, NJ. Carried into the limelight through his role on TV’s “The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet,” he gained success in pop music, but also launched four Top 10 country hits in 1958.
1942: Jack Blanchard was born in Buffalo, NY. He married Misty Morgan, with whom he gained a novelty hit with “Tennessee Bird Walk” in 1970.
1961: Faron Young’s version of the Willie Nelson-penned “Hello Walls” hit #1 in Billboard.
1969: Elvis Presley told Colonel Tom Parker he was no longer interested in doing movies, because the roles were so bad.
1976: George Jones gave a Thunderbird and a gold ring to his ex-wife, Tammy Wynette, in honor of Mother’s Day.
1976: The Man in Black donned a black robe: Johnny Cash receives an honorary Doctorate of Human Letters from San Diego’s National University. San Diego mayor Pete Wilson declared Johnny Cash Day.
1980: “Johnny Cash: The First 25 Years” aired on CBS with George Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Roy Acuff, June Carter, The Carter Family, Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, Anne Murray, The Oak Ridge Boys, Tom T. Hall, Larry Gatlin, Johnny Paycheck and others.
1981: Barbara and Louise Mandrell joined the 10th “Battle Of The Network Stars,” with Tom Selleck, Charlene Tilton, Melissa Gilbert and Scott Baio, among others.
1981: Epic released Ricky Skaggs’ album “Waitin’ For The Sun To Shine.”
1981: Epic released the “Hard Country” soundtrack, featuring Tanya Tucker’s “Texas (When I Die)” and Jerry Lee Lewis’ remake of “I Love You So Much, It Hurts,” plus music by Joe Ely and screenplay writer Michael Martin Murphey.
1982: Willie Nelson’s “Always On My Mind” reached #1 on the Billboard country chart.
1990: Lorrie Morgan added her vocals to a previously-recorded Keith Whitley track, “‘Til A Tear Becomes A Rose,” a day before the one-year anniversary of his death.
1999: Martina McBride played herself in a cameo appearance on CBS-TV’s “Early Show.” The show was about a guy named Gary, who magically gets tomorrow’s paper a day early so he can prevent tragedies from occurring. In the episode, he read in “the paper” that Martina would be seriously injured while rehearsing with her band, so he raced to the concert hall to save her.
2000: Brad Paisley made his “Tonight Show” debut.
2000: Reba McEntire snagged the top spot on “Billboard’s” Liquid Audio chart with the single, “We’re So Good Together.” It was her first foray into downloadable music.
2008: Eddy Arnold died at NHC Place in Franklin, TN. Originally nicknamed the Tennessee Plowboy, he became a leading proponent of the string-laden “Nashville Sound” of the 1960s. Arnold joined the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1966.
