NOVEMBER 14
1951: Marty Robbins had his first recording session for Columbia Records at Hollywood’s Radio Recorders. He recorded his debut single, “Love Me Or Leave Me Alone.”
1951: Hank Williams made his first national TV appearance, on CBS-TV’s “The Perry Como Show,” performing “Hey, Good Lookin’.”
1956: In his very first session, Jerry Lee Lewis recorded “The End Of The Road” and “Crazy Arms” at the Sun Recording Studio in Memphis.
1957: Songwriter Gretchen Peters was born in Bronxville, NY. She wrote such hits as Faith Hill’s “The Secret Of Life,” Martina McBride’s “Independence Day,” Patty Loveless’ “You Don’t Even Know Who I Am” and Pam Tillis’ “Let That Pony Run.”
1960: Time magazine coined the term “The Nashville Sound,” applied to country records that use a softened approach in an attempt to gain broad appeal. The phrase becomes standard Music City jargon.
1961: Wynn Stewart and businessman Don Spafford opened a Las Vegas club, Nashville Nevada. They called attention to the club’s hours–it’s open 24-hours-a-day–by dropping the key to the front door from an airplane into the desert.
1974: Gary Stewart recorded “She’s Actin’ Single (I’m Drinkin’ Doubles)” in Nashville.
1977: Crystal Gayle received her first gold sales certifications–a gold single for “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” and a gold album for “We Must Believe In Magic.”
1978: United Artists released Kenny Rogers’ album “The Gambler.”
1979: Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton agreed to settle a $3-million lawsuit filed by Wagoner, dividing numerous businesses they’ve owned jointly for 12 years. They also considered making a duet album.
1979: Charley Pride recorded the Hank Williams classic “You Win Again.”
1989: MCA released Vince Gill’s “When I Call Your Name” album.
1992: Whitney’s Houston’s version of “I Will Always Love You” debuted on the pop charts. It made its way to #1 — and stayed there for 14 weeks. Whitney’s chart-topping rendition of the Dolly Parton classic provided the song’s third trip to the top of the charts. Dolly Parton had previously hit #1 with the song in 1974 and 1982.
1997: Shania Twain’s single, “Love Gets Me Every Time,” was #1 on “Radio & Records’” Country Top 50 chart.
2000: Cledus T. Judd’s album, “Another Day In Parodies,” and “The Mercy Project” album, which featured Martina McBride and Amy Grant, arrived in stores.
2001: George Strait’s album, “The Road Less Traveled,” debuted at #1 on “Billboard’s” Top Country Albums chart.
2001: Garth Brooks hit the stage at the LA Forum for the first of three live concert specials that aired on CBS over the coming month.
2002: The late Charlie Rich’s “Behind Closed Doors” album went quadruple-platinum.
2004: Toby Keith claimed two trophies at the American Music Awards. Other country winners included Kenny Chesney, Gretchen Wilson, Brooks & Dunn and Reba McEntire.
2016: Holly Dunn died of ovarian cancer in Albuquerque, NM. A former Grand Ole Opry member, she emerged on MTM Records in 1985, nabbing eight Top 10 country hits through 1990, including “You Really Had Me Going,” “Only When I Love” and Grammy nominee “Daddy’s Hands.”
