NOVEMBER 19
1924: Gospel singer J.D. Sumner was born in Lakeland, FL. He founded The Stamps Quartet, a gospel group that eventually backed Elvis Presley, with Sumner providing the signature closing bass note on The King’s “Way Down.”
1934: Banjo player Dave Guard was born in San Francisco. He became a member of The Kingston Trio, a folk group that won the first country Grammy award, presented for the single “Tom Dooley.”
1954: Slim Whitman recorded “Cattle Call” at the KWKH studios in Shreveport.
1955: Johnny Cash wrote “I Walk The Line” in Gladewater, TX, in 20 minutes prior to a remote broadcast of “The Louisiana Hayride.” Also appearing on the bill: Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins.
1955: Carl Perkins recorded his most enduring song, “Blue Suede Shoes,” at Sun Studios in Memphis.
1958: George Jones portrayed a bartender on the NBC western “Bat Masterson.”
1964: McGuinn, Hillman & Crosby renamed their band as The Byrds. The group became an important link in the growth of country-rock, particularly through the 1968 album “Sweetheart Of The Rodeo.”
1966: Francis Craig died following a heart attack in Sewanee, TN. The Nashville orchestra leader wrote “Near You,” the first million-seller recorded in Music City. The song was remade as a country hit by George Jones & Tammy Wynette in 1977.
1968: Roy Rogers and Dale Evans hosted the first broadcast of the Country Music Association awards, taped the previous month, on NBC. Glen Campbell won Entertainer and Male Vocalist of the Year.
1975: Dobro player Chad Jeffers was born in Kingsport, TN. He joins the alt.country band Pinmonkey, nominated for an Academy of Country Music award in 2003. After leaving the group, he went on to play in the road bands of Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood and Jamie O’Neal.
1978: CBS hosted “Lucy Comes To Nashville,” a one-hour special featuring Lucille Ball, Mel Tillis, Barbara Mandrell, The Oak Ridge Boys, Lynn Anderson, Archie Campbell, Ronnie Milsap, Tom T. Hall and The Fisk Jubilee Singers.
1979: Cristy Lane recorded a pair of hits, “One Day At A Time” and “Sweet Sexy Eyes,” in an afternoon session at Nashville’s LSI Studio.
1992: Songwriter Bobby Russell died in Nicholasville, KY. He penned Bobby Goldsboro’s “Honey,” Roger Miller’s “Little Green Apples” and the Reba McEntire country hit “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia.”
1994: Mary Chapin Carpenter topped the country charts with “Shut Up and Kiss Me.”
1995: George Strait’s box set, “Strait Out of the Box,” was certified for sales of 5-million. It’s since gone on to sell over seven million copies, making it the third best-selling box set in history. The only boxes that have sold more were by Led Zeppelin and Bruce Springsteen.
1996: American Recordings released Johnny Cash’s “Unchained.”
2001: Georgia Representative Mac Collins read the lyrics to Alan Jackson’s single, “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning),” into the Congressional Record.
2002: Shania Twain’s “UP!” album arrived in stores. It was a hot seller, too. A week later, it debuted atop the country and all-genre album charts after selling nearly 900,000 copies.
2002: Dwight Yoakam’s box set, “Reprise Please Baby: The Warner Brothers Years,” was released.
2005: Naomi Judd rode the 63rd annual Santa Train on its 100-mile course through Appalachia, beginning in Shelby, Kentucky, and concluding in Kingsport, TN.
2007: Charlie Daniels was invited by Martina McBride to join the Grand Ole Opry during a concert at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. The invitation came during the 11th annual Christmas For Kids benefit, featuring Montgomery Gentry, Taylor Swift, Chris Young and Rodney Atkins.
2017: Mel Tillis died at Munroe Regional Medical Center in Ocala, FL. A member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, he earned the CMA’s Entertainer of the Year in 1976. The self-proclaimed stutterin’ boy had hits as an artist and as the writer of “Detroit City” and “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town.”
2018: Three of Glen Campbell’s children – Travis, Kelli and Wesley – ended their court battle in Nashville contesting their father’s will, which excludes them from his inheritance.
2019: The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum held a dedication ceremony celebrating the donation of songwriter/producer Jack Clement’s Gibson J-200 guitar. The event included performances by Charley Pride, Shawn Camp, Crystal Gayle and John Prine, who offered “Ballad Of A Teenage Queen” using Clement’s guitar.
