NOVEMBER 21
1923: Hal Smith was born in Fairview, AL. A fiddler for Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb and others, he married singer Velma Williams, of The Smoky Mountain Boys, and joined Ray Price to found Pamper Music, a publishing company that provides a songwriting springboard for Willie Nelson, Harlan Howard and Hank Cochran.
1933: Jean Shepard was born in Paul’s Valley, Oklahoma. Hits such as “Second Fiddle (To An Old Guitar),” “A Satisfied Mind” and a Ferlin Husky duet, “A Dear John Letter,” earn her membership in the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame.
1953: I’ll drink to that: Webb Pierce collected a #1 country single in Billboard with “There Stands The Glass.”
1955: In a deal engineered by Colonel Tom Parker, RCA Records bought Elvis Presley’s contract and master tapes from Sam Phillips’ Sun Records for $35,000. The papers were signed at the Sun Recording Studio in Memphis.
1966: Lisa & Teresa McCarter were born in Sevierville, TN. The twins join older sister Jennifer to create The McCarters, whose thick harmonies yield a trio of late-1980s hits: “Timeless And True Love,” “The Gift” and “Up And Gone.”
1975: Tom T. Hall recorded “Faster Horses (The Cowboy And The Poet)” at the US Recording Studio in Nashville.
1978: Elektra/Asylum released the soundtrack to the Clint Eastwood movie “Every Which Way But Loose.” Included: Mel Tillis’ “Coca Cola Cowboy” and “Send Me Down To Tucson,” Eddie Rabbitt’s title cut and music from Charlie Rich, Carol Chase, Hank Thompson, Larry Collins and Phil Everly.
1980: “Who shot J.R.?” That question is answered on “Dallas,” as the public found out that Kristin–pregnant with J.R. Ewing’s child–pulled the trigger. The show helped key an early-’80s country boom, generally regarded as the Urban Cowboy era.
1981: Hank Williams Jr.’s “All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down)” settled in at #1 on the Billboard country chart.
1983: Conway Twitty records “Somebody’s Needin’ Somebody” in an evening session at Nashville’s Sound Stage.
1986: Willie Nelson’s “Red Headed Stranger” album went platinum and double-platinum.
1986: Marty Robbins’ “Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs” scored a platinum album.
1986: Lynn Anderson collects the only platinum album of her career, for “Rose Garden.”
1989: Conway Twitty records “Crazy In Love” and “I Couldn’t See You Leavin’” at the Emerald Sound Studios in Nashville.
1992: Alabama claims the top spot on the Billboard country singles chart with “I’m In A Hurry (And Don’t Know Why).”
2002: Mark Wills’ “19 Somethin’” video debuted.
2015: Chris Stapleton’s “Traveller” hit #1 on the Billboard country albums chart, ultimately topping the list a total of 23 weeks through August 2016.
2018: Vince Gill and Ricky Skaggs performed “Go Rest High On That Mountain” during a memorial for Roy Clark at Rhema Bible Church in Broken Arrow, OK. Also participating: Larry Gatlin, Rudy Gatlin, Moe Bandy, Barbara Fairchild, Buck Trent and Rodney Lay.
