NOVEMBER 23
1889: The Pacific Phonograph Company installed the world’s first jukebox at San Francisco’s Palais Royal Hotel. The device played a role in such hits as Alan Jackson’s “Don’t Rock The Jukebox,” Eddie Rabbitt’s “Two Dollars In The Jukebox” and Doug Stone’s “A Jukebox With A Country Song.”
1929: Clarence “Tom” Ashley recorded “The Coo-Coo Bird” in Johnson City, TN. The performance would be ranked among the 500 greatest country singles of all-time in the Country Music Foundation book “Heartaches By The Number.”
1949: Songwriter Charlie Black was born in Cheverly, MD. His long line of hits includes Reba McEntire’s “You Lie,” Phil Vassar’s “Six-Pack Summer,” Alan Jackson’s “Right On The Money” and Anne Murray’s “A Little Good News.”
1950: Hank Williams wrote “Cold, Cold Heart.”
1962: Patsy Cline opened a 35-date engagement at Las Vegas’ Merri-Mint Theater. She hired Tompall & The Glaser Brothers as her backing vocalists.
1967: Jack Greene became the first country star to appear in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York.
1968: Tammy Wynette sat at #1 in Billboard with “Stand By Your Man.”
1972: Bored and lonely in a hotel room on Thanksgiving, Tom T. Hall writes “Spokane Motel Blues.” The city is angered when the song later appears on an album.
1976: Police arrested Jerry Lee Lewis outside the gates of Graceland after he showed up for the second time that night and made a scene by shouting, waving a pistol and demanding to see Elvis Presley.
1991: The Judds performed at Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY, in the last road appearance of their final tour as an ongoing duet, a split caused by Naomi Judd’s bout with a critical form of hepatitis. The opening act: Garth Brooks.
1992: Roy Acuff died from congestive heart failure in Nashville and was buried within eight hours. A Grand Ole Opry symbol for over 50 years, the “King Of Country Music” was the first living member inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
1993: MCA released George Jones’ “High-Tech Redneck” album.
1994: George Strait’s “Easy Come, Easy Go” went double platinum.
1996: Trace Adkins made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry. After his performance, he proposed to his girlfriend, Rhonda, from the Opry Stage. Of course, she said yes! The couple later welcomed two daughters – Mackenzie and Brianna – to the Adkins fold. Trace also has two daughters from a previous marriage. She filed for divorce in March 2014, but they’re still married.
2000: “Grand Ole Opry 75th–Celebration” aired on CBS-TV, with hosts Vince Gill and Dolly Parton. Their guests included, among others: Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Martina McBride, Porter Wagoner and Trisha Yearwood.
2012: Songwriter Frank Dycus died in Nashville. He authored Mark Chesnutt’s “Gonna Get A Life” and George Jones’ “I Don’t Need Your Rockin’ Chair,” plus a pair of George Strait hits: “Unwound” and “Marina Del Rey.”
2012: A new installment of “CMT Crossroads” debuted featuring Randy Travis and the Avett Brothers debuted. Among their performances is a collaboration on “Three Wooden Crosses.”
2020: Hal Ketchum died of complications from dementia at his home in Texas. A 1994 inductee in the Grand Ole Opry, he rode a soaring voice and folk tendencies to a bundle of hits during the ’90s, including “Past The Point Of Rescue,” “Sure Love” and “Small Town Saturday Night.”
