OCTOBER 22
1914: Songwriter Sylvia Dee was born in Little Rock, Arkansas. She penned a handful of 1960s country hits, including Willie Nelson’s “Bring Me Sunshine,” and Skeeter Davis’ “The End Of The World.”
1928: Jimmie Rodgers recorded his best-selling record, “Waiting For A Train,” plus “I’m Lonely And Blue” in Atlanta.
1949: Bill Monroe recorded in Nashville for the first time, at the Castle Studio in the Tulane Hotel. The session included “Can’t You Hear Me Callin’,” later the title for a Monroe biography. It also marked the first time Mac Wiseman recorded with Monroe.
1955: Jim Reeves joined the Grand Ole Opry.
1965: Ernest Tubb was inducted in the Country Music Hall Of Fame during a ceremony at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium.
1966: Eddy Arnold, music publisher Jim Denny, Grand Ole Opry founder George D. Hay and Uncle Dave Macon were added to the Country Music Hall Of Fame, with the proceedings airing on ABC-TV’s “The Jimmy Dean Show.”
1968: Shelby Lynne was born in Quantico, VA. Highly revered by critics for her emotive singing and wide stylistic range, she earned two minor country hits in 1990 but oddly won the Grammy for Best New Artist 11 years later.
1975: The courts ruled that Billie Jean Williams’ marriage to Hank Williams was valid and that she was entitled to 50% of his royalties from copyright renewal. Williams’ first wife, Audrey, had contested Billie Jean’s rights.
1975: Larry Gatlin and his brothers recorded “Broken Lady” during the afternoon at Nashville’s Creative Workshop.
1981: Warner Bros. released John Anderson’s album “I Just Came Home To Count The Memories.”
1984: Merle Haggard recorded “Kern River” in Nashville.
1990: Tim McGraw signed a recording contract with Curb Records.
1992: Mark Chesnutt garnered a gold album for “Longnecks & Short Stories.”
1992: The “Wynonna” album reached double-platinum.
1995: On the bus headed back to Nashville, Steve Sanders resigned from The Oak Ridge Boys, feeling press coverage of his current wife’s conflicts with his ex-wife would become a p.r. burden to the group. He promised to remain until the end of the year.
2002: The USA Network held the first auditions for its new talent show, “Nashville Star,” which brought Buddy Jewell to national prominence. Trace Adkins and Ronnie Dunn assisted in the first round of tryouts.
2011: Ronne Dunn sang “The Star Spangled Banner” at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington as Major League Baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals swamped the Texas Rangers in a World Series game.
2017: Alan Jackson, the late Jerry Reed and songwriter Don Schlitz, the author of “The Gambler,” were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.
