OCTOBER 23
1951: David Wills was born in Pulaski, TN. He recorded two Charlie Rich-produced hits in the ’70s and wrote George Strait’s “If You’re Thinking You Want A Stranger (There’s One Coming Home)” and John Schneider’s “You’re The Last Thing I Needed Tonight.”
1956: Dwight Yoakam was born in Pikeville, KY. With an edgy vocal style and a proclivity for roots music, he became one of country’s most creative forces, augmenting such iconic hits as “Honky Tonk Man,” “Ain’t That Lonely Yet” and “Fast As You” with a side career as an actor.
1974: Charlie Rich’s album, “There Won’t Be Any More,” was certified gold.
1975: An ABC-TV special, “The Grand Ole Opry At 50: A Nashville Celebration,” was taped at the Grand Ole Opry House. Performers included Marty Robbins, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Minnie Pearl, Charley Pride, Porter Wagoner and Roy Clark.
1978: Mother Maybelle Carter died at her Nashville home. The Carter Family became the first family of country music after a 1927 session in Bristol. The trio broke up in 1943, but she rallied her daughters and kept performing. The original lineup joined the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1970.
1978: MCA released Tanya Tucker’s “TNT” album.
1979: The Oak Ridge Boys recorded “Trying To Love Two Women” during an afternoon session at Woodland Sound in Nashville.
1979: Elektra/Curb released the Hank Williams Jr. album “Whiskey Bent And Hell Bound.”
1983: Columbia released the Willie Nelson album “Without A Song.”
1985: Merle Watson died in a North Carolina tractor accident. The son of Doc Watson, he played banjo and guitar with his influential father from 1964 until his death.
1991: Rodney Crowell and Rosanne Cash filed for divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences.”
1992: George Strait made his movie debut as “Pure Country” opened. The film includes an appearance by John Doe, the bass player for the 1980s punk group X.
1992: The single, “Seminole Wind,” by John Anderson went to #1 on the country charts. The same day, John’s album with the same name was certified gold.
1993: George Strait’s “Easy Come, Easy Go” hits #1 on the Billboard country chart.
1997: Barbara Mandrell performed her final concert, billed as “The Last Dance,” at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House. She planned to become an actress full-time. Reba McEntire provided emotional support backstage.
2000: It was revealed that Garth Brooks had saved two boys from a house fire in Oklahoma three days earlier.
2007: Lorrie Morgan filed for divorce from Sammy Kershaw in Sumner County Chancery Court in Tennessee.
2010: Blake Shelton became a member of the Grand Ole Opry.
2017: The late Vern Gosdin entered the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in a ceremony at the Music City Center. Also inducted are “Friends In Low Places” author Dewayne Blackwell, “(There’s) No Gettin’ Over Me” writer Walt Aldridge, “Chattahoochee” composer Jim McBride and “Live Like You Were Dying” writer Tim Nichols.
2017: Shania Twain was a guest judge on ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars.”
