OCTOBER 26
1936: Roy Acuff held his first recording session with his band, The Crazy Tennesseans, cutting “The Great Speckled Bird” at the Furniture Mart Building in Chicago.
1960: The American League voted to place a baseball team in Los Angeles. Within weeks, the franchise was awarded to country music legend/western actor Gene Autry, who calls it the Angels.
1969: Jessi Colter married Waylon Jennings in Mesa, AZ.
1980: Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard played for 30,000 people at a rare stadium date at Anaheim Stadium in California with Emmylou Harris and Johnny Paycheck. Haggard’s set was recorded for the album “Rainbow Stew/Live At Anaheim Stadium.”
1982: Alabama recorded “The Closer You Get.”
1987: Rodney Crowell recorded “I Couldn’t Leave You If I Tried.”
1991: Travis Tritt went to #1 in Billboard with “Anymore.”
1992: Collin Raye made his acting debut on TV’s “Street Justice,” portraying an undercover cop with dreams of a Nashville career. He sang “In This Life” in the movie.
1993: Rick Trevino recorded “She Can’t Say I Didn’t Cry” and “Doctor Time.”
1993: MCA released Trisha Yearwood’s “The Song Remembers When” album.
1993: Dwight Yoakam watched his “This Time” album go platinum.
1994: MTV premiered “The Eagles: Hell Freezes Over,” a concert special shot the previous June that represented their reunion after a 14-year split.
1999: Arista released Alan Jackson’s “Under The Influence” album of remakes.
1999: Blue Eye released the Dolly Parton album “The Grass Is Blue.”
2000: Harmonica player Don Brooks died with leukemia in New York City. Noted for his work with Billy Joel, Diana Ross and The Bee Gees, he was a member of Waylon Jennings’ band during the 1970s, appearing on “You Ask Me To” and “This Time.”
2008: The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inducted three new members–“Strawberry Wine” author Matraca Berg, “Drive South” composer John Hiatt and “Why Wait” creator Tom Shapiro–during a ceremony at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel.
2014: Ronnie Milsap, Mac Wiseman and songwriter Hank Cochran were inducted in the Country Music Hall of Fame during a medallion ceremony in Nashville.
2016: Ricky Skaggs and Jerry Reed were inducted in the Musicians Hall of Fame in Nashville along with Garth Brooks; his producer, Allen Reynolds; and his “G-Men” studio band: Milton Sledge, Chris Leuzinger, Bobby Wood, Mark Casstevens, Rob Hajacos, Bruce Bouton and the late Mike Chapman.