OCTOBER 4
1848: Lawyer and songwriter Frederic Weatherly was born in Portishead, England. He wrote the Irish folk song “Danny Boy,” a 1967 country hit for Ray Price.
1921: Fiddler J.R. “Jelly” Sanders was born in Duncan, OK. As a member of Buck Owens’ Buckaroos, he performed on a long line of hits, including “Together Again,” “Act Naturally,” “I’ve Got A Tiger By The Tail” and–appropriately–“Second Fiddle.”
1929: Leroy Van Dyke was born in Spring Fork, MO. He earned a major pop and country hit with his 1961 recording “Walk On By,” and scored as well with “Auctioneer” and “If A Woman Answers (Hang Up The Phone).”
1937: Steel player Lloyd Green was born in Mobile, AL. He played with Ferlin Husky, Faron Young, Alan Jackson and Johnny Paycheck, among others, and contributed steel to The Byrds’ landmark 1968 album “Sweetheart Of The Rodeo.”
1944: Songwriter Larry Collins was born in Tulsa, OK. His credits include Tanya Tucker’s “Pecos Promenade” and “Delta Dawn,” and David Frizzell & Shelly West’s “You’re The Reason God Made Oklahoma.”
1946: Since the telephone company had not yet installed his new receiver, Bob Wills was unable to call a doctor and delivered his own daughter, Carolyn Wills.
1956: NBC-TV broadcasted the debut of “The Ford Show,” a variety program featuring Tennessee Ernie Ford as host and regular cast member Molly Bee. The show ran for nearly five years.
1970: Rock vocalist Janis Joplin was found dead of a heroin overdose at the Landmark Hotel in Los Angeles. Her version of Kris Kristofferson’s “Me And Bobby McGee” became a posthumous hit, and her “Piece Of My Heart” is later remade country by Faith Hill.
1975: Willie Nelson picked up his first #1 single as an artist on the Billboard country chart with “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain.”
1978: Tammy Wynette was kidnapped from the Green Hills parking lot in Nashville. Her abductors are never identified.
1985: The Patsy Cline movie “Sweet Dreams” opened in Nashville.
1991: Diamond Rio made their Grand Ole Opry debut.
1993: Collin Raye recorded “My Kind Of Girl” at The Money Pit in Nashville.
1995: Roger Miller and longtime CMA executive Jo Walker-Meador were added to the Country Music Hall of Fame during the Country Music Association awards at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House.
1995: Alison Krauss took home four trophies in the 29th annual Country Music Association awards, aired on CBS from Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House: Female Vocalist of the Year; the Horizon Award; Vocal Event; and Single, for “When You Say Nothing At All.”
1996: Conway Twitty’s widow, Dee Jenkins, and his children filed separate papers in a Nashville court, with both sides claiming full rights to his songs, plus the Twitty Bird logo–all valued at $3.8 million. The children eventually secured the rights.
2000: Charley Pride and Faron Young entered the Country Music Hall of Fame during the 34th annual Country Music Association awards, hosted on CBS by Vince Gill for the ninth straight year, at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville.
2001: The Country Music Hall of Fame inducted 12 new members: The Everly Brothers, Sam Phillips, Bill Anderson, The Louvins, The Jordanaires, The Delmore Brothers, Webb Pierce, Don Law, Ken Nelson, Don Gibson, Waylon Jennings and Homer & Jethro.
2012: The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame finally received a physical home. The board announces the hall will be housed at the Music City Center beginning in 2013. Attending the announcement are songwriters Pat Alger (“The Thunder Rolls“) and Layng Martine Jr. (“Rub It In“).
