SEPTEMBER 17
1923: Hank Williams was born in Mount Olive, AL. He became country music’s most influential singer/songwriter, while establishing a tragic legacy of alcoholism and death at age 29. He joined the Country Music Hall of Fame in its first induction in 1961.
1926: Bill Black was born in Memphis. He went on to become Elvis Presley’s first bass player, participating in such hits as “Hound Dog,” “Heartbreak Hotel,” “All Shook Up” and “Don’t Be Cruel.”
1931: RCA Records introduced the 33-1/3 rpm long-playing record.
1952: Steve Sanders was born in Richland, GA. In 1987, he replaced William Lee Golden in The Oak Ridge Boys, taking the soulful lead on such singles as “Gonna Take A Lot Of River” and “Beyond Those Years” prior to Golden’s return in 1995.
1953: Carl and Valda Perkins had their first child, Carl Stanley Perkins, who later plays in his dad’s band. Stan also joined his father and brother, Greg, to co-write Dolly Parton’s “Silver And Gold.”
1972: Faron Young spanked a six-year-old girl on stage in Clarksburg, WV, for sticking her tongue out at him before he sang “This Little Girl Of Mine.” Her parents claimed Young bruised her; he was fined $24 plus $11 for court costs.
1977: Reba McEntire made her first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry, singing the Patsy Cline classic “Sweet Dreams” and Roger Miller’s “Invitation To The Blues,” 30 years to the day after her father won his first rodeo honor.
1996: Capitol released John Berry’s “Faces” album.
1996: Curb released the “Men With Broken Hearts” album, featuring the Three Hanks: Hank Williams, Hank Williams Jr. and Hank Williams III.
1996: Arista released BR5-49’s self-titled debut studio album.
1997: Johnny Cash testified on copyright issues in the Internet age to a Senate subcommittee in Washington, D.C., noting that “Ring Of Fire” could be downloaded free from a website in Eastern Europe. That is, he said, “downright theft.”
1999: Lisa Hartman Black joined her hubby Clint Black on stage for their first public performance of their mega-hit, “When I Said I Do.”
2001: Lyric Street released Aaron Tippin’s “Where The Stars And Stripes And The Eagle Fly” to radio, just two days after he began recording it.
2003: Singer/songwriter/actor Sheb Wooley died at Nashville’s Skyline Medical Center of leukemia. Known for “The Purple People Eater” and a series of parodies under the name Ben Colder, he wrote the “Hee Haw” theme song.
2005: King Street and 8th Street in Bristol, TN/VA were renamed Carter Family Way.
2005: The Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton single “Islands In The Stream” tops the list with the debut of “CMT 100 Greatest Duets.”
2014: George Hamilton IV died at Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital in Nashville, days after suffering a heart attack. Added to the Grand Ole Opry cast in 1961, his folk-tinged brand of country included the #1 single “Abilene.” He was among the first U.S. country stars to consistently court an overseas audience.
