SEPTEMBER 19
1924: Songwriter Horace “Danny” Dill was born in Dollar Hill, TN. Inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975, he wrote Lefty Frizzell’s “The Long Black Veil,” Patsy Cline’s “So Wrong” and Bobby Bare’s “Detroit City.”
1928: Bluegrass promoter Carlton Haney was born in Rockingham County, NC. The first person to organize a weekend bluegrass festival, he also co-wrote the Conway Twitty hit “To See My Angel Cry.”
1931: R&B singer Brook Benton was born in Camden, SC. He wrote two songs, “Endlessly” and “It’s Just A Matter Of Time,” that became country hits for Sonny James. He also recorded the first hit version of “A Rainy Night In Georgia,” covered for country by Hank Williams Jr.
1940: The Righteous Brothers’ Bill Medley was born in Santa Ana, CA. The duo’s “Unchained Melody” was covered as a country hit by Elvis Presley, while The Oak Ridge Boys remade their hit “Dream On.” Medley has a brief country solo career, nominated for top new male vocalist by the Academy of Country Music in 1985.
1945: Austin Roberts was born in Newport News, VA. After recording the pop hit “Rocky,” Roberts found success as a Nashville songwriter, penning Lee Greenwood’s “I.O.U.,” Earl Thomas Conley’s “Honor Bound” and Reba McEntire’s “You Lie.”
1952: Porter Wagoner held his first RCA recording session, at KWTO Radio in Springfield, Missouri, beginning with a cover of Hank Williams’ “Settin’ The Woods On Fire.”
1964: Trisha Yearwood was born in Monticello, GA. A powerful vocalist in the vein of her idol Linda Ronstadt, she won a Grammy for her 1997 recording of “How Do I Live” and became one of the most revered country acts of the 1990s.
1966: Decca released Loretta Lynn’s “You Ain’t Woman Enough” album.
1968: Red Foley died from a heart attack in a hotel room in Fort Wayne, IN. Grandfather to Debby Boone, Foley was a steady country hitmaker from 1944-1956, earning membership in the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1967. His last song was a gospel title, “(There’ll Be) Peace In The Valley (For Me).”
1970: Ray Price achieves a #1 Billboard country single with “For The Good Times,” written by Kris Kristofferson.
1970: Crystal Gayle hit the country charts for the first time with “I’ve Cried The Blue Right Out of My Eyes.” Her sister, Loretta Lynn, wrote the song.
1973: Gram Parsons died at Joshua Tree, CA, of an accidental chemical overdose. A former member of The Byrds, one of country-rock’s seminal acts, Parsons influenced Emmylou Harris to take up country music.
1981: Mickey Gilley’s remake of “You Don’t Know Me” hit #1 on the Billboard country chart
1983: Epic released the Ricky Skaggs album “Don’t Cheat In Our Hometown.”
1994: George Jones was released from the hospital just one week after undergoing triple bypass surgery.
1997: The Louise Mandrell Theater opened in Pigeon Forge, TN.
1998: Eddie Rabbitt, Kent Robbins (“Straight Tequila Night“) and Merle Kilgore (“Ring Of Fire“) were inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame during ceremonies at the Loews Vanderbilt Plaza Hotel in Nashville.
1999: The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inducted Tommy Collins (“The Roots Of My Raising“), Wayne Kemp (“The Fireman“), Glenn Sutton (“Almost Persuaded“) and A.L. “Doodle” Owens (“Wine Colored Roses“).
2004: Skeeter Davis died of cancer at Nashville’s Alive Hospice. A longtime member of the Grand Ole Opry, she racked up more than 15 hit records but is best remembered for her 1962 recording “The End Of The World.”
