SEPTEMBER 3
1918: Harmonica player Jimmie Riddle was born in Dyersburg, TN. He joined Roy Acuff’s Smoky Mountain Boys in September 1943, remaining with the group for all but four years of his career.
1925: Hank Thompson was born in Waco, TX. His mix of honky-tonk and Western swing made him one of country’s top acts in the 1950s and early-’60s. His signature song, “The Wild Side Of Life,” aided his 1989 induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
1933: Tompall Glaser was born in Spalding, NE. He joined Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter on the 1976 album “Wanted: The Outlaws” and has several hits as a member of Tompall & The Glaser Brothers. The Glasers also provided background vocals on Marty Robbins’ “El Paso.”
1955: Jim Reeves moved to the Grand Ole Opry after first starring on “The Louisiana Hayride.”
1956: Ray Price recorded “I’ve Got A New Heartache” in an evening session at the Bradley Recording Studio in Nashville.
1961: Loretta Lynn signed with Decca Records.
1965: The first weekend bluegrass festival, organized by Carlton Haney, opened in Fincastle, VA. The three-day event featured Bill Monroe, The Stanley Brothers, Clyde Moody, Jimmy Martin, Don Reno, Mac Wiseman, The Country Gentlemen and others.
1968: Capitol released Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried” album.
1972: Lester Flatt invited 13-year-old Marty Stuart to become a member of his band, the Nashville Grass, in Glasgow, DE. Stuart accepted.
1974: MCA released the Loretta Lynn album “They Don’t Make ‘Em Like My Daddy.”
1975: Dave & Sugar recorded “Queen Of The Silver Dollar” in Nashville as the group conducted its first session.
1975: Mickey Gilley recorded “Don’t The Girls All Get Prettier At Closing Time,” which references Robert Redford, and “Overnight Sensation” during a pair of sessions at Nashville’s RCA Studio B.
1979: Conway Twitty told People magazine that rock ‘n’ roll has contributed to the nation’s moral decay and says he’s disappointed in the way women have changed: “The way they talk, the way they more and more take the man’s role… just turns me plum off.”
1983: George Strait netted a #1 single in Billboard with “A Fire I Can’t Put Out.”
1985: MCA released George Strait’s “Something Special” album.
1988: Rodney Crowell scored a #1 single in Billboard with “I Couldn’t Leave You If I Tried.”
1996: Capitol released Deana Carter’s album “Did I Shave My Legs For This?“
2006: Tim McGraw & Faith Hill’s Soul2Soul II Tour wrapped at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The couple brought in almost $89 million during the concert run, setting a record as the highest-grossing country tour in history.
