SEPTEMBER 6
1911: Zeke Clements was born on a farm near Warrior, AL. A Grand Ole Opry member who wrote Red Foley’s “Smoke On The Water” and several Eddy Arnold hits, he also is the voice of Bashful in Disney’s “Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs.”
1939: David Allan Coe was born in Akron, OH, an event he refers to in his autobiography as “the first of a long line of crimes I was to be convicted for.” The so-called “mysterious rhinestone cowboy” wrote “Take This Job And Shove It” and recorded the “perfect country & western song,” “You Never Even Called Me By My Name.”
1942: Mel McDaniel was born in Checotah, OK. He developed a series of rowdy, good ol’ boy successes in the 1980s, including “Louisiana Saturday Night” and “Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On,” while earning a spot in the Grand Ole Opry.
1952: “Jambalaya (On The Bayou)” lifted Hank Williams to #1 on the Billboard country singles chart.
1955: After Johnny Cash told him a story about a former Air Force buddy with distinctive footwear, Carl Perkins wrote “Blue Suede Shoes” backstage before a show in Bono, AR. Perkins played it live for the first time that night.
1958: Comedian Jeff Foxworthy was born in Hapeville, GA. Based on his “You might be a redneck if…” routine, Foxworthy emerged as the best-selling comic of the 1990s.
1963: Mark Chesnutt was born in Beaumont, TX. With honkytonk forming the center point for his music, he emerged with “Too Cold At Home” in 1990 and became one of the steadiest hitmakers of the decade.
1963: Jerry Lee Lewis signed with Smash Records, where his career was revived as he shifted from rock ‘n’ roll to country.
1965: Capitol released Merle Haggard’s debut album, “Strangers.”
1980: Johnny Lee earns his first #1 country single in Billboard with “Lookin’ For Love.”
1984: Alabama records “Forty Hour Week (For A Livin’).”
1984: Ernest Tubb died in Nashville’s Baptist Hospital in the presence of his son, Justin Tubb and Porter Wagoner. A Grand Ole Opry fixture since 1943, his rugged resonance sent him into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1965.
1985: Columbia released a Willie Nelson duets album, “Half Nelson,” featuring Merle Haggard, Julio Iglesias, Ray Charles, Hank Williams, Leon Russell, Lacy J. Dalton, George Jones, Carlos Santana and Mel Tillis, among others.
2012: Vince Gill received a star at 6901 Hollywood Boulevard on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Amy Grant and Reba McEntire delivered induction speeches.
2018: Actor Burt Reynolds died at Jupiter Medical Center in Florida. A former paramour of Tammy Wynette, he co-starred frequently with Jerry Reed in movies. Reynolds’ credits included “Smokey & The Bandit,” “W.W. & The Dixie Dancekings” and “The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas.”
