December 11th:
1935
Born on this day, was Tom Brumley, American steel guitarist who played with Buck Owens and the Buckaroos in the 1960s, contributing to the group’s “Bakersfield sound”, and later spent a decade with Rick Nelson. Brumley died on February 3, 2009.
1944
Born on this day in Atlanta, Georgia, was Brenda Lee. At 4 ft. 9 inches tall (approximately 145 cm), she received the nickname ‘Little Miss Dynamite’ in 1957 after recording the song “Dynamite”; and was one of the earliest pop stars to have a major contemporary international following. In 1997, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
1946
After signing a deal with Sterling Records, during his first recording session, Hank Williams recorded the songs “Wealth Won’t Save Your Soul”, “Calling You”, “Never Again”, and “When God Comes and Gathers His Jewels.”
1949
American old-time fiddler and an early-recorded country musician Fiddlin’ John Carson died aged 81. He wrote more than 150 songs in his life but only nine were ever copyrighted which led to several copyright issues with both Okeh Records and other musicians during his active career.
1977
Willie Nelson recorded tracks for his forthcoming album Stardust. Produced by Booker T. Jones, all the songs on the album consist entirely of pop standards that Nelson picked from among his favorites. Executives of Columbia Records were not convinced that the album would sell well, because the project was a radical departure from his earlier success in the outlaw movement. When released, Stardust was on Billboard’sCountry Album charts for ten years – from its release until 1988.
2006
Oprah Winfrey held an iTunes concert featuring Carrie Underwood, Josh Groban, Michael Buble, and Tony Bennett. Carrie Underwood performed “Jesus, Take the Wheel.”