1939
Bill Monroe auditioned for the Grand Ole Opry at the WSM Radio studios in Nashville, performing “Foggy Mountain Top,” “Mule Skinner Blues” and “Fire On The Mountain.” He passed the audition and made his debut five days later.
1951
Born on this day in Pulaski, Tennessee, was David Wills, singer-songwriter. Wills wrote George Strait’s “If You’re Thinking You Want a Stranger (There’s One Coming Home)” and Garth Brooks’ “Wild Horses.”
1956
Born on this day in Pikeville, Kentucky, was Dwight Yoakam. The country singer, actor and film director, who is most famous for his pioneering country music has sold over 25 million records with 5 Billboard # 1 Albums, 12 Gold Albums, and 9 Platinum Albums. Yoakam is the most frequent musical guest in the history of The Tonight Show and has also starred in many films, most notably in critically acclaimed performances as an ill-tempered, abusive, live-in boyfriend in Sling Blade.
1967
Glen Campbell recorded his version of “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, California. The song which was written by Jimmy Webb was originally recorded by Johnny Rivers in 1965. Campbell’s version reached #2 on the Hot Country charts and and won two awards at the 10th Annual Grammys.
1972
Born on this day in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, was Jimmy Wayne country music singer and songwriter. He released his self-titled debut album in 2003, four singles were released from it, including “Stay Gone” and “I Love You This Much”, which both reached Top Ten on the Billboard country charts. “Do You Believe Me Now” became his first #1 hit in late 2008.
1976
Linda Ronstadt was at #1 on the Country music album chart with the Grammy Award winning Hasten Down the Wind. Her third straight million-selling album made Ronstadt the first female artist in history to accomplish this feat.
1978
American country musician Maybelle Carter died aged 69. She is best known as a member of the historic Carter Family act in the 1920s and ’30s and also as a member of Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters. Maybelle Carter was inducted as part of The Carter Family in the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1970. In 1993, her image appeared on a US postage stamp honoring the Carter Family.
1982
Special guests on this week’s syndicated US music television series The Glen Campbell Music Show included The Righteous Brothers who with Glen Campbell played “True Grit” and “An American Trilogy”.
1992
The American dramatic musical western film Pure Country was released. Directed by Christopher Cain, The film stars George Strait in his acting debut with Lesley Ann Warren, Isabel Glasser and Kyle Chandler. The soundtrack was a critical success and to date is Strait’s best selling album.
1997
More than 100,000 copies of John Denver’s catalog of albums were sold in the week after the singer was killed in an Oct. 12 plane crash off the California coast. SoundScan reported that four of Denver’s albums were among the nation’s top 200 bestsellers last week and that 10 were among the top 75 sellers among country albums.
2007
Carrie Underwood released her second studio album Carnival Ride. It was the singer’s first album to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 and second to debut atop the Top Country Albums chart. The album was certified quadruple platinum, it has sold 3.4 million copies in the United States, and four million copies worldwide. The four singles “So Small”, “All-American Girl”, “Last Name”, “Just a Dream”, reached #1 on the Hot Country Songs chart, thus making Underwood the first solo female artist to pull four #1’s from one album since Shania Twain in 1995-1996.
2011
Scotty McCreery was at #1 on the Country music album chart with Clear As Day, the debut studio album by the season ten American Idol winner.
2015
Carrie Underwood released her fifth studio album Storyteller. By debuting at #2 on the Billboard 200 chart, it made Underwood the only country artist in history to have all of her first five studio albums debut at #1 or 2, and with a #1 debut on the Top Country Albums chart, it made her the only artist to score six consecutive #1 albums on the chart. The album produced the Country Airplay chart #1 singles “Heartbeat” and “Church Bells.”
