On This Day In Country Music, July 21
1956: Johnny Cash’s “I Walk the Line” becomes #1 on the Billboard country singles chart.
On This Day In Country Music, May 8
1961: Faron Young’s version of the Willie Nelson-penned “Hello Walls” hits #1 in Billboard.
1976: The Man in Black dons a black robe: Johnny Cash receives an honorary Doctorate of Human Letters from San Diego’s National University. San Diego mayor Pete Wilson declares Johnny Cash Day.
1982: Willie Nelson’s “Always On My Mind” reaches #1 on the Billboard country chart.
My apologies for the lack of updates lately, have been super busy! Stay tuned for a new artist of the week Sunday!
On this day in country music, March 21
1955: Johnny Cash has an unscheduled audition with producer Sam Phillips at Sun Records in Memphis. Phillips passes on the bulk of Cash’s material, but after hearing “Hey, Porter,” has the youngster come back the next day to record.
On this day in country music, March 20
1937: Jerry Reed born in Atlanta, Georgia. With a rhythmic, fingerstyle guitar sound, he earns a Grammy award for “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot” and a million-seller with “Amos Moses,” branching into movie roles, most notably “Smokey And The Bandit”
On this day in country music, March 19
1953: Tex Ritter performs the theme to “High Noon” on the Academy Awards in Los Angeles. The song, “Do Not Forsake Me,” becomes the first country title to win the Oscar for best original song.
1968: Tom T. Hall marries Dixie Deen, whom he affectionately calls “Miss Dixie”
