1938
Born on this day in Scottsville, Kentucky, was Norro Wilson, country music singer, songwriter and producer. Wilson has written numerous hits including songs for Charlie Rich, Charley Pride, George Jones and Tammy Wynette, and has also produced artists, including Joe Stampley, Margo Smith, Sara Evans, Kenny Chesney and Shania Twain. He died on June 8th 2017 age 79.
1944
Born on this day in Walden, near Beaumont, Texas, was Bob McDill, songwriter who has written numerous songs for country music artists, including 31 #1 hits for artists including Anne Murray, Don Williams, Waylon Jennings, and Mickey Gilley.
1964
Buck Owens released “My Heart Skips a Beat” which peaked at #1 on the Country chart. The B-side “Together Again” features steel guitarist Tom Bromley’s playing – which is considered one of the finest steel guitar solos in the history of country music.
1977Kenny Rogers was at #1 on the country charts with “Lucille”. Written by Roger Bowling and Hal Bynum, the song is about a man in a bar that meets a woman who has left her husband. It became Rogers’ first major hit as a solo artist after leaving the successful country/rock group The First Edition the previous year. An international hit, it reached #1 on the Billboard Country Singles chart and #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top of the UK singles chart in June 1977.
1996
Shania Twain was at #1 on the US country chart with The Woman in Me, her second studio album and her first with the majority of the songs co-written by her. It went onto become her biggest-selling recording at the time of its release, selling 4 million copies by the end of the year.
2008
The Statehouse Museum in Little Rock, Arkansas hosted the Sparkle & Twang: Marty Stuart’s American Musical Odyssey. The exhibit was on loan from the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville and ran until October 5, 2008.
