1935
Born on this day, was Hank Cochran, American country music singer and songwriter. Starting during the 1960s, Cochran was a prolific songwriter in the genre, including major hits by Patsy Cline, (“I Fall to Pieces.”), Ray Price, Eddy Arnold, Merle Haggard, George Strait and others. Cochran was also a recording artist between 1962 and 1980, scoring seven times on the Billboard country music charts, with his greatest solo success being “Sally Was a Good Old Girl”. He died on July 15, 2010 aged 74.
1964
After an intense search the bodies of Jim Reeves and Dean Manuel were found in the wreckage of an aircraft and, at 1:00 p.m. local time, radio stations across the United States announced Reeves’ death formally. The single-engine Beechcraft Debonair aircraft, with Reeves at the controls had crashed 42 hours earlier during a thunderstrom. Thousands of people traveled to pay their last respects at his funeral two days later. The coffin, draped in flowers from fans, was driven through the streets of Nashville and then to Reeves’ final resting place near Carthage, Texas.
1969Special guests on this week’s Johnny Cash ABC television music variety show included, O.C. Smith, Merle Haggard, Merrilee Rush and Carl Perkins. Merle played “The Fugitive/The Highway Is My Home” and a version of Jimmie Rodgers’ “No Hard Times,” then joined Cash for a duet on “Sing Me Back Home.”
1986
George Strait was at #1 on the Billboard country chart with “Nobody In His Right Mind Would’ve Left Her”. The track was written by Dean Dillon, whose version peaked at #25 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in 1980.
2003
Brooks & Dunn were at #1 on the Billboard country singles chart with “Red Dirt Road”, the title tack from the album of the same name.
2005
Faith Hill released Fireflies, her sixth album. Singles from the album include, in order of release: “Mississippi Girl”, “Like We Never Loved at All”, “The Lucky One”, “Sunshine and Summertime” and “Stealing Kisses”.
