1948
Born on this day in McCamey, Texas, was Dan Seals, the younger brother of Seals & Crofts member Jim Seals. He first gained fame as “England Dan”, one half of the soft rock duo England Dan & John Ford Coley. After the duo disbanded, Seals began a solo career in country music. Throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s, he released 16 studio albums and charted more than 20 singles on the country charts. Eleven of his singles reached #1 including “Meet Me in Montana” (with Marie Osmond), and “Bop.” He died on March 25, 2009.
1960
Jim Reeves was at #1 on the country singles Billboard chart with “He’ll Have To Go”. Reeves recorded what became one of country music’s biggest hits ever after listening to a version recorded by singer Billy Brown. The song, written by Joe and Audrey Allison, was inspired after the couple were having difficulty communicating by telephone. The first verse set the tone: “Put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone/Let’s pretend that we’re together all alone/I’ll tell the man to turn the juke box way down low/And you can tell your friend there with you he’ll have to go.”
1984
Kenny Rogers was at #1 on the US Country music chart with Eyes That See in the Dark, his 12th solo studio album and first released by RCA Records in August 1983. This album has now sold over 15 million copies world-wide.
1990Travis Tritt released “Help Me Hold On”, the second single from his 1990 debut album Country Club. It reached #1 in both the United States and Canada, thus becoming Travis Tritt’s first #1 hit.
2015
Rosanne Cash, picked up the best American roots performance and song awards for “A Feather’s Not A Bird” and best Americana album for The River and the Thread at this years Grammy Awards. Miranda Lambert won best country album for Platinum.
