October 14 – This Day in Country Music

1938
Born on this day in Iron City, Tennessee, was Melba Montgomery, country music singer best known for duet hit recordings in the 1960s with country music singer George Jones and her 1974 US #1 hit “No Charge.” Melba has written songs for such artists as George Strait, Reba McEntire, Randy Travis, George Jones, Patty Loveless, Travis Tritt, Tracy Byrd, and Terri Clark.

1957
The Everly Brothers were at #1 on the country singles chart with “Wake Up Little Susie.” Written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant the song was banned in such places as Boston, although the song does not state that Susie and her boyfriend had sexual relations. Indeed, it strongly implies that they did not!

1973
The Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame added Don Gibson (“I Can’t Stop Loving You”), Jack Clement (“Ballad Of A Teenage Queen”), Harlan Howard (“Busted”), Roger Miller, Ed and Steve Nelson (“Bouquet Of Roses”) and Willie Nelson.

1974
Born on this day in Lubbock, Texas, was Natalie Maines, singer-songwriter and lead vocalist the Dixie Chicks. Of the Dixie Chicks’ twenty-five singles, six have reached #1 on the Billboard country singles chart: “There’s Your Trouble”, “Wide Open Spaces”, “You Were Mine”, “Cowboy Take Me Away”, “Without You”, and “Travelin’ Soldier”.

1984
The movie Songwriter directed by Alan Rudolph, and starring Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson was released. The film a satirical comedy, is loosely based on Willie Nelson’s own life and and finances, (his song “Night Life”, for example, which he sold in 1961 for $150, went on to be recorded by over 70 artists and sold more than 30 million copies).

1996
Alan Jackson released “Little Bitty” which became his fourteenth #1 single on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. The song was the lead-off single to Jackson’s fifth studio album Everything I Love.

2006
Freddy Fender the Mexican-American Tejano, country and rock and roll musician died aged 69. Best known for his work as a solo artist and in the groups Los Super Seven and the Texas Tornados, He is best known for his 1975 hits “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” and the subsequent remake of his own “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights”.