Births, deaths, album and single releases, No. 1 records and Gold & Platinum milestones in country music.
Merle Robert Travis was born in Rosewood, Kentucky. His thumbpicking helped shape country guitar, and his songwriting credits include Sixteen Tons and Dark as a Dungeon.
Cover photo: Merle Travis in Five Minutes to Live (1961), Sutton Pictures, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and color-toned.
Guitarist and songwriter Johnny “Peanuts” Wilson was born in Riverside, West Virginia. He played with Roy Orbison’s Teen Kings and co-wrote You’ve Got Love with Orbison.
Source: Roy Orbison official site.
Songwriter Mark James was born Francis Rodney Zambon in Houston, Texas. He wrote Suspicious Minds and co-wrote Always on My Mind.
Source: Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Jody Miller was born in Phoenix, Arizona. She won a Grammy for Queen of the House, her answer to Roger Miller’s King of the Road.
Source: Oklahoma Music Trail.
Singer, songwriter, and producer Wendy Waldman was born in Los Angeles. She co-wrote the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Fishin’ in the Dark.
Source: AllMusic.
Guitarist Duke Levine was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. His session work includes Mary Chapin Carpenter’s contribution to The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers: A Tribute.
Source: AllMusic.
David “Butch” McDade, drummer and founding member of the Amazing Rhythm Aces, died in Maryville, Tennessee, at age 52.
Capitol released Anne Murray’s greatest-hits collection The Best… So Far.
The RIAA certified Kris Kristofferson’s album Jesus Was a Capricorn gold.
Source: RIAA Gold & Platinum.
The RIAA certified Olivia Newton-John’s Olivia’s Greatest Hits Volume II platinum.
Source: RIAA Gold & Platinum.
The RIAA certified Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn’s duet album We Only Make Believe gold.
Source: RIAA Gold & Platinum.
The RIAA certified both Number Ones and Conway Twitty’s Greatest Hits Vol. II gold.
Source: RIAA Gold & Platinum.
The RIAA certified Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn’s MCA compilation The Very Best of Loretta and Conway gold.
Source: RIAA Gold & Platinum.
The RIAA certified Hank Williams Jr.’s Greatest Hits, Volume III platinum.
Source: Curb Records — RIAA certifications.
The RIAA certified Randy Travis’s No Holdin’ Back gold.
Source: RIAA Gold & Platinum.
The RIAA certified Alan Jackson’s Don’t Rock the Jukebox three times platinum.
Source: RIAA Gold & Platinum.
The RIAA certified Brand New Man, Brooks & Dunn’s debut album, four times platinum.
Source: RIAA Gold & Platinum — album certification timeline.
The RIAA certified Brooks & Dunn’s second album, Hard Workin’ Man, three times platinum.
Source: RIAA Gold & Platinum.
The RIAA certified Garth Brooks’ album In Pieces five times platinum.
Source: RIAA Gold & Platinum.
The RIAA certified Garth Brooks’ self-titled debut album six times platinum.
The RIAA certified Kathy Mattea’s Mercury album Untasted Honey gold.
Source: RIAA Gold & Platinum.
The RIAA certified Steve Wariner’s Arista album I Am Ready gold.
Source: RIAA Gold & Platinum.
The RIAA certified Tanya Tucker’s Can’t Run from Yourself platinum.
Source: RIAA Gold & Platinum.
The RIAA certified The Bodyguard soundtrack 13 times platinum. The album opens with Whitney Houston’s recording of Dolly Parton’s I Will Always Love You.
Source: RIAA Gold & Platinum.
The RIAA certified the Tractors’ self-titled Arista debut platinum.
Source: RIAA Gold & Platinum.
The RIAA certified Toby Keith’s second album, Boomtown, gold.
Source: RIAA Gold & Platinum.
The RIAA certified Freddie Hart’s Capitol single Easy Loving gold.
Source: RIAA Gold & Platinum.
Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys recorded Ida Red in Dallas. The western swing recording later helped inspire Chuck Berry’s Maybellene.
Source: Praguefrank’s Country Discography.
Gene Autry recorded Don’t Fence Me In at CBS Studios in Los Angeles.
Source: Gene Autry official discography.
Red Foley recorded Hot Rod Race at Castle Studio in Nashville for Decca.
Source: Praguefrank’s Country Discography.
Webb Pierce recorded Slowly at Castle Studio in Nashville. The recording featured Bud Isaacs on pedal steel guitar.
Johnny Cash recorded Jack Clement’s satire The One on the Right Is on the Left at Columbia’s Nashville studio. It appeared on Everybody Loves a Nut.
Source: Johnny Cash Infocenter — recording session discography.
RCA released Moody Blue backed with She Thinks I Still Care. Elvis had recorded both sides at Graceland.
Source: Elvis Presley official discography.
Epic released My Kind of Girl as a single from Collin Raye’s album Extremes.
Merle Haggard’s It’s All in the Movies climbed from No. 2 to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart.
Source: Billboard, November 29, 1975.
Crystal Gayle’s If You Ever Change Your Mind climbed from No. 3 to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart.
Source: Billboard, November 29, 1980.
Alabama took Touch Me When We’re Dancing to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart for the first time.
Source: Billboard, November 29, 1986.
The western Shadow Valley, starring singing cowboy Eddie Dean, was released.
Source: American Film Institute Catalog.
NBC aired a taped presentation of the second Grammy Awards. Johnny Horton’s The Battle of New Orleans won Best Country & Western Performance, and songwriter Jimmy Driftwood won Song of the Year for the same song.
Patsy Cline, Bill Monroe, Minnie Pearl, Marty Robbins, Jim Reeves, Faron Young and other Opry regulars performed at Carnegie Hall in New York in a benefit for the Musicians’ Aid Society.
Source: Grand Ole Opry history — original Carnegie Hall poster.
This historical date is reused each year. Only verified events are included.
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