Sunday, July 15, 2018

Dates of Note in Country Music, July 16-31

Category: News

(Hall of Fame members in bold on birth/death date, followed by hall[s] of fame in which they are enshrined and the year enshrined.  CM=Country Music; BG=Bluegrass; NS=Nashville Songwriter; SG=Southern Gospel; StG=Steel Guitar; RR=country performer also inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)


July 16:


Ronny Robbins born in Phoenix, Arizona, 1949 (now 69)
Harry Chapin died in East Meadow, New York (heart attack resulting in car wreck), 1981 (was 38). Chapin, a folk music icon, wrote "Cat's in the Cradle," which gave Ricky Skaggs one of his last country hits.
Jo Stafford died in Century City, California (congestive heart failure), 2008 (was 90). The pop singer also did country, including appearing on Red Ingle & Natural Seven's hit "Tem-Tay-Shun."
Kitty Wells (CM 76) died in Nashville, Tennessee (stroke), 2012 (was 92)
Bonnie Brown (CM 15) died in Nashville, Tennessee (lung cancer), 2016 (was 77)
Gary S. Paxton died in Branson, Missouri (unknown cause), 2016 (was 77)

July 17:

Elizabeth Cook born in Wildwood, Florida, 1972 (now 46)

Woodrow Wilson "Red" Sovine born in Charleston, West Virginia, 1918 (died 1980)
Harry Choates died in Austin, Texas (head injury, possibly self-inflicted), 1951 (was 29)
Dizzy Dean died in Reno, Nevada (heart attack), 1974 (was 63). Dizzy was credited with giving Roy Acuff the nickname "King of Country Music."
Don Rich died in Bakersfield, California (motorcycle accident), 1974 (was 32)
Wynn Stewart died in Nashville, Tennessee (heart attack), 1985 (was 51)
Ozark Jubilee debuted on KWTO radio, 1954

July 18:


Ricky Skaggs
 (CM 18, BG 18) born in Cordell, Kentucky, 1954 (now 64.)  Skaggs is a member of the "class of 2018" inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame.  It was also announced that Skaggs will be inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame in 2018.
Mark Jones of Exile born in Harlan, Kentucky, 1954 (now 64)

Barney Alvin Kalanikau Isaacs, Jr. (StG 99) born in Honolulu, Hawaii, 1926 (died 1996)

July 19:
Sue Thompson born in Nevada, Missouri, 1926 (now 92)
Bernie Leadon of the Eagles, Flying Burrito Brothers, and Run C&W born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1947 (now 71)
George Hamilton IV born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 1937 (died 2014)
William "Lefty" Frizzell (CM 82, NS 72) died in Nashville, Tennessee (stroke), 1975 (was 47)
George Riddle died in Indianapolis, Indiana (throat cancer), 2014 (was 78)

July 20:


Thomas "Sleepy" LaBeef born in Smackover, Arkansas, 1935 (now 83)
T.G. Sheppard born in Humbolt, Tennessee, 1942 (now 76)
Radney Foster born in Del Rio, Texas, 1959 (now 59)
Joseph Emmett "J.E." Mainer born in Weaverville, North Carolina, 1898 (died 1971)
Cindy Walker (CM 97, NS 70) born near Mart, Texas, 1918 (died 2006)

Velma Smith born in Eppley Station, Kentucky, 1927 (died 2014)
Ralph Rinzler (BG 12) born in Passaic, New Jersey, 1934 (died 1994)
Wayne Carson (NS 97) died in Nashville, Tennessee (long illness), 2015 (was 72)

July 21:


Bobby Hicks (BG 17) born in Newton, North Carolina, 1933 (now 85)

Sara Carter of the Carter Family (CM 70, BG 01) born in Wise County, Virginia, 1899 (died 1979)
Eddie Hill (DJ 75) born in Delano, Tennessee, 1921 (died 1994)
Hal Rugg (StG 89) born in New York, New York, 1936 (died 2005)

July 22:

Don Henley of the Eagles born in Gilmer, Texas, 1947 (now 71). In addition to the Eagles, Henley was in a band, Shiloh, in the late 60s with Richard Bowden (later of Pinkard and Bowden) and Jim Ed Norman.
Margaret Whiting born in Detroit, Michigan, 1924 (died 2011). Although primarily a pop singer, Whiting had a series of duets with Jimmy Wakely in the 40s and 50s.
Bob Ferguson died in Jackson, Mississippi (cancer), 2001 (was 73)
Jack Lynn, son of Loretta Lynn, died in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee (drowned), 1984 (was 34)
Ralph S. Peer arrived in Bristol to make recordings for RCA, 1927

July 23:


Alison Krauss born in Decatur, Illinois, 1971 (now 47)
Johnny Darrell born in Hopewell, Alabama, 1940 (died 1997)

Patsy Stoneman died in Manchester, Tennessee (natural causes), 2015 (was 90)

July 24:


Donald "Red" Blanchard of the WLS National Barn Dance born in Pittsville, Wisconsin, 1914 (died 1980)
Lawton Williams born in Troy, Tennessee, 1922 (died 2007)
Max D. Barnes (NS 92) born in Hardscratch, Iowa, 1936 (died 2004)

Freddie Tavares (StG 95) died in Anaheim, California (unknown cause), 1990 (was 77)

July 25:


Marty Brown born in Maceo, Kentucky, 1965 (now 53)
Walter Brennan born in Swmapscott, Massachusetts, 1894 (died 1974). The actor had a major country hit with "Old Rivers" in 1962.

Roy Acuff Jr. born in Nashville, Tennessee, 1943 (died 2015)
Steve Goodman born in Chicago, Illinois, 1948 (died 1984)
Tommy Duncan died in San Diego, California (heart attack), 1967 (was 56)
Charlie Rich died in Hammond, Louisiana (blood clot in lung), 1995 (was 62)

July 26:


Fred Foster
 (CM 16) born in Rutherford County, North Carolina, 1931 (now 87)

Jim Foglesong (CM 04) born in Lundale, West Virginia, 1922 (died 2013)

July 27:


Bobbie Gentry born in Chickasaw, Mississippi, 1944 (now 74)

Bill Engvall born in Galveston, Texas, 1957 (now 61)
Henry "Homer" Haynes (CM 01) born in Knoxville, Tennessee, 1920 (died 1971)
Jack Davis died in St. Simon Island, Georgie (stroke), 2016 (was 91).  Davis, a cartoonist for Mad Magazine, designed the covers for numerous albums by Ben Colder, Johnny Cash, and Homer & Jethro.

July 28:


Frank Loesser died in New York, New York (lung cancer), 1969 (was 59). The legendary pop composer was the "victim" of Homer and Jethro's first major hit, "Baby, It's Cold Outside," in 1949 (which featured a young June Carter singing the female part). Although RCA officials worried about Loesser's reaction, Loesser loved the parody and only asked that the songwriter credit read, "With apologies to Frank Loesser."  Loesser later wrote the liner notes for the Homer & Jethro Fracture Frank Loesser EP.

July 29:


Martina McBride born in Sharon, Kansas, 1966 (now 52)
Pete Drake (StG 87) died in Brentwood, Tennessee (lung disease), 1988 (was 55)
Anita Carter died in Goodlettesville, Tennessee (illness), 1999 (was 66)

Buddy Emmons (StG 81) died in Hermitage, Tennessee (unknown cause), 2015 (was 78)

July 30:


Dennis Morgan (NS 04) born in Tracy, Minnesota, 1952 (now 66)

Sam Phillips (CM 01) died in Memphis, Tennessee (respiratory failure), 2003 (was 80)
Lynn Anderson died in Nashville, Tennessee (heart attack), 2015 (was 67)

July 31:


Bonnie Brown
 of the Browns (CM 15) born in Sparkman, Arkansas, 1937 (died 2016)
Jim Reeves (CM 67) died in Nashville, Tennessee (plane crash), 1964 (was 40)
Dean Manuel died in Nashville, Tennessee (plane crash), 1964 (was 30)

Velma Smith died in Madison, Tennessee (illness), 2014 (was 87)

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