Dates of Note in Country Music, August 1-15

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)

August 1:

Leon Chappelear born in Tyler, Texas, 1909 (died 1962)
Howard "Howdy" Forrester of the Smoky Mountain Boys died in Nashville, Tennessee (unknown cause), 1987 (was 65)

The AFM called a strike against record companies, 1942. The strike, combined with the shortage of shellac because of World War II, severely limited the record companies' output for two years.

August 2:

Ted Harris (NS 90) born in Lakeland, Florida, 1937 (now 79)
Hank Cochran (CM 14, NS 74) born in Isola, Mississippi, 1935 (died 2010)

Betty Jack Davis died in Cincinnati, Ohio (car wreck), 1953 (was 21)

Joe Allison (NS 78) died in Nashville, Tennessee (illness), 2002 (was 77)

Redd Stewart (NS 70) died in Louisville, Kentucky (complications from a head injury), 2003 (was 82)
The wreckage of Jim Reeves' plane discovered, 1964. The two-day search of wooded areas in and around Nashville for the plane included many country music performers. Eddy Arnold was among those in the party that found and identified Reeves' body.

August 3:

Randy Scruggs born in Nashville, Tennessee, 1953 (now 63)

Dean Sams of Lonestar born in Garland, Texas, 1966 (now 50)
Dorothy Dillard of the Anita Kerr Singers born in Springfield, Missouri, 1923 (died 2015)
Gordon Stoker of the Jordanaires (CM 01) born in Gleason, Tennessee, 1924 (died 2013)

Little Roy Wiggins (StG 85) died in Sevierville, Tennessee (heart disease and diabetes complications), 1999 (was 73)

August 4:

Vicki Hackerman of Dave & Sugar born in Louisville, Kentucky, 1950 (now 66)

Louis Armstrong born in New Orleans, 1901 (died 1971). The legendary jazz trumpet player and singer recorded with Jimmie Rodgers.

Carson J. Robison (NS 71) born in Oswego, Kansas, 1890 (died 1957)

James Blackwood of the Blackwood Brothers (SG 97) born in Ackerman, Mississippi, 1919 (died 2002)
Scotty Stoneman born in Galax, Virginia, 1932 (died 1973)
Fiddlin' Doc Roberts died in Richmond, Kentucky (unknown cause), 1978 (was 81)

Kenny Price died in Nashville, Tennessee (heart attack), 1987 (was 56)
Billy Sherrill (CM 10, NS 84) died in Nashville, Tennessee (short illness), 2015 (was 78)

August 5:

Bobby Braddock (CM 11, NS 81) born in Lakeland, Florida, 1940 (now 76)

Terri Clark born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1968 (now 48)

Hal Durham born in McMinnville, Tennessee, 1931 (died 2009)
Vern "The Voice" Gosdin born in Woodland, Alabama, 1934 (died 2009)

Sammi Smith born in Orange, California, 1943 (died 2005)
Tim Wilson born in Columbus, Georgia, 1961 (died 2014)

Luther Perkins died in Nashville, Tennessee (injuries from a house fire), 1968 (was 40)

August 6:

Billy Robinson (StG 96) born in Nashville, Tennessee, 1931 (now 85)
Patsy and Peggy Lynn born in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, 1964 (now 52)

Lisa Stewart born in Louisville, Mississippi, 1968 (now 48)

Old Joe Clark (Manuel Clark), longtime Renfro Valley performer, born in Erwin, Tennessee, 1922 (died 1998)
Billy Bowman (StG 89) died in Columbia, South Carolina (cancer), 1989 (was 60)

Colleen Carroll Brooks died in Yukon, Oklahoma (throat cancer), 1999 (was 70). The former Ozark Mountain Jubilee singer was the mother of Garth Brooks.
Marshall Grant died in Jonesboro, Arkansas (brain aneurysm), 2011 (was 83)

August 7:

B.J. Thomas born in Hugo, Oklahoma, 1942 (now 74)

Rodney Crowell (NS 03) born in Houston, Texas, 1950 (now 66)

Raul Malo of the Mavericks born in Miami, Florida, 1965 (now 51)

Felice Bryant (CM 91, NS 72) born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1925 (died 2003)

Henry "Homer" Haynes (CM 01) died in Hammond, Indiana (heart attack), 1971 (was 51)
Billy Byrd died in Nashville, Tennessee (natural causes), 2001 (was 81)

August 8:

Mel Tillis (CM 07, NS 76) born in Tampa, Florida, 1932 (now 84)

Phil Balsley of the Statler Brothers (CM 08) born in Staunton, Virginia, 1939 (now 77)

Jamie O'Hara born in Toledo, Ohio, 1950 (now 66)

Webb Pierce (CM 01) born in West Monroe, Louisiana, 1926 (died 1991)
Dale Warren of the Sons of the Pioneers died in Branson, Missouri (heart failure), 2008 (was 83)
Chuck Seitz died in Cincinnati, Ohio (natural causes), 2012 (was 93).  In addition to serving as recording engineer at King and RCA Seitz co-wrote the classic "Before I Met You."
Hank Williams Jr. critically inured in a fall while mountain climbing on Ajax Mountain in Montana, 1975. Williams' head was split open, his face was shattered, and he lost an eye in the 500-foot fall.

August 9:

Merle Kilgore (NS 98) born in Chickasha, Oklahoma, 1934 (died 2005)
Hal Rugg (StG 89) died in Tuscon, Arizona (cancer), 2005 (was 69)

August 10:

Jerry Kennedy born in Shreveport, Louisiana, 1940 (now 76)

Jonie Mosby born in Van Nuys, California, 1940 (now 76)

Gene Johnson of Diamond Rio born in Jamestown, New York, 1949 (now 67)

Delia Upchurch born in Gainesboro, Tennessee, 1891 (died 1976). Upchurch was known as "the Den Mother of Nashville Stars" because she ran a boarding house where struggling musicians and songwriters could stay and pay what they could afford.

Jimmy Martin (BG 95) born in Sneedville, Tennessee, 1927 (died 2005)

Jimmy Dean (CM 10) born in Plainview, Texas, 1928 (died 2010)

Alvin "Junior" Samples born in Buena Park, California, 1926 (died 1983)
Billy Grammer died in Benton, Illinois (long-term illness), 2011 (was 85)

August 11:

John Conlee born in Versailles, Kentucky, 1946 (now 70)
Don Helms (StG 84) died in Nashville, Tennessee (heart attack), 2008 (was 81)

Hank Williams fired from the Grand Ole Opry, 1952

August 12:

Mark Knopfler born in Glasgow, Scotland, 1949 (now 67). Knopfler, best known as guitarist and lead singer of Dire Straits, won a "Best Country Vocal Collaboration" Grammy with Chet Atkins in 1990 for the song "Poor Boy Blues."  He also recorded an album of country songs under the pseudonym the Notting Hillbillies.

Rex Griffin (NS 70) born in Gadsden, Alabama, 1912 (died 1958)

Porter Wagoner (CM 02) born in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, 1927 (died 2007)

Buck Owens (CM 96, NS 96) born in Sherman, Texas, 1929 (died 2006)

Linda Parker of the WLS National Barn Dance died in Mishawaka, Indiana (peritonitis), 1935 (was 23)

August 13:

Lee Roy Abernathy (SG 97) born in Atco, Georgia, 1913 (died 1993)
Dan Fogelberg born in Peoria, Illinois, 1951 (died 2007)
Les Paul died (pneumonia), 2009 (was 94). The legendary guitarist won a Grammy for his work with Chet Atkins on the album Chester and Lester.

Vernon Dalhart recorded "The Prisoner's Song," 1924. The song would sell an estimated seven million copies as country's first million-selling song.

August 14:

Connie Smith (CM 12) born in Elkhart, Indiana, 1941 (now 75)
Charles K. Wolfe (BG 09) born in Sedalia, Missouri, 1943 (died 2006)

Johnny Duncan died in Fort Worth, Texas (heart attack), 2006 (was 67)

August 15:

Ben Eldridge of the Seldom Scene (BG 14) born in Richmond, Virginia, 1938 (now 78)
Jimmy Webb (NS 90) born in Elk City, Oklahoma, 1946 (now 70)
Rose Maddox born in Boaz, Alabama, 1925 (died 1998)
Bobby Helms born in Bloomington, Indiana, 1933 (died 1997)
Don Rich born in Olympia, Washington, 1941 (died 1974)
Lew DeWitt (CM 08) died in Waynesboro, Virginia (complications from Chron's disease), 1990 (was 52)

Will Rogers died near Port Barrow, Alaska (plane crash with Wiley Post), 1935 (was 55)