Dates of Note in Country Music, September 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; GLA=Grammy Lifetime Achievement award; SG=Southern Gospel; StG=Steel Guitar)

September 1

Steve Goetzman of Exile born in Louisville, Kentucky, 1950 (now 71)
Maggie Cavender (NS 89) born in Nashville, Tennessee, 1918 (died 1996)
Boxcar Willie (ne Lecil Travis Martin) born in Sterratt, Texas, 1931 (died 1999)
Johnny Mack Brown born in Dothan, Alabama, 1904 (died 1974). The western actor was the namesake of Lester "Roadhog" Moran and the Cadillac Cowboy's Live at the Johnny Mack Brown High School album.
Conway Twitty (CM 99, NS 93) born in Friars Point, Mississippi, 1933 (died 1993)
George Riddle born in Marion, Indiana, 1935 (died 2014)
Delia "Mom" Upchurch, the "Den Mother to the Stars," died in Nashville, Tennessee (unknown cause), 1967 (was 85)
Jerry Reed (CM 17, NS 05) died in Nashville, Tennessee (emphysema), 2008 (was 71)
Hal David (NS 84) died in Los Angeles, California (stroke), 2012 (was 91)
Doug Bounsall died in Las Vegas, Nevada (car wreck), 2012 (was 61)
Kacey Jones died in Nashville, Tennessee (colon cancer), 2016 (was 66)

September 2

Paul Wylie Deakin of the Mavericks born in Miami, Florida, 1959 (now 62)
Johnny Lee Wills born in Jewell, Texas, 1912 (died 1984)
Charline Authur born in Henrietta, Texas, 1929 (died 1987)
Grady Nutt born in Amarillo, Texas, 1934 (died 1982)
Fabor Robinson, founder of Fabor Records, died in Minden, Louisiana (unknown cause), 1986 (was 74)

September 3

Jimmy Riddle born in Dyersburg, Tennessee, 1918 (died 1981)
Hank Thompson (CM 89, NS 97) born in Waco, Texas, 1925 (died 2007)
Tompall Glaser born in Spalding, Nebraska, 1933 (died 2013)

Bill Pursell died in Nashville, Tennessee (pneumonia/COVID-19), 2020 (was 94)

Lucille Starr died in Las Vegas, Nevada (long illness), 2020 (was 82)

September 4

Kathy Louvin born in Nashville, Tennessee, 1957 (now 64)

Harold "Shot" Jackson (StG 86) born in Wilmington, North Carolina, 1920 (died 1991)
Dottie West (CM 18) died in Nashville, Tennessee (injuries from a car wreck), 1991 (was 58)
Carl Butler died in Franklin, Tennessee (heart attack), 1992 (was 65)
Bud Isaacs (StG 84) died in Yuma, Arizona (natural causes), 2016 (was 88)

September 5

Chuck Seitz born in Cincinnati, Ohio, 1918 (died 2012).  In addition to serving as a Grammy-nominated recording engineer at King and RCA Seitz co-wrote the classic "Before I Met You."
Curley Williams died in Montgomery, Alabama (unknown cause), 1970 (was 66)
Joe South (NS 79) died in Atlanta, Georgia (heart failure), 2012 (was 72)
The Country Music Association was founded, 1958
The Lewis Family's final concert, 2009. The bluegrass and gospel band began performing in 1951.

September 6

David Allan Coe born in Akron, Ohio, 1939 (now 82)
Buddy Miller born in Fairborn, Ohio, 1952 (now 69)
Jeff Foxworthy born in Atlanta, Georgia, 1958 (now 63)
Mark Chesnutt born in Beaumont, Texas, 1963 (now 58)
Zeke Clements (NS 71) born near Empire, Alabama, 1911 (died 1994)
Paul Yandell, C.G.P. born in Mayfield, Kentucky, 1935 (died 2011)
Mel McDaniel born in Checotah, Oklahoma, 1942 (died 2011)
Ernest Tubb (CM 64, NS 70) died in Nashville, Tennessee (complications from emphysema), 1984 (was 70)
Autry Inman died (unknown cause), 1988 (was 59)
Roy Huskey Jr. died in Nashville, Tennessee (cancer), 1997 (was 41)

September 7

Ronnie Dove born in Herndon, Virginia, 1940 (now 80)
Mark D. Sanders (NS 09) born in Los Angeles, California, 1950 (now 70)
Buddy Holly (NS 94; GLA 97) born in Lubbock, Texas, 1936 (died 1959)
Hubert Long (CM 79) died in Nashville, Tennessee (brain tumor), 1972 (was 48)
Oscar Sullivan died in Nashville, Tennessee (leukemia), 2012 (was 93)

September 8

Jimmie Rodgers (CM 61, NS 70, RR 86, GLA 17) born in Meridian, Mississippi, 1897 (died 1933)
Milton Brown born in Stephenville, Texas, 1903 (died 1936)
Patsy Cline (CM 73; GLA 95) born in Winchester, Virginia, 1932 (died 1963)
Harlan Howard (CM 97, NS 73) born in Detroit, Michigan, 1929 (died 2002)
Don Williams (CM 10) died in Mobile, Alabama (emphysema), 2017 (was 78)

September 9

Freddy Weller born in Atlanta, Georgia, 1947 (now 74)
Rodger Dale Tubb died in Fredericksburg, Texas (car wreck), 1938 (was 7 weeks old)
Tex Owens (NS 71) died in New Baden, Texas (unknown cause), 1962 (was 70)
Bill Monroe (CM 70, BG 91, NS 71; RR 97; GLA 93) died in Nashville, Tennessee (stroke), 1996 (was 84)

September 10

Rosie Flores born in San Antonio, Texas, 1956 (now 65)
Luke Wills born in Memphis, Texas, 1920 (died 2000)
Tommy Overstreet born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 1937 (died 2015)
Joe (ne Walter) Callahan of the Callahan Brothers died in Asheville, North Carolina (cancer), 1971 (was 61)

September 11

Jimmie Davis (CM 72, NS 71) born in Beech Springs, Louisiana, 1899 (died 2000)
Randy Hughes born in Gum, Tennessee, 1928 (died 1963)
Lorne Greene died in Santa Monica, California (pneumonia), 1987 (was 72). The actor's recitation "Ringo" was a top 25 country hit in 1964.
Leon Payne (NS 70) died in San Antonio, Texas (heart attack), 1969 (was 52)
Bill (ne Homer) Callahan of the Callahan Brothers died in Dallas, Texas (congestive heart failure), 2002 (was 90)
Terrorists crash planes into the World Trade Center's twin towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington DC, 2001.  The attack spawned several country songs including Alan Jackson's "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)" and Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)."

September 12

Lois Johnson Burns born in Jackson Township, Ohio, 1924 (died 1989). One of WLW's "Johnson Twins," she married Jethro Burns of Homer & Jethro in 1946.
Leona Johnson Atkins born in Jackson Township, Ohio, 1924 (died 2009). One of WLW's "Johnson Twins," she married Chet Atkins in 1946.
Helen Carter born in Maces Springs, Virginia, 1927 (died 1998)
George Jones (CM 92; GLA 12) born in Saratoga, Texas, 1931 (died 2013)
Rod Brasfield (CM 87) died in Martin, Tennessee (heart failure), 1958 (was 48)
Johnny Cash (CM 80, NS 77; RR 92; GLA 99) died in Nashville, Tennessee (Shy-Drager syndrome complications, diabetes, lung disease), 2003 (was 71)
John Ritter died in Los Angeles, California (heart ailment), 2003 (was 54). The actor was the son of Western legend Tex Ritter.
Charlie Walker died in Nashville, Tennessee (colon cancer), 2008 (was 81)
Don Wayne (NS 78) died in Nashville, Tennessee (cancer), 2011 (was 78)
Wade Mainer died in Flint, Michigan (congestive heart failure), 2011 (was 104)

Don Maddox died (natural causes), 2021 (was 98)

September 13

Bobbie Cryner born in Woodland, California, 1961 (now 60)
Bill Monroe (CM 70, BG 91, NS 71; RR 97; GLA 93) born in Rosine, Kentucky, 1911 (died 1996)
Wilma Lee Cooper died in Nashville, Tennessee (natural causes), 2011 (was 90)
Roy Acuff postage stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service, 2003

September 14

John Berry born in Aiken, South Carolina, 1959 (now 62)
Mae Boren Axton born in Bardwell, Texas, 1914 (died 1997)
Don Walser born in Brownfield, Texas, 1934 (died 2006)
Vernon Dalhart (CM 81, NS 70) died in Bridgeport, Connecticut (heart attack), 1948 (was 65)
Beasley Smith (NS 83) died in Nashville, Tennessee (cerebral hemorrhage), 1968 (was 66)
Hank Williams arrived in Nashville and met with Fred Rose to discuss a record or publishing deal, 1946

September 15

Roy Acuff (CM 62; GLA 87) born in Maynardsville, Tennesssee, 1903 (died 1992)
Patsy Cline married Charlie Dick, 1957

Crying in the Rain

Category: News/Obituary

For the second time this weekend we have to say goodbye to a Kentucky-born Hall of Famer.

Don Everly died Saturday (8/21) at his Nashville home of a reported heart attack.

The elder of the Everly Brothers was born in Kentucky (whereas brother Phil was born in Chicago) in 1937.  Father Ike was instrumental in teaching the two boys love of music and harmony, inspired by contemporary brother duets for both father (the Blue Sky Boys) and sons (the Louvin Brothers).  

Armed with those harmonies and a boatload of Felice and Boudleaux Bryant songs, the Everly Brothers hit the music scene in the mid-50s, where things were starting to get “fuzzy” as to what was country, rockabilly, or rock and roll.  The music of the Everlys hit the right spot for fans of all three, scoring them success after success on both the pop and country charts.  Rightfully so, they’re in both the Rock and Country halls of fame.

Both brothers enlisted in the Marine Corps (there’s a famous clip of them singing “Ebony Eyes” and “Crying in the Rain” in their uniforms on The Ed Sullivan Show) and slowly drifted apart.  They infamously broke up onstage during a show in 1972.  Paul McCartney, a diehard fan, helped reunite them in the early 80s (he wrote their comeback song “On the Wings of a Nightingale”).

They managed to tolerate each other on stage for the fans at Everly Brothers Homecoming shows in Central City, Kentucky, but eventually they stopped performing together.  The brotherly harmony that brought musical heaven was, as in so many other cases in music history, driven apart.

When Phil died of COPD in 2014 Don said that “our love will always be deeper than any earthly differences we might have had.”  Those included politics: Don said, in endorsing a presidential candidate in 2016, that the brothers’ views were so totally opposite that they could never have done a political fundraiser. 

And so we bid farewell to yet another true American music icon (as the Musicians Hall of Fame Facebook page stated when they broke the news).  Fans of them, and their influences (if you didn’t know, Don’s daughter inspired the rock band Guns ‘n’ Roses to do “Sweet Child o’ Mine”), won’t have to do their crying in the rain over this one.

Don Everly was 84.

The Storyteller

 Category: News/Obituary

Tex Ritter said it best when he dubbed Tom T. Hall "The Storyteller." 

The legendary Hall of Fame singer/songwriter died today (August 20).   Details are not known surrounding a cause at this writing.

There was no "T" in Thomas Hall's name when he was born in Olive Hill, Kentucky on May 25, 1936.  That hardly mattered once he started giving us his songs.

In another music forum I described Hall as a musical James Agee, a man who gave us vibrant lyrical snapshots of daily life the way Agee did with his camera.  Sometimes the songs were completely factual (he was "sitting in Miami, pouring blended whiskey down" during the 1972 Democratic National Convention when the conversation that gave us "Old Dogs, Children, and Watermelon Wine" happened); sometimes they were "based on a true story" (the titular inspiration for "The Year That Clayton Delaney Died" was actually named Lonnie Easterly, with Hall saying that he came up with the name "Clayton Delaney" from neighbors and a nearby hill); and, sometimes they were just figments of his imagination (such as the miniskirt-wearing mother who told off the "Harper Valley P.T.A." in a song that became a massive hit for Jeannie C. Riley).  

At the end of the day, it didn't really matter if the story in the song was real or not.  While Hall may not have been attacked by a knife-wielding soldier during his Army days in Germany as outlined in "Salute to a Switchblade," you could easily see a hundred soldiers getting into that situation.  However, when he was writing reality it was stunning.  Listen to his song "Trip to Hyden" from 1971's In Search of a Song (about the eastern Kentucky coal mining town still in shock from the December 30, 1970 Hurricane Creek Mine disaster where 38 men from the town died), and you'll get chills.

Hall grew up in an area ripe with music from country and bluegrass, so it was no surprise when he turned his attention exclusively to bluegrass music in the late 80s.  He and his wife, "Miss Dixie," whom he married in 1968, wrote songs, hosted listening rooms at the annual International Bluegrass Music Association convention, and promoted numerous acts.  He and Dixie, who passed away in 2015, were rewarded with induction into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2018.

The curtain falls on one of country music's greatest "slice of life" songwriters, the man who'll forever be in our hearts as The Storyteller.

And we love you, too, Tom T.

Hall was 85.

Dates of Note in Country Music, August 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; GLA=Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award; RR=also inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

August 16:

Kathie Lee Gifford born in Paris, France, 1953 (now 68). Gifford began her career as one of the "Hee Haw honeys."
Emory Martin born in Hickman County, Tennessee, 1889 (died 2006). Martin was the one-armed banjo player at the Renfro Valley Barn Dance.

Billy Joe Shaver (NS 04) born in Corsica, Texas, 1939 (died 2020)
Elvis Presley (CM 98, RR 86, GLA 71) died at Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee (heart failure), 1977 (was 42)
Vassar Clements died in Nashville, Tennessee (lung cancer), 2005 (was 77)
Jo-Walker Meador (CM 95) died in Nashville, Tennessee (stroke), 2017 (was 93)
Patsy Montana recorded "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart," 1935. The song would become country music's first million-seller by a female.

August 17:

E.W. "Bud" Wendell (CM 98) born in Akron, Ohio, 1927 (now 94)
Wayne Raney (DJ 93) born in Wolf Bayou, Arkansas, 1920 (died 1993)

 August 18:

Bob Koefer (StG 04) born in Clay Center, Kansas, 1928 (now 93)
Allen Reynolds (NS 00) born in North Little Rock, Arkansas, 1938 (now 83)
Hank Penny born in Birmingham, Alabama, 1918 (died 1992)
Molly Bee born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 1939 (died 2009)
Johnny Preston born in Port Arthur, Texas, 1939 (died 2011). Preston is best known for "Running Bear," the 1959 hit written by J.P. Richardson and featuring guitar work and backing vocals by George Jones.
Charlie Waller (BG 96) died in Gordonsville, Virginia (heart attack), 2004 (was 69)

Steve Gulley of Mountain Heart died in Nashville, Tennessee (pancreatic cancer), 2020 (was 57)
The Louvin Brothers played their last official show as a duo (opening for Ray Price) in Watseka, Illinois, 1963. According to Charles Wolfe's biography, the duo that once commanded over $1,100 per show as headliners received $250 for the performance.

August 19:

Roger Cook (NS 97) born in Bristol, England, 1940 (now 81)
Eddy Raven born in Lafayette, Louisiana, 1944 (now 77)
Larry Sasser (StG 11) born in Gainesville, Georgia, 1947 (now 74)
Lee Ann Womack born in Jacksonville, Texas, 1966 (now 55)
Clay Walker born in Beaumont, Texas, 1969 (now 52)
Curly Ray Cline (BG 09) died in Rockhouse, Kentucky (illness), 1997 (was 74)

August 20:

Rudy Gatlin born in Olney, Texas, 1952 (now 69)
John Hiatt (NS 08) born in Indianapolis, Indiana, 1952 (now 69)
Ralph Stanley II born in Coeburn, Virginia, 1958 (now 62)
Jim Reeves (CM 67) born in Galloway, Texas, 1923 (died 1964)
"Sneaky Pete" Kleinow (StG 07) born in South Bend, Indiana, 1934 (died 2007)
Justin Tubb born in San Antonio, Texas, 1935 (died 1998)
Louis Innis died (heart attack), 1982 (was 63)
Leon McAuliffe (StG 78) died in Tulsa, Oklahoma (illness), 1988 (was 71)
Red Rhodes (StG 05) died in Los Angeles, California (lung disease), 1995 (was 64)

Tom T. Hall (CM 08, NS 78, BG 18) died in Franklin, Tennessee (unknown cause), 2021 (was 85)

 August 21:

Nick Kane of the Mavericks born in Jerusalem, Georgia, 1954 (now 66)

Kenny Rogers (CM 13) born in Houston, Texas, 1938 (died 2020)
Harold Reid (CM 08) born in Staunton, Virginia, 1939 (died 2020)
Sam McGee died in Williamson County, Tennessee (tractor accident on his farm), 1975 (was 81)
Murray "Buddy" Harman died in Nashville, Tennessee (congestive heart failure), 2008 (was 79)

Bill Emerson (BG 19) died (pneumonia), 2021 (was 83)

Don Everly (CM 01, NS 01, RR 86) died in Nashville, Tennessee (heart attack), 2021 (was 84)

August 22:

Marian Leighton-Levy (BG 16) born in Harrington, Maine, 1948 (now 73)
Collin Raye born in DeQueen, Arkansas, 1959 (now 62)
Rod Brasfield (CM 87) born in Smithville, Arkansas, 1910 (died 1958)
Connie B. Gay (CM 80) born in Lizard Lick, North Carolina, 1914 (died 1989)
Holly Dunn born in San Antonio, Texas, 1957 (died 2016)
Horace "Aytchie" Burns died in Knoxville, Tennessee (heart attack), 1974 (was 56). Aytchie was a bass player at Knoxville's WNOX and on the Renfro Valley Barn Dance. He was also the older brother of Jethro Burns.
Elizabeth Haynes born in Greenville, Kentucky, 1920 (died 1976)
Elizabeth Haynes died in Hammond, Indiana (kidney disease), 1976 (56th birthday). The one-time bass player and "red-headed yodeling gal" on the Renfro Valley Barn Dance was the wife of Homer Haynes.
Leon Chappelear died in Gladewater, Texas (suicide [gunshot]), 1962 (was 53)
Mooney Lynn, the husband of Loretta Lynn, died in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee (heart failure/diabetes), 1996 (was 69)
Floyd Tillman (CM 83, NS 70) died in Houston, Texas (leukemia), 2003 (was 88)

August 23:

Rex Allen, Jr. born in Chicago, Illinois, 1947 (now 74)
Woody Paul of Riders in the Sky born in Nashville, Tennessee, 1949 (now 72)
Tex Williams born in Anvil, Illinois, 1917 (died 1985)
Leslie York of the York Brothers born in Louisa, Kentucky, 1917 (died 1984)
"It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" hit #1 on the Billboard charts, 1952. The song, the first #1 hit for a female singer, was very controversial in its day, with many country stations refusing to play the song and the Grand Ole Opry management prohibiting Kitty Wells from performing the tune on the Opry.

August 24:

Teea Goans born in Lowry City, Missouri, 1980 (now 41)
Fred Rose (CM 61, NS 70) born in Evansville, Indiana, 1897 (died 1954)
Jerry Clower died in Jackson, Mississippi (complications from heart surgery), 1998 (was 71)
Nat Stuckey died in Nashville, Tennessee (lung cancer), 1988 (was 54)
Pete Kuykendall (BG 96) died in Warrenton, Virginia (illness), 2017 (was 79)

August 25:

Elvis Costello born in London, England, 1954 (now 67). The punk pioneer and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member has performed with numerous country legends including George Jones, Ricky Skaggs, Emmylou Harris, and Charlie Louvin. Johnny Cash recorded Costello's song "The Big Light" on Johnny Cash is Coming to Town.
Jo Dee Messina born in Holliston, Massachusetts, 1970 (now 51)
Jerry Rivers born in Miami, Florida, 1928 (died 1996)
Cliff Bruner died in Texas City, Texas (cancer), 2000 (was 85)
Kenny Seratt died in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho (unknown cause), 2015 (was 80)

August 26:

Jimmy Olander of Diamond Rio born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1961 (now 60)
Don Bowman born in Lubbock, Texas, 1937 (died 2013)
Bob Miller (NS 70) died in Nyack, New York (unknown cause), 1955 (was 59)
Wilma Burgess died in Nashville, Tennessee (heart attack), 2003 (was 64)
Harlow Wilcox died in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (heart attack), 2003 (was 59)

August 27:
J.D. Crowe (BG 03) born in Lexington, Kentucky, 1937 (now 84)
Jeff Cook of Alabama (CM 05) born in Fort Payne, Alabama, 1949 (now 72)
Carter Stanley (BG 92) born in Dickenson County, Virginia, 1925 (died 1966)
Oliver "Mooney" Lynn, husband of Loretta Lynn, born in Butcher Holler, Kentucky, 1926 (died 1996)
Jimmy C. Newman born in Big Mamou, Louisiana, 1927 (died 2014)
Frances Preston (CM 92) born in Nashville, Tennessee, 1928 (died 2012)
David "Bunny" Biggs of Jamup & Honey died in Nashville, Tennessee (unknown causes), 1948 (was 52)
Jim Denny (CM 66) died in Nashville, Tennessee (cancer), 1963 (was 52). For his Hall of Fame career, Denny may be most infamous for telling a guest artist after an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry, "You ain't goin' nowhere, son. You ought to go back to driving a truck." The person on the receiving end of Denny's criticism was Elvis Presley.

August 28:

LeAnn Rimes born in Jackson, Mississippi, 1982 (now 39)
Billy Grammer born in Benton, Illinois, 1925 (died 2011)
Archie Campbell died in Knoxville, Tennessee (post-operative complications following June heart attack), 1987 (was 67)

August 29:

Don Schlitz (CM 17, NS 93) born in Durham, North Carolina, 1952 (now 69)
Dan Truman of Diamond Rio born in St. George, Utah, 1956 (now 65)
Grady Cole born in Lafayette, Georgia, 1909 (died 1981)

August 30:

Kitty Wells (CM 76, GLA 91) born in Nashville, Tennessee, 1919 (died 2012)
Jon Hagar born in Chicago, Illinois, 1946 (died 2009)
Jim Hagar born in Chicago, Illinois, 1946 (died 2008)

August 31:

Noel Boggs (StG 81) died in Los Angeles, California (heart attack), 1974 (was 56)