Dates of Note in Country Music, June 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; GLA= Grammy Lifetime Achievement recipient; RR=country act inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

June 1:

Pat Boone born in Jacksonville, Florida, 1934 (now 88). The legendary pop crooner married Red Foley's daughter Shirley.
Ronnie Dunn of Brooks & Dunn (CM 19) born in Coleman, Texas, 1953 (now 69)
Elsie McWilliams (NS 79) born in Harperville, Mississippi, 1896 (died 1985)
Lee Allen of the Allen Brothers born in Sewanee, Tennessee, 1906 (died 1981)
Johnny Bond (CM 99, NS 70) born in Enville, Oklahoma, 1915 (died 1978)
Hazel Dickens (BG 17) born in Mercer County, West Virginia, 1925 (died 2011)
Dale Warren of the Sons of the Pioneers born in Rockford, Illinois, 1925 (died 2008)
Andy Griffith born in Mount Airy, North Carolina, 1926 (died 2012)
Wayne Kemp (NS 99) born in Greenwood, Arkansas, 1941 (died 2015)
Jimmy Murphy died (unknown cause), 1981 (was 55)

June 2:

Carl Butler born in Knoxville, Tennessee, 1927 (died 1992)
Helen Carter died in Nashville, Tennessee (gastrointestinal issues), 1998 (was 70)
Adolph Hofner died in San Antonio, Texas (illness), 2000 (was 83)
Weldon Myrick (StG 97) died in Nashville, Tennessee (stroke), 2014 (was 76)

George Beasley (DJ 20) died in Naples, Florida (unknown cause), 2021 (was 89)

Jimmy Capps died in Nashville, Tennessee (unknown cause), 2020 (was 81)

June 3:

Fred "Too Slim" LeBour of Riders in the Sky born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1948 (now 74)
Deke Dickerson born in St. Louis, Missouri, 1968 (now 54)
Jamie O'Neal born in Sydney, Australia, 1968 (now 54)
Curly Williams born in Cairo, Georgia, 1914 (died 1970)
Homer Louis "Boots" Randolph born in Paducah, Kentucky, 1927 (died 2007)
Wally Fowler died at Dale Hollow Lake, Tennessee (heart attack/drowned), 1994 (was 77)
Van Stoneman of the Stoneman Family died in Mufreesboro, Tennessee (Parkinson's disease), 1995 (was 54)
James Alan Shelton died in Kingsport, Tennessee (cancer), 2014 (was 51)

Howard Vokes died in New Kensington, Pennsylvania (unknown cause), 2018 (was 86)
Graceland opens to the public, 1982
The Cincinnati radio show Midwest Hayride begins television broadcasts (on WLW-TV), 1955

June 4:

Linda Martell born in Leesville, South Carolina, 1941 (now 81). She was the first black female artist to perform on the Grand Ole Opry.
Texas Ruby Owens born in Wise County, Texas, 1910 (died 1963)

Bill Mack (DJ 82) born in Shamrock, Texas, 1929 (died 2020)
Freddy Fender born in San Benito, Texas, 1937 (died 2006)
Herby Wallace (StG 01) born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, 1947 (died 2012)
Zeke Clements (NS 71) died in Nashville, Tennessee (post-operative complications), 1994 (was 82)
John Hartford (BG 10) died in Madison, Tennessee (non-Hodgkin's lymphoma), 2001 (was 63)
Alabama's annual "June Jam" concert began in Fort Payne, Alabama, 1982

June 5:

Don Reid (CM 08) born in Staunton, Virginia, 1945 (now 77)
Gail Davies born in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, 1948 (now 74)
William "Hopalong Cassidy" Boyd born in Cambridge, Ohio, 1895 (died 1972)
Vaughn Horton (NS 71) born in Broad Top, Pennsylvania, 1911 (died 1988)
Hal "Lone" Pine born in Pea Cove, Maine, 1916 (died 1977)
John "Lonzo" Sullivan died in Nashville, Tennessee (heart attack), 1967 (was 48)
Conway Twitty (CM 99, NS 93) died in Springfield, Missouri (abdominal aneurysm), 1993 (was 59)
Ronald Reagan died in Los Angeles, California (complications of Alzheimer's disease), 2004 (was 93). While governor of California, the former president signed a full pardon for former convict Merle Haggard.
Don Bowman died in Branson, Missouri (complications of a stroke), 2013 (was 75)
Grand Ole Opry's first performance at the Ryman auditorium, 1943
The United States Postal Service issues the Johnny Cash postage stamp, 2013

June 6:

Joe Stampley born in Springhill, Louisiana, 1943 (now 79)
Gid Tanner of the Skillet Lickers born in Thomas Bridge, Georgia, 1885 (died 1960)
Asher Sizemore born in Manchester, Kentucky, 1906 (died 1973)
Charlie Cline of the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers born in Gilbert, West Virginia, 1931 (died 2004)
Claudette Orbison, wife of Roy Orbison, died in Gallatin, Tennessee (motorcycle accident), 1966 (was 24)
Grant Turner began his tenure as Grand Ole Opry announcer, 1944

June 7:

Sir Tom Jones born in Treforest, South Wales, 1940 (now 82). The legendary pop/rock singer had a hit with a cover of "Green, Green Grass of Home" in 1967 and hit the country charts with "Say You'll Stay Until Tomorrow" in 1977.
Larry Boone born in Cooper City, Florida, 1956 (now 66)
Dean Martin born in Steubenville, Ohio, 1917 (died 1995). The pop crooner recorded two albums of country music on Reprise in the early 60s and sang with Ricky Nelson in the John Wayne classic Rio Bravo in 1969.
Wynn Stewart born in Morrisville, Missouri, 1934 (died 1985)
Courtney Johnson of New Grass Revival died in Glasgow, Kentucky (lung cancer), 1996 (was 56)

June 8:

Vernon Oxford born in Rogers, Arkansas, 1941 (now 81)
Adolph Hofner born in Moulton, Texas, 1916 (died 2000)

Tony Rice (BG 13) born in Danville, Virginia, 1951 (died 2020)
Alton Delmore (CM 01, NS 71) died in Huntsville, Alabama (alcohol-related illness), 1964 (was 55)
Roba Stanley died in Gainesville, Florida (unknown cause), 1986 (was 76). She is credited as being the first female solo artist recorded in country music history (1924).
Tommy Perkins of the Texas Playboys died in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (car accident), 2003 (was 69)
Norro Wilson (NS 96) died in Nashville, Tennessee (congestive heart failure), 2017 (was 79)

James Hand died in Austin, Texas (heart failure), 2020 (was 67)

June 9:
Willard Cox of the Cox Family born in Cotton Valley, Louisiana, 1937 (now 85)
Jamie Dailey of Dailey & Vincent born in Corbin, Kentucky, 1975 (now 47)
Les Paul born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, 1915 (died 2009). In addition to his recordings with wife Mary Ford, Paul invented the solid-body electric guitar and multi-track recording. He also won a Grammy for his album with Chet Atkins, Chester and Lester, in 1976.
Herb Remington (StG 79) born in Mishawaka, Indiana, 1926 (died 2018)

June 10:

Thom Schuyler (NS 11) born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 1952 (now 70)

Brian Hofeldt of the Derailers born in Idaho, 1967 (now 55)
Herman Crook of the Crook Brothers died in Nashville, Tennesee (heart attack), 1988 (was 89).  Crook was the last surviving member of the original Grand Ole Opry/WSM Barn Dance cast from 1925.
Steve Sanders, who replaced William Lee Golden in the Oak Ridge Boys for 15 years, died in Cape Coral, Florida (suicide), 1998 (was 45)
Ray Charles (CM 21, RR 86) died in Beverly Hills, California (complications of liver disease), 2004 (was 73)
Chuck Glaser died (unknown cause), 2019 (was 83)

June 11:

Jay McDowell of BR-549 born in Bedford, Indiana, 1969 (now 53)
Edwin Duhon of the Hackberry Ramblers born in Lafayette, Louisiana, 1910 (died 2006)
Brother Dave Gardner born in Jackson, Tennessee, 1926 (died 1983)
Jud Strunk born in Jamestown, New York, 1936 (died 1981) 
Wilma Burgess born in Orlando, Florida, 1939 (died 2003)
Henry Maddox of the Maddox Brothers & Rose died aboard a mercy flight between Ashland, Oregon and Portland, Oregon (kidney disease), 1974 (was 46)
Jim Ed Brown (CM 15) died in Nashville, Tennessee (lung cancer), 2015 (was 81).  Brown died less than three months after it was announced that he would be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
John Wayne died in Los Angeles, California (stomach cancer), 1979 (was 72). The actor has been referenced in a number of country songs.

June 12:

Junior Brown born in Kirksville, Indiana, 1952 (now 70)
Penny Jay born in Monteagle Mountain, Tennessee, 1927 (died 2006)
Dr. Humphrey Bate of the Possum Hunters died in Castalain Springs, Tennessee (heart attack), 1936 (was 61)
J.E. Mainer died (heart attack), 1971 (was 72)
Johnny Bond (CM 99, NS 70) died in Burbank, California (complications from stroke/heart attack), 1978 (was 63)
Winnie Winston (StG 10) died in New Zealand (prostate cancer), 2005 (was 64)
Danny Davis (ne George Joseph Nowlan) died in Nashville, Tennessee (heart failure), 2008 (was 83)

June 13:

Slim Dusty born in Kempsey, Australia, 1927 (died 2003)

Howard Vokes born in Clearfield, Pennsylvania, 1931 (died 2018)
Jimmy Dean (CM 10) died in Varina, Virginia (natural causes), 2010 (was 81)
Frances Preston (CM 92) died in Nashville, Tennessee (congestive heart failure), 2012 (was 83)
Chips Moman died in LaGrange, Georgia (long illness), 2016 (was 79)
The Country Music Foundation Library and Media Center opened in the basement of the Country Music Hall of Fame, 1972. The CMF is now on the top floor of the new Hall of Fame building.

June 14:

Burl Ives born in Newton, Illinois, 1909 (died 1995)
Lash LaRue born in Gretna, Louisiana, 1917 (died 1996). The Western actor was the first sidekick to western singer/actor/songwriter Eddie Dean and was mentioned in the Statler Brothers' "Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott."
Ernest V. "Pop" Stoneman (CM 08) died in Nashville, Tennessee (illness), 1968 (was 75)
Tom Tall died in Los Angeles, California (unknown cause), 2013 (was 75)
D.J. Fontana died in Nashville, Tennessee (natural causes), 2017 (was 87)

Joel Whitburn died (illness), 2022 (was 82)
Patsy Cline seriously injured in a car accident in Madison, Tennessee, 1961.  A woman and her 5-year-old son were killed in the wreck.

June 15:

Terri Gibbs born in Miami, Florida, 1954 (now 68)
Blind Alfred Reed born in Floyd, Virginia, 1880 (died 1956)
Tex Owens (NS 71) born in Killeen, Texas, 1892 (died 1962)
Marvin Hughes born in Nashville, Tennessee, 1911 (died 1986)
Leon Payne (NS 70) born in Alba, Texas, 1917 (died 1969)
RCA engineer Bill Porter born in St. Louis, Missouri, 1931 (died 2010)
Bob White (StG 90) born in Jenny Lind, Arkansas, 1932 (died 2003)
Waylon Jennings (CM 01, NS 95) born in Littlefield, Texas, 1937 (died 2002)
Ruby Falls died in Nashville, Tennessee (cerebral hemorrhage), 1986 (was 40)
Hee Haw debuted on CBS as the summer replacement show for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, 1969. 

Time to Rant

Category: News/Opinion 

Earlier this week I celebrated the joy of the inductions of Jerry Lee Lewis and the late Keith Whitley into the Country Music Hall of Fame.  Now is the time to rant.

A little backstory: when I was in college I had a column for a small zine called Hard Country Beat.  I wrote an entry that was similar to what I’m about to opine, and I got called on the carpet for it.  I was a lot younger then.  I’m old now (getting social security), so I don’t give a rat’s tuchas…even less than I did 30 years ago!  If someone’s tail feathers get ruffled by this, then good: pay attention, and do something about it!

Along with the two musicians inducted into the Hall of Fame, the Country Music Association reverted to one of its old, boring, tiresome tactics: giving a Hall of Fame plaque instead of a gold watch to a CMA executive.  This time, Joe Galante gets the induction. 

Yes, Joe Galante has a long (starting in 1974) career with RCA Victor records, helping with the “outlaw” era in the 70s that popularized country music on the pop charts amid the Bee Gees’ disco invasion.  Yes, he helped with the careers of future Hall of Famers like Alabama, Vince Gill, and Keith Whitley.  Yes indeed, Galante’s long career is quite noteworthy. And yes, I believe Galante belongs in the Hall of Fame.

But Joe Galante is also a member of the Country Music Association (CMA) board of directors.  As in, the CMA who votes who goes — and who doesn’t go — into the Hall of Fame. 

Meanwhile, Syd Nathan will yet again have to wait another three years to be considered, when he should have been inducted with the “big class” in 2001, if not earlier.

Why should Syd Nathan be inducted, especially over a record executive from the 70s, 80s, and 90s? Because of one very simple fact:  Sydney Nathan INVENTED the all-country music record label.  And he did it in 1943. 

So why on this earth is this long-deceased bespectacled Jewish businessman from Cincinnati constantly overlooked by the Country Music Hall of Fame?

No, I don’t think for a second that it’s because of the “Jewish businessman” descriptor.  Rather, the fact that he was based in Cincinnati seems to be the problem.

While Nashville has long had a love/hate relationship with country music, for some reason the “powers that be” want every tourist to think that country music only existed because of Nashville.  We all know better.  Many of the pre-World War II recordings in country music were recorded everywhere except Nashville.  (There’s a nice monument to the Gennett Records studios in Richmond, Indiana, where a number of country, jazz, and “race” records were recorded in the 1920s and 30s.)  Good ol’ Nashville, who not only committed murder down on Music Row but also razed the buildings, now tries to bill itself as the epitome of country music.  Do you know where the only building where Hank Williams recorded still standing is standing?  In Cincinnati, the home of Syd Nathan.  (As the Robin and Linda Williams song “Rollin’ and Ramblin’ (The Death of Hank Williams)” says, “Folks in Nashville slammed the door.”  If you want Hank history, don’t go to Nashville, ‘cause you won’t find any there.)

In Cincinnati, during World War II, record store owner Syd Nathan tapped into the wealth of talent available at nearby WLW radio, as well as down the road a little way at Renfro Valley (which actually started as a radio show on WLW before moving to Mount Sterling, Kentucky).  As the proprietor of a record store, he knew firsthand what people were buying.  As a result, in 1943, he founded King Records.

King Records could be considered as much a “cradle of the Hall of Fame” as Knoxville, Tennessee is.  Among the Hall of Famers who recorded for King (either initially or at some point of their career): the Delmore Brothers, Bill Carlisle, Grandpa Jones, and Homer & Jethro; along with Bluegrass Hall of Famers the Stanley Brothers, Jimmy Martin, and Reno & Smiley, and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Moon Mullican.  Add to that the should-be Hall of Famers like Cowboy Copas and you can see that the roster was filled with talent.

Despite the incredible contributions Nathan made to country music through King Records, the Country Music Hall of Fame is the only music hall of fame that has not honored him.  The significance of what King (and its R&B spinoff label, Queen) did in the 40s has been recognized elsewhere.

Nathan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Seymour Stein, founder of Sire Records (named in honor of King Records, as he worked for Nathan), wrote at the conclusion of his essay about Nathan’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, “With his singular vision and unflagging determination, he helped spread the sounds of C&W, R&B, and ultimately, rock and roll across the nation.” 

Additionally, the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, where Nathan was inducted in 2006, pointed out the foresight of Nathan’s desire to have complete control, noting that King was the first label to have everything — from recording to pressing to shipping — under one roof.  They also pointed out that Nathan, in 1945, hired Dr. Henry Glover as an A&R executive, making the co-writer of “Blues, Stay Away From Me” the first African-American executive at a white-owned business.

Syd Nathan has the credentials, and then some.  While he died in 1968, it’s no exaggeration to say the Country Music Association is a good 30 years behind the times in acknowledging what Nathan did for the popularity, promotion, and production of country music.  

If only we could get the the CMA to stop kissing its own rear end and acknowledge someone else’s contributions to country music….

Time to Celebrate!

 Category: News

Goodness, gracious, I’m over you!!!

The Country Music Hall of Fame class of 2022 was announced yesterday (5/17) at the Hall of Fame rotunda in Nashville.  The two musical inductees are a true delight to announce.

In the veterans category, Jerry Lee Lewis finally gets inducted.  After his severe stroke in 2019 it was becoming worrisome that he would not live to see his induction, but it has happened in 2022.  Lewis joins a select few who are inductees into both the Country Music and Rock and Roll halls of fame.  His rock induction was with the inaugural class in 1986.

If it seems strange that one of the founders of rock and roll would be going into the Country hall of fame, it shouldn’t.  Lewis’ career was far bigger and more expansive in country than in rock and roll.  As funny as it seems now, with the “anything goes” attitude in rock, Lewis was ostracized after his marriage to Myra Gale Brown, who was 13 and Lewis’ cousin once removed, in 1958. 

Lewis came back in country, scoring a number of hits such as “What Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me),” “Would You Take Another Chance on Me,” and “Once More With Feeling.”  While he’ll forever be known as “The Killer” and his assault on the piano in the early days of rock and roll, his country career was much bigger…and now has been acknowledged.

Sadly, the announcement came ten days after his cousin, Mickey Gilley, passed away. 

The modern era inductee is the late Keith Whitley.  From his early days of playing country in eastern Kentucky to a stint playing with bluegrass legends Ralph Stanley and J.D. Crowe, Whitley was destined for greatness.  As part of the “neo-traditional” movement in the late 80s with Ricky Skaggs (with whom he worked with Stanley and did two duet albums), Randy Travis, and Dwight Yoakam, Whitley’s list of hits included “I’m No Stranger to the Rain,” “I’m Over You,” and “When You Say Nothing At All.”  

On May 9, 1989, Whitley was found dead in his Nashville home.  The autopsy showed that he had a blood alcohol level of .47.  He was only 33 years old.  Rumors persisted — and still do — about the reasons why, but the sad reality is that we were robbed of decades of a remarkable talent.

At least his plaque will now hang in Nashville as a testimony to what he did give us.

The Hall of Fame also inducted an executive, but I’ll rant about that later.  This is the time to celebrate the remarkable achievements of two great legends.

Dates of Note in Country Music, May 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; DJ=Country Music Disc Jockey; NS=Nashville Songwriter; SG=Southern Gospel; StG=Steel Guitar; RR=country performer also inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; GLA=Grammy Lifetime Achievement recipient)

May 16:

Rick Trevino born in Austin, Texas, 1971 (now 51)
Laura Lee Owens, the "Queen of Western Swing," born in Kansas City, Missouri, 1920 (died 1989)
Wallace Lewis of the Lewis Family (BG 06) died in Washington, Georgia (complications of Parkinson's disease), 2007 (was 78)
Doug Dillard of the Dillards (BG 09) died in Nashville, Tennessee (lung infection), 2012 (was 75)

May 17:

Pat Flynn of the New Grass Revival (BG 20) born in Los Angeles, California, 1952 (now 70)
Grant Turner (CM 81, DJ 75) born in Abeline, Texas, 1912 (died 1991)
Paul Warren (BG 13) born in Lyles, Tennessee, 1918 (died 1978)
Arthur Lee "Red" Smiley (BG 92) born in Marshall, North Carolina, 1925 (died 1984)
Penny DeHaven born in Winchester, Virginia, 1948 (died 2014)
Wiley Walker of Wiley & Gene (NS 71) died in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (cancer), 1966 (was 54)
New Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum building opened, 2001.  Nearly every living Hall of Famer was present at the opening ceremonies, and the audience was treated to a tour of the new facilities for free.

May 18:

Rodney Dillard of the Dillards (BG 09) born in East St. Louis, Illinois, 1942 (now 80)
Joe Bonsall of the Oak Ridge Boys born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1948 (now 74)
Tom Shapiro (NS 08) born in Kansas City, Missouri, 1950 (now 72)
George Strait (CM 06) born in Poteet, Texas, 1952 (now 69)
Leon Ashley born in Newton County, Georgia, 1936 (died 2013)
Gary Scruggs born in Knoxville, Tennessee, 1949 (died 1992)

May 19:

Martha Carson born in Neon, Kentucky, 1921 (died 2004)
Rex Gosdin born in Woodland, Alabama, 1938 (died 1983)
Mickey Newberry (NS 80) born in Houston, Texas, 1940 (died 2002)

May 20:

"Lonesome George" Gobel born in Chicago, Illinois, 1919 (died 1991). Although many may remember him as a comedian and regular on Hollywood Squares, one of Gobel's earliest jobs in entertainment was on the WLS National Barn Dance when he was a teenager in the 1930s.
Jack Cash, brother of Johnny Cash, died in Dyess, Arkansas (injuries from accident with table saw), 1944 (was 15)

May 21:

Henry Glover born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, 1921 (died 1991). The R&B songwriter and pioneering black record company executive co-wrote "Blues, Stay Away From Me" with the Delmore Brothers and Wayne Raney in 1949.
Charlie Poole died in Spray, North Carolina (alcohol-related heart failure), 1931 (was 39)
Billy Walker died in Fort Deposit, Alabama (car wreck), 2006 (was 77)
Vaughn Monroe died in Stuart, Florida (post-operative complications), 1973 (was 61). Among the pop singer's many hits was "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky."

May 22:

Buddy Alan born in Mega, Arizona, 1948 (now 74)

Rich Alves of Pirates of the Mississippi born in Pleasanton, California, 1953 (now 69)
Dana Williams of Diamond Rio born in Dayton, Ohio, 1961 (now 61)
Ralph S. Peer (CM 84) born in Independence, Missouri, 1892 (died 1960)
Miggie Lewis of the Lewis Family (BG 06) born in Richmond County, Georgia, 1926 (died 2017)
Royce Kendall died in LaCrosse, Wisconsin (stroke), 1988 (was 63)

May 23:

Ken Irwin (BG 16) born in New York, New York, 1944 (now 78)
Shelley West born in Cleveland, Ohio, 1958 (now 64)
Leroy Troy born in Goodlettesville, Tennessee, 1966 (now 56)
Mac Wiseman (CM 14, BG 93) born in Crimora, Virginia, 1925 (died 2019)
Rosemary Clooney born in Maysville, Kentucky, 1928 (died 2002). The legendary pop singer recorded a number of country songs, including covering Carl Smith's hit "If Teardrops Were Pennies."

Misty Morgan born in Buffalo, New York, 1945 (died 2021)
Rex Gosdin died (heart attack), 1983 (was 45)

May 24:

Mike Reid (NS 05) born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, 1947 (now 75)
Rosanne Cash (NS 15) born in Memphis, Tennessee, 1955 (now 67)
Billy Gilman born in Westerly, Rhode Island, 1988 (now 34). Gilman's "One Voice" hit #1 when he was 12, making him the youngest person in Billboard country chart history to have a #1 song.
Gene Clark of the Byrds and Dillard & Clark died in Sherman Oaks, California (bleeding ulcer), 1991 (was 46)
Vivian Liberto died in Ventura, California (cancer), 2005 (was 71). Vivian was Johnny Cash's first wife and Rosanne Cash's mother.
Jimmie Rodgers recorded "Old Love Letters (Bring Memories of You)," "Mississippi Delta Blues," "Somewhere Down Below the Dixon Line," and "Years Ago" in New York City, 1933. Ravaged with tuberculosis, they would be the final recordings of the Father of Country Music.
The United States Postal Service issues the Jimmie Rodgers postage stamp, 1978

May 25:

Jessi Colter born in Phoenix, Arizona, 1947 (now 75)
Dr. Humphrey Bate of the Possum Hunters born in Castallian Springs, Tennessee, 1875 (died 1936)
Ernest V. "Pop" Stoneman (CM 08) born in Monarat, Virginia, 1893 (died 1968)
Hal David (NS 84) born in New York, New York, 1921 (died 2012)

Tom T. Hall (CM 08, NS 78, BG 18) born in Olive Hill, Kentucky, 1936 (died 2021)

Dick Curless died in Bangor, Maine (stomach cancer), 1995 (was 63)

May 26:
Randall Hank Williams Jr. (CM 20, NS 07) born in Shreveport, Louisiana, 1949 (now 73)
Richard Leigh (NS 94) born in Washington, DC, 1951 (now 71)
Lance LeRoy (BG 00) born in Tingall, Georgia, 1930 (died 2015)
Levon Helm born in Marvell, Arkansas, 1940 (died 2012). The actor and drummer/singer for the Band made his acting debut in Coal Miner's Daughter.
Jimmie Rodgers (CM 61, NS 70, RR 86, GLA 17) died in New York, New York (tuberculosis), 1933 (was 35)
Onie Wheeler died in Nashville, Tennessee (heart attack), 1984 (was 62). He died on the Grand Ole Opry stage during a performance of the post-Friday Night Opry show, Grand Ole Gospel.

Judy Lynn died in New Albany, Indiana (congestive heart failure), 2010 (was 74)
The first International Country Music Conference held in Meridian, Mississippi, 1983. The three-day event began as a memorial to Jimmie Rodgers and coincides with the anniversary of his death.

May 27:

Redd Stewart (NS 70) born in Ashland City, Tennessee, 1921 (died 2003)
Kenny Price born in Florence, Kentucky, 1931 (died 1987)
Don Williams (CM 10) born in Floydada, Texas, 1939 (died 2017)

Slim Bryant died in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania (long-term illness), 2010 (was 101)
Opryland opened, 1972 (closed 1997)

May 28:

John Fogerty born in Berkeley, California, 1945 (now 77). The leader of Creedence Clearwater Revival recorded an album of country songs under the pseudonym Blue Ridge Rangers in 1973, hitting the country chart with his rendition of "Jambalaya," and several songs Fogerty has written have been recorded by country singers.
Jerry Douglas born in Warren, Ohio, 1956 (now 66)
Phil Vassar born in Lynchburg, Virginia, 1965 (now 57)
Gary Stewart born in Jenkins, Kentucky, 1945 (died 2003)

May 29:

Carl Story (BG 07) born in Lenoir, North Carolina, 1916 (died 1995)
Danny Davis (ne George Joseph Nowlan) of the Nashville Brass born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, 1925 (died 2008)
Doc Watson (BG 00) died in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (complications from abdominal surgery), 2012 (was 89)

B.J. Thomas died in Arlington, Texas (lung cancer), 2021 (was 78)
Mother Maybelle and the Carter Family became members of the Grand Ole Opry, 1950
Hank and Audrey Williams divorced, 1952

May 30:

Mike Snider born in Gleason, Tennessee, 1960 (now 62)

Wynonna Judd (CM 21) born in Ashland, Kentucky, 1964 (now 58)
Lewis Crook of the Crook Brothers born in Trousdale County, Tennessee, 1909 (died 1996)
Johnny Gimble (CM 18) born in Tyler, Texas, 1926 (died 2015)
Don Wayne (NS 78) born in Nashville, Tennessee, 1933 (died 2011)
Karl Davis of Karl & Harty died in Chicago, Illinois (cancer), 1979 (was 73)
Bobby Harden of the Harden Trio died in Nashville, Tennessee (unknown cause), 2006 (was 70)

May 31:

Vic Willis of the Willis Brothers born in Schulter, Oklahoma, 1922 (died 1995)
Johnny Paycheck (ne Donald Eugene Lytle) born in Greenfield, Ohio, 1938 (died 2003)
Bud Carter (StG 09) born in Sullivan, Missouri, 1931 (died 2015)
William "Red" Rector died in Knoxville, Tennessee (heart attack), 1990 (was 60)
Lloyd Perryman of the Sons of the Pioneers (CM 80) died in Burbank, California (complications of heart surgery), 1977 (was 60)
Jerry Sullivan of the Sullivan Family died in Alabama (illness), 2014 (was 80)