Country Legends
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Roy Acuff was born on 15 September 1903 in Maynardville, Tennessee, USA. He was an actor, known for Night Train to Memphis (1946), Home in San Antone (1949) and Smoky Mountain Melody (1948). He was married to Mildred Louise Douglas. He died on 23 November 1992 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- David Akeman, the country musician known as "Stringbean," was a legend at the Grand Ole Opry and one of the stars of television's Hee Haw (1969). Along with his long-time partner and Hee Haw (1969) co-star Grandpa Jones, he was one of the premier traditional-style banjo players in country music. Though Stringbean primarily performed as either a sideman or as part of a comedy duet, he began recording his own records in the 1960s and had achieved superstar status by the time the decade of the '60s closed.
Born on June 17, 1915, to a farm family in Annville in Kentucky's Jackson County, it was natural for Akeman to become a musical prodigy as his family loved and lived music. His father was a banjoist who played at local dances, but more importantly, Annville was full of talented musicians possessed of considerable skill, all of whom, including his father, helped the young David him master the instrument. When he was seven years old, David Akeman reputedly crafted his first banjo out of a shoe box strung with thread. Five years later, he bartered a pair of chickens for a real banjo, with which he began playing gigs at local dances, earning himself a reputation as a virtuoso on the instrument, which was an adaptation of a gourd-based string instrument introduced to America in pre-colonial times by African slaves. The banjo, as adapted and played by white folk, became one of the central instruments of country music before the 20th century.
During the Depression, when money was scarce and jobs were hard to come by, Akeman joined the Civilian Conservation Corps, where he was engaged in road-building and tree-planting. As a musician, he was discovered by country singer-guitarist Asa Martin, who was the judge at a talent contest Akeman had entered. Martin awarded the contest to Akeman, who thereupon joined Martin's band. It was Martin who gave Akeman his moniker, when during one performance, he forgot the banjoist's name and introduced him as "String Beans," a reference to his lanky, 6'5" physique. The name stuck.
Akeman went from a sideman who only played banjo to a leading performer, doubling as a singer and engaging in comic repartee. His comedic shtick became popular and he began dividing his time between musicianship and comedy. He also played some semi-pro baseball player in sandlots throughout the South, which he toured with various bands throughout 1930s. Akeman also was broadcast over the radio. "Stringbeans" and his future partner Grandpa Jones were two of the relatively few banjo players in mainstream country music during the '30s, as the instrument by that time had virtually disappeared from the repertoire.
It was Stringbean's association with country legend Bill Monroe that made his reputation. Monroe, who fielded his own semi-pro baseball team, discovered Stringbean on the playing field, and the banjo player became a member of Monroe's band in 1943. Stringbean stayed with the band for two years as Monroe's first banjo player, playing in the traditional claw-hammer style, as well as engaging in two-finger picking. It was with Bill Monroe who he first appeared on records. In this period, Akeman had additional gigs, teaming up with Willie Egbert Westbrook as "String Beans and Cousin Wilbur," a comedy duo that worked on the same bills with Monroe's band. He also played on one recording session as a Blue Grass Boy, laying down eight tracks in February 1945.
Stringbeans left Monroe's band in the fall and was replaced by another legendary banjo player, the great Earl Scruggs, who had a radically different technique than the old-style favored by Akeman and Grandpa Jones. Stringbean, who married Estelle Stanfill in 1945, first began working with Grandpa Jones, another comic-banjo player, in 1946. He later teamed up with Lew Childre to create a comedy-musical duo act in the late 1940s, and they became regulars at the Grand Old Opry. At the Opry, Akeman became a protégé of Uncle Dave Macon, a fellow banjo-player/comic who was well-loved by Opry audiences. After Macon's death in 1952, Stringbean as he now was known, became one of the Opry's biggest stars.
By the early 1960s, Earl Scruggs had become the most influential and popular banjo player in country music, and it was at this time that Stringbean first decided to record on his own, signing with the Starday label. There was still an audience for his traditional style of banjo playing and his admixture of comedy and song, best exemplified by the title of his first album: "Old Time Pickin' and Grinnin' with Stringbean," which was released in 1961. The album featured folk songs, particularly humorous ditties about animals, and jokes and tall tales. He would release a total of seven albums all together from the early 60s through 1972, and had country hits with "Chewing Gum" and "I Wonder Where Wanda Went."
In 1969, Stringbean and Grandpa Jones became part of the original cast of the country-flavored TV show _"Hee Haw" (1979)_ which made him famous outside of the country music niche. Just like at the Grand Old Opry, Stringbean became one of the most beloved of the show's stars.
Dave Akeman lived an extremely modest, simple life. Remembering the hard times of the Depression, Stringbean and his wife lived in a tiny cabin near Ridgetop, Tennessee, approximately 20 miles outside of Nashville, near his friend Grandpa Jones. Their only luxury was a Cadillac.
Stringbean did not trust banks due to the multiple bank failures of the Hoover years, and he kept thousands of dollars on his person, which he was known to flash around. It was rumored in nearby Nashville that Stringbean had a fortune in cash stashed at his house. It was these rumors that led two cousins, John and Marvin Brown, on the night of November 10, 1973, to break into the Akemans' cabin.
Returning from a performance at the Grand Old Opry, the burglars shot Stringbean dead after he entered his house, then ran down and killed Estelle. By immediately murdering Stringbean, they had no chance to question him on the whereabouts of any hidden monies, which they were unable to find. They managed to steal some firearms and a chainsaw, all at the cost of two lives. Stringbean and Estelle's neighbor Grandpa Jones discovered his slain friends the next morning, a Sunday.
The murders of the beloved Stringbean and his wife shocked the Nashville music community. Some of the less ethical members of the press tried to implicate Grandpa Jones in the slayings, intimating that he had been having an affair with Estelle. The charges were preposterous and hurtful towards Jones, who had lost his dear friends, but they helped sell papers.
Police work finally led to the capture of John and Marvin Brown. During the trial, Grandpa Jones identified one of the firearms the cousins had stolen from the Akeman cabin as one he had given Stringbean as a gift. The cousins, it was revealed, had ransacked the cabin and ambushed Stringbean and Estelle when they returned home. They were convicted of the double homicide and burglary and sentenced to life-in prison. (Ironically, a decomposed wad of about $20,000 in cash was discovered behind a brick in the cabin's chimney nearly a quarter century later, in 1996.)
David "Stringbean" Akeman and his wife Estelle were buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. The Stringbean Memorial Bluegrass Festival is held annually in Jackson County, Kentucky. The festival raises funds for Stringbean Memorial, Inc., a non-profit corporation that organizes, plans and hosts traditional music and heritage festivals in Jackson County to honor the memory of Stringbean and to preserve and promote traditional bluegrass and mountain music as well as support musical education and opportunities for area youth. - Actor
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Joe Allison was born on 3 October 1924 in McKinney, Collin County, Texas, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Blood Simple (1984), The Spectacular Now (2013) and Let It Ride (1989). He was married to Rita Allison. He died on 2 August 2002 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Manager
- Talent Agent
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Liz Anderson was born on 13 January 1927 in Roseau, Minnesota, USA. She was a manager and talent agent. She was married to Casey Anderson. She died on 31 October 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Actress
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Lynn Rene Anderson was a multi-award-winning American country music singer known for a string of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s, most notably her country-pop, worldwide mega-hit "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden". She charted 12 No. 1, 18 Top-10, and more than 50 Top-40 hits. Anderson's crossover appeal and regular exposure on national television helped her become one of the most popular and successful country singers of the 1970s. In addition to being named "Top Female Vocalist" by the Academy of Country Music (ACM) twice and "Female Vocalist of the Year" by the Country Music Association (CMA), she had won a Grammy Award, People's Choice Award and an American Music Award (AMA). She was named Record World Magazine's and Billboard Magazine's Female Artist of the Decade (1970-1980). Because of her mainstream success, Anderson was the first female country artist to be invited as a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) in late 1971 (the first of several appearances she would make with Carson at the helm). Anderson was also the first female country artist to win the American Music Award in 1974, as well as the first to headline and sellout Madison Square Garden that same year.- Soundtrack
Jack Anglin was born on 13 May 1916 in Columbia, Tennessee, USA. Jack was married to Louise Anglin. Jack died on 8 March 1963 in Madison, Wisconsin, USA.- Actor
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Eddy Arnold was born on 15 May 1918 in Henderson, Tennessee, USA. He was an actor, known for Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), Groundhog Day (1993) and The Brave One (2007). He was married to Sally Gayhart. He died on 8 May 2008 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Actor
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Ernest Ashworth was born on 15 December 1928 in Huntsville, Alabama, USA. He was an actor, known for Valley of Blood (1973), Opry Video Classics: Songs That Topped the Charts (2007) and The Farmer's Other Daughter (1965). He was married to Elizabeth Bettye Rose. He died on 2 March 2009 in Hartsville, Tennessee, USA.- Actor
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Chet Atkins was an A&R (artist and repertoire) executive for RCA Victor Records from 1958 until 1974, producing recordings for such artists as Elvis Presley, Bobby Bare, Eddy Arnold, Jim Reeves, Skeeter Davis, Waylon Jennings, Duane Eddy, The Browns, Charley Pride, Hank Snow and The Everly Brothers, to name just a few. In the early 1960s, at the peak of his production activity, he supervised as many as 300 recording sessions a year - each session lasting at most three hours and yielding three or four arranged and completed tracks. At his disposal were the cream of Nashville session musicians, the so-called "A-list", including pianists Floyd Cramer and Hargus Robbins, saxophonist Boots Randolph, guitarists Grady Martin, Harold Bradley and Hank Garland, legendary bassist Bob Moore, drummer Buddy Harman and renowned harmonica artist Charlie McCoy, backed up by superb vocalists such as Anita Kerr, Millie Kirkham and The Jordanaires. A superb talent with an amazing sense of musical creativity, Chet Atkins wrote the "book" for much of what we consider good popular music today.- Music Artist
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After high school Gene Autry worked as a laborer for the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad in Oklahoma. Next he was a telegrapher. In 1928 he began singing on a local radio station, and three years later he had his own show and was making his first recordings. Three years after that he made his film debut in Ken Maynard's In Old Santa Fe (1934) and starred in a 13-part serial the following year for Mascot Pictures, The Phantom Empire (1935). The next year he signed a contract with Republic Pictures and began making westerns. Autry--for better or worse--pretty much ushered in the era of the "singing cowboy" westerns of the 1930s and 1940s (in spite of the presence in his oaters of automobiles, radios and airplanes). These films often grossed ten times their average $50,000 production costs. During World War II he enlisted in the US Army and was assigned as a flight officer from 1942-46 with the Air Transport Command. After his military service he returned to making movies, this time with Columbia Pictures, and finally with his own company, Flying A Productions, which, during the 1950s, produced his TV series The Gene Autry Show (1950), The Adventures of Champion (1955), and Annie Oakley (1954). He wrote over 200 songs. A savvy businessman, he retired from acting in the early 1960s and became a multi-millionaire from his investments in hotels, real estate, radio stations and the California Angels professional baseball team.- Actor
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Hoyt Axton was born on 25 March 1938 in Duncan, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Gremlins (1984), Forrest Gump (1994) and The Big Chill (1983). He was married to Deborah Hawkins, Donna "Bambi" Roberts, Kathryn Roberts and Mary Sanino. He died on 26 October 1999 in Victor, Montana, USA.- Actress
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Mae Boren Axton was born on 14 September 1914 in Bardwell, Texas, USA. She was an actress, known for True Romance (1993), Cast Away (2000) and The Client (1994). She was married to John T. Axton. She died on 9 April 1997 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Born in Tennessee in 1899, harmonica player DeFord Bailey was the first black musician to appear on the Nashville-based WSM radio program "The Grand Ole Opry". He appeared regularly on the show from 1925-41. He played what was termed "black country music" or "string-band music" (although he called it it "black hillbilly music"), and often played blues or blues-flavored music. His signature song was "Pan-American Blues", a novelty number based on the sounds the famous freight train would make--and which Bailey imitated remarkably on his harp. He also recorded some blues tracks for RCA Victor in 1928.
Bailey left the Grand Ole Opry during World War II. He died in Nashville, TN, in 1982. - Producer
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Owen Bradley was born on 21 October 1915 in Westmoreland, Tennessee, USA. Owen was a producer, known for The Porter Wagoner Show (1961) and Country Style, U.S.A. (1957). Owen died on 7 January 1998 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Bonnie Brown was born on 31 July 1938 in Sparkman, Arkansas, USA. She was married to Gene Dale Ring. She died on 16 July 2016 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.
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Jim Ed Brown was born on 1 April 1934 in Sparkman, Arkansas, USA. He was an actor, known for I Believe in Unicorns (2014), Temple Grandin (2010) and Opry Video Classics: Duets (2007). He was married to Becky Sue Perry. He died on 11 June 2015 in Franklin, Tennessee, USA.- Music Department
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A classically trained violinist, Boudleaux Bryant played with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra during the 1937-38 season. Drawn to country fiddlin' music, he joined a band and while performing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1945, met and married elevator operator, Matilda Genevieve "Felice" Scaduto.
They began writing songs together and working for Acuff-Rose Music in Nashville, Tennessee, composed the classic 50s Pop and Country hit songs, "Bye Bye Love", "Wake Up, Little Susie", "Problems", "Poor Jenny", "Take a Message To Mary", and "All I Have to Do is Dream". They also wrote the classic country song, "Rocky Top" which became the official state song for Tennessee in 1982 and the "fight song" for the University of Tennessee sports teams.
Boudleaux and Felice Bryant were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987, just a few months before his death. In 1991 they were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. During their careers, the Bryants earned a total of 59 BMI Country, R&B, and Pop music awards.- Soundtrack
As a child Felice Bryant composed lyrics set to traditional Italian melodies and, in her teens, sang on her local radio station. In 1945 she was working as an elevator operator at a Milwaukee hotel when she met Boudleaux Bryant, a jazz and country violinist from Georgia who was performing at the hotel. They eloped two days later and, after their marriage, she adopted the name Felice from a pet name her husband called her.
They came to national prominence when their song-writing collaborations produced a string of top hits for the Everly Brothers beginning in the mid 1950s. Their songs have also been recorded memorably by Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, Chet Atkins, the Beatles, the Grateful Dead, the Beach Boys, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Buddy Holly and many others.- Henson Cargill was born on 5 February 1941 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA. He died on 27 March 2007 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA.
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Anita Carter was born on 31 March 1933 in Maces Springs, Scott County, Virginia, USA. She is known for Stagecoach (1986), Country Style, U.S.A. (1957) and The Johnny Cash Show (1969). She was married to Bob Wootton, Don Davis and Dale Potter. She died on 29 July 1999 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Actress
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Maybelle married Ezra Carter when she was 16. The following year, in 1927, her brother-in-law, A.P. Carter, convinced his wife Sara and Maybelle (pregnant at the time) to make the journey from Virginia to Tennessee to audition for record producer Ralph Peer, who was seeking talent for the new recording industry. The Carter Family is believed to be the first commercial rural country music group. Maybelle played the guitar, autoharp and banjo, and created a unique sound for the group. She was widely respected and loved by the Grand Ole Opry community of the early 1950s, and was popularly known as "Mother Maybelle."
In 1993, her image appeared on a U.S. postage stamp honoring the Carter Family. In 2001 she was initiated into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor.
The Carter Family was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1970 and they were given the nickname "The First Family of Country Music." In 1988, the Carter Family was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and received an award for the song "Will the Circle Be Unbroken".- Music Artist
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- Actor
Johnny Cash was born February 26, 1932, in Kingsland, Arkansas, to Carrie Cash (Rivers) and Raymond Cash. He made his first single, "Hey Porter", for Sun Records in 1955. In 1958 he moved to Columbia Records. He had long periods of drug abuse during the 1960s, but later that decade he successfully fought his addiction with the help of singer June Carter Cash, whom he married in 1968. In 1971 he appeared in the western A Gunfight (1971) with 'Kirk Douglas (I)'. Cash made only a few films, but quite a few appearances on television, both in series and made-for-TV films, and was especially effective as a rural Southern sheriff in the 1930s determined to bring to justice a wealthy landowner who committed murder because he believed he was above the law in Murder in Coweta County (1983), a drama based on a true story. In 1975 Cash wrote his autobiography, "Man In Black", which is now out of print. In the late 1980s he moved from Columbia Records to Mercury, then in the next decade moved again to American Recordings. Amongst his biggest hit records were "I Walk the Line", "Ring of Fire" and "A Boy Named Sue". After several years of ill health, he died of complications from diabetes on 12 September 2003, only a few months after the death of his beloved wife.- Actress
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June Carter Cash was born on 23 June 1929 in Maces Springs, Scott County, Virginia, USA. She was an actress and producer, known for The Johnny Cash Show (1969), The Apostle (1997) and Man of Steel (2013). She was married to Johnny Cash, Edwin Lee (Rip) Nix and Carl Smith. She died on 15 May 2003 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Soundtrack
Guy Clark was born on 6 November 1941 in Monahans, Texas, USA. He was married to Susanna Clark and Susan Spaw. He died on 17 May 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Music Department
- Producer
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Jack Clement was born on 8 April 1931 in Whitehaven, Tennessee, USA. He was a producer, known for Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), Walk the Line (2005) and A Perfect World (1993). He died on 8 August 2013 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Music Artist
- Actress
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Patsy Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley on September 8, 1932 in Winchester, Virginia. Her brush with show business came at age four when she won a prize in an amateur tap dancing contest. By the time she entered grade school, her family was fully aware of her musical talent. On her eighth birthday, her mother presented her with a piano, on which Patsy learned more music patterns. On Sundays, she sang with the local church choir, and at age 14, was singing regularly on local radio station WINC (she got the job by walking fearlessly into the station and asking for an audition). When Patsy was 15, her parents divorced, reportedly due to her father's heavy drinking. Without her father around to pay the bills, Patsy helped her mother earn money by singing in local clubs in the evenings, and by day, was working at the local drug store, which led to her dropping out of high school a year later. In 1948, Patsy maneuvered herself backstage when 'Wally Fowler' brought his music show to her hometown. Patsy impressed Fowler with her singing, and he gave her the opportunity to audition to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. However, to her disappointment, the Opry reps said that she would not be ready for big-time country radio.
Patsy returned to Winchester and continued to sing in local clubs. She met and married Gerald Cline in 1952. That same year, she was featured in Bill Peer's Melody Playboys of Brunswick, Maryland. Peer got Patsy her first recording contract with Four Star Records in 1954. In late 1955, Patsy became a regular on the radio show "Town and Country Jamboree", a country-western program that broadcast in Washington, D.C. In 1957, Patsy finally got her big break when she appeared as a contestant on the television variety show Talent Scouts (1948), hosted by Arthur Godfrey. For her first television appearance, she selected a torch song she sang a year earlier, "Walkin' After Midnight". She won first place and became a regular on the show for the next two weeks. "Walkin' After Midnight" was released as a single and put Patsy on the top ten charts of country and pop music. However, her determined drive and ambition put a large strain her marriage and kept her away from her husband; as a result, Patsy and Gerald divorced soon after her television debut. In the late 1950s, Patsy put a hold on her career and married a second time, to Charlie Dick, and together they had two children. However, when she returned to singing, the long hours that kept her away put another strain on the marriage.
In 1960, Patsy was finally invited to join the Grand Old Opry and the following year she scored with her second single, "I Fall to Pieces". Producer Owen Bradley took advantage of Patsy's rich voice and backed her with lush string arrangements rather than the twangy sound of steel guitar, which was typical for country-western singers at the time. Anxious to be true to her roots, Patsy often expressed a desire to yodel and growl on her records, but she understood that this smoother sound was giving her career a major boost and used it during the next two years of album recordings. In March 1963, Patsy traveled from Nashville to Kansas City, where on March 5, 1963, she appeared at a benefit concert for the family of disc jockey Jack McCall, who had been killed in a traffic accident earlier that year. Immediately after her performance, she boarded a small plane back to Nashville along with country-western performers Cowboy Copas, Harold Hawkshaw Hawkins and pilot Randy Hughes. Approximately 85 miles west of Nashville, the plane ran into turbulence and crashed. There were no survivors. Shortly before her death, Patsy recorded the single "Sweet Dreams", which became #5 on the country charts after her untimely death at age 30 (her best-known song, "Crazy", was written by future country-western legend Willie Nelson). Ten years after her death, Patsy Cline was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the first female soloist chosen for the honor.- Actor
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Hank Cochran was born on 2 August 1935 in Isola, Mississippi, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for True Romance (1993), The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) and Starman (1984). He was married to Suzi Cochran, Jeannie Seely and Shirley Kay. He died on 15 July 2010 in Hendersonville, Tennessee, USA.- Actor
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Stompin' Tom Connors was born on 9 February 1936 in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. He was an actor and composer, known for Stompin' Tom Connors: Margo's Cargo (1991), Deranged (1974) and First Round Down (2016). He was married to Lena Welsh. He died on 6 March 2013 in Halton Hills, Ontario, Canada.- Stoney Cooper was born on 16 October 1918 in Harmon, West Virginia, USA. He was married to Wilma Lee Cooper. He died on 22 March 1977 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
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Wilma Lee Cooper was born on 7 February 1921 in Valley Head, West Virginia, USA. She was married to Stoney Cooper. She died on 13 September 2011 in Sweetwater, Tennessee, USA.- Actor
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Cowboy Copas was born on 15 July 1913 in Blue Creek, Adams County, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for Square Dance Jubilee (1949), Deuce and a Quarter (2012) and Opry Video Classics: Songs That Topped the Charts (2007). He was married to Edna Lucille Markins. He died on 5 March 1963 in Camden, Tennessee, USA.- Actor
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Legendary country pianist Floyd Cramer, one of the men responsible for what became known as "The Nashville Sound", was born on Oct. 27, 1933, in Shreveport, Louisiana, but grew up in Huttig, Arkansas. As a young boy he taught himself to play the piano, and after finishing high school went back to Shreveport, where his musical abilities landed him a job on the "Louisiana Hayride" radio show as a pianist. In 1953 he cut his first single, "Dancin' Diane", for Abbott Records. Shortly afterward he hooked up with a young singer with whom he would form a close personal and professional bond--Elvis Presley.
Cramer relocated to Nashville in 1955, at a time when piano accompaniment on country music songs was becoming popular, and he found more work than he could handle. He soon became one of the busiest session musicians in the business, playing on the records of such luminaries as Brenda Lee, Patsy Cline, Eddy Arnold, Elvis Presley--he played piano on "Heartbreak Hotel"--and Roy Orbison, among others. It was during these sessions that Cramer developed the practice of "slip notes", in which a note would flow effortlessly into the next--a sea change from the "percussive" style of piano playing prevalent at the time.
Although he was a top studio musician in Nashville, few people outside of the music business knew who he was. He had been recording and releasing his own records since the early '50s, but recognition didn't come for him until 1960, when he released the mournful instrumental "Last Date", which was a classic example of his "slip note" style of playing. The record hit #2 on the Billboard Top 100 chart and wound up selling more than one million copies. The next year he had another hit, "On the Rebound", which went to #3 (and #1 in the UK). In the mid-'60s he, guitar legend Chet Atkins and sax master Boots Randolph toured the US as "The Million Dollar Band".
In 1997 Floyd Cramer died of lung cancer, and is buried in Madison, Tennessee.- Actor
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American politician and songwriter who appeared in a number of films. Davis was born in the now-nonexistent town of Beech Springs, Louisiana, the son of sharecroppers. He and his ten siblings lived in dire poverty, but Davis paid his way through Louisiana College and Louisiana State University as a street musician. After graduate school, he taught at Dodd College for Women, supporting himself with a singing job on a local radio station. He got a chance to record one of his songs when a record talent scout heard him on a broadcast, and in 1934 his song "Nobody's Darling But Mine" was a hit. A 1931 song, "You Are My Sunshine," became a 1939 hit, a standard eventually recorded by a score of singing stars from Bing Crosby to Aretha Franklin. No longer poor, but unable to live off his songs, Davis entered politics and was elected police chief of Shreveport. He continued to record songs and occasionally acted in movies, especially B-Westerns, until in 1943 he decided to run for governor of Louisiana. Although Davis's opponent tried to use his singing background against him, it actually was a great factor in Davis's election to the post. Even after he was elected governor, he continued to record songs and played himself in a movie of his life, Louisiana (1947). During the 1950s, he made records and concert appearances, then ran again for governor again in the 1960s. He was elected again and reluctantly presided over Louisiana's difficult transition into greater racial equality. After this second term, Davis spent the rest of his career singing, recording over fifty albums. He died at 101, enormously popular in his home state and likely to be remembered less as a politician or actor than as the composer of "You Are My Sunshine," one of the most familiar American songs of all time.- Actress
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Skeeter Davis was one of the first female vocalists to become a top level star in the country music field. Born Mary Frances Penick on December 30, 1931, Davis began performing in her native Kentucky as part of a duet with high school friend Betty Jack Davis in 1949. The teenagers, dubbed The Davis Sisters, quickly became a popular regional act and frequently performed on local radio. Their fan base began to grow outside the state and the girls were signed to RCA Records in 1952. They were on tour just as their first record was being released when tragedy struck and they were in a car accident in which Betty Jack was killed and Skeeter seriously injured. After she recovered Skeeter briefly attempted to revived The Davis Sisters' act with Betty's sister Georgia but ended up quitting the business in 1957. Skeeter later had second thoughts and returned to the music industry in 1958 as a solo singer. RCA again signed her and Skeeter became an immediate success with her first solo single, "Lost To A Geisha Girl" which was a top 15 record and the first of many hits for her over the next eighteen years.
Skeeter Davis quickly became one of country music's biggest female stars, a major rival to Kitty Wells and Patsy Cline. Like Cline, Davis' records crossed over frequently to the pop music charts. Skeeter's 1963 release "The End of the World" was a multi-chart number one international smash for her and remains one of the best remembered pop songs of the era. Davis' major hits began to become less frequent by the early 1970's but she remained a regular chart presence up to 1976. During the 1980's and 1990's she widely toured internationally as her records continued to sell in many foreign markets. Davis had been a Grand Ole Opry member for 45 years when she passed away in 2004.- Actor
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Eddie Dean made his name as a country-western singer on radio in the '30s. He journeyed to Hollywood to make it in western movies, debuting in Manhattan Love Song (1934), but he could only land bit parts in features and musical shorts. His career started to take off in the early 1940s, though, and by 1945 he was among the more popular of the cowboy stars. However, several factors weighed against him rising much further: his stolid, somewhat dour screen personality, the fact that he was under contract to low-rent PRC (later Eagle-Lion) Pictures--whose shoddiness was legendary and whose westerns were not particularly popular among aficionados--and the unfortunate fact that the singing cowboy craze had pretty much run its course by the time he came along. His career can be summed up in a review of one of his films by the "New York Times": "Instead of the usual black and white, Eddie Dean's newest western has been shot in Cinecolor, but it's not an improvement; you can still see him."- Actor
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Jimmy Dean, the musician, actor and entrepreneur, was instrumental in the mainstreaming of country music, a genre that now enjoys popularity in some regions of the United States but which, back in the 1960s, was accorded little respect by mass media. Jimmy Dean had a #1 hit in the US and England with his song "Big Bad John," which established his fame, fame that continues to this day due to his long stint as a spokesman for "Jimmy Dean Pure Pork Sausage," a company he founded and then sold to Consolidated Foods in 1984. He continued as the pitchman for the eponymous brand for 20 years.
Jimmy Dean, a distant cousin of the actor James Dean, was born Jimmy Ray Dean on August 10, 1928 in Plainview, Texas. He took to the life of a professional singer after serving in the U.S. Air Force during the late 1940s. Dean began building his reputation as a musician touring with his band, The Texas Wildcats, which featured Roy Clark as lead guitarist. In 1953, he scored his first hit, "Bummin' Around."
Dean landed a gig as the host of a TV program in the Washington D.C. market, "Town and Country Time." (The District of Columbia has in many ways always been a Southern town.) Dean was a promoter of rising country acts, and such top country singers as Clark and Patsy Cline got their starts with Dean. (He eventually fired Clark but later promoted his career.) Dean subsequently moved to New York after signing with Columbia Records, where he hosted a TV variety show for the CBS network.
In 1961, his song "Big Bad John" went to No. 1 on the Billboard charts and won him the 1962 Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording. Several of his subsequent songs charted in the Top 40, and he scored a Top 10 hit in 1962 with a song commemorating President John F. Kennedy's patrol torpedo boat, "PT 109." Because of his affability and his burgeoning popularity, he occasionally was booked to guest-host "The Tonight Show." ABC offered him a variety show in the mid-1960s, and Dean used it as a forum to present country music on his terms, as a mainstream entertainment. His show offered the first major TV exposure to a number of country singers, including George Jones, Charlie Rich, and Buck Owens. His show also introduced the first Muppet, Jim Henson's Rowlf the Dog.
Aside from a featured part as a Howard Hughes-like billionaire in the James Bond movie Diamonds Are Forever (1971) (Dean said he was offered the role on the basis of his having had a #1 hit with "Big John" in Britain, which surprised him as it had been a decade before), Dean has mostly stuck to his music and the business he founded in 1969, "Jimmy Dean Pure Pork Sausage." The TV commercials featuring the very likable Dean were the best advertising the new brand could have had, and it became #1 in its product category.
In the fall of 2004, Jimmy Dean published his autobiography, "30 Years of Sausage, 50 Years of Ham." He semi-retired and lived with his second wife, the former singer Donna Meade Dean until his death in 2010.- Music Artist
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His birth occurred on Friday, December 31st, 1943, as the son of an Air Force officer, Denver was constantly moved from state to state and country to country. It was in Tucson, Arizona, that his grandmother gave him his first acoustic guitar, a gift that would prove an icebreaker when meeting other students at the many new schools in which he was placed. After settling with his family in Fort Worth, Texas, Denver ran away to California for a short time. He returned to Texas and graduated from high school, but soon returned to California on a more permanent basis. He began performing at Leadbetter's night club in West Los Angeles but had a major career breakthrough when he was selected to replace the departing Chad Mitchell of The Chad Mitchell Trio. He remained with that organization until 1968 when he struck out on his own. From 1969 through 1975, Denver was the top-selling recording artist, appearing on both country and pop charts alike. His peak year was 1975, during which he was awarded the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year in addition to being selected as the American Guild of Variety Artists' Singing Star of the Year. During this period, he tried his hand at acting, appearing as Deputy Dewey Cobb in a 1973 episode of McCloud (1970) and hosting Day of the Bighorn (1974), an ecologically-minded television special. His most memorable role came in 1977 when he starred opposite George Burns in the hit comedy, Oh, God! (1977). Following this, his record sales began to decline, and he made fewer movies and television specials. He became something of a political activist, with his main focus being on environmental issues. He was killed on Sunday, October 12th, 1997, (505 years after Christopher Columbus' discovery of North America) when the plane he was piloting crashed into Monterey Bay. John Denver's lifetime: 19,616 days (2,802 weeks & 2 days).- Actor
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Little Jimmy Dickens was born on 19 December 1920 in Bolt, West Virginia, USA. He was an actor, known for Northern Exposure (1990), More American Graffiti (1979) and Last Night's Party (2014). He was married to Mona Evans, Anne Ernestine Jones and Dorothy (Connie) Chapman. He died on 2 January 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Actress
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An honest-to-goodness Southern Belle, similar to her most famous character role, "Elly May Clampett" on The Beverly Hillbillies (1962), Donna Douglas grew up in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana area, loving "critters". She got married soon after high school, had a son, divorced and won a couple of beauty contests, all within the span of a few years. She moved to New York and soon appeared on television series, including a well-remembered guest-star shot on The Twilight Zone (1959) in one of the series' most famous episodes, Eye of the Beholder (1960), in which she plays a woman who tries to undergo a series of experimental treatments to make her beautiful, only for the treatments to fail. The twist was she was beautiful, at least to the viewers, but considered hideous to the pig people of the planet, she was on. She immediately won the character role of "Elly May Clampett" on one of the greatest situation comedies of all time, The Beverly Hillbillies (1962). This extremely comical series debuted with The Clampetts Strike Oil (1962), on her 30th birthday, Wednesday, September 26th, 1962, which is among the narrowest & sheerest coincidences, that are hardest to believe.- Actor
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Pete Drake was born on 8 October 1932 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. He was an actor, known for Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter (2014), Dream Horse (2020) and That Tennessee Beat (1966). He died on 29 July 1988 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Soundtrack
Jimmy Ellis was born on 26 February 1945 in Orrville, Alabama, USA. He died on 12 December 1998 in Selma, Alabama, USA.- Bobby Emmons was born on 19 February 1943 in Corinth, Mississippi, USA. He was married to Dot. He died on 23 February 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
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American leading lady of musical westerns of the 1940s. Born Frances Octavia Smith in Uvalde, Texas. She was raised in Texas and Arkansas. Married at 14 and a mother at 15, she was divorced at 17 (some sources say widowed). Intent on a singing career, she moved to Memphis, Tennessee, and worked in an insurance company while taking occasional radio singing jobs. After another unhappy marriage, she went to Louisville, Kentucky, and became a popular singer on a local radio station. There she took the stage name Dale Evans (from her third husband, Robert Dale Butts, and actress Madge Evans). Divorced in 1936, she moved to Dallas, Texas, and again found local success as a radio singer. She married Butts and they moved to Chicago, where she began to attract increasing attention from both radio audiences and film industry executives. She signed with Fox Pictures and made a few small film appearances, then was cast as leading lady to rising cowboy star Roy Rogers. She and Rogers clicked and she became his steady on-screen companion. In 1946, Rogers' wife died and Evans' marriage to Butts ended about the same time. Rogers and Evans had been close onscreen in a string of successful westerns, and now became close off-screen as well. A year later she married Rogers and the two become icons of American pop culture. Their marriage was dogged by tragedy, including the loss of three children before adulthood, but Evans was able not only to find inspiration in the midst of tragedy but to provide inspiration as well, authoring several books on her life and spiritual growth through difficulty. She and Rogers starred during the 1950s on the popular TV program bearing his name, and even after retirement continued to make occasional appearances and to run their Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum in Victorville, California. Following Dale's death, the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum moved to Branson, Missouri.- Soundtrack
Joey Feek was born on 9 September 1975 in Alexandria, Indiana, USA. She was married to Rory Feek. She died on 4 March 2016 in Alexandria, Indiana, USA.- Actor
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Freddy Fender was born on 4 June 1937 in San Benito, Texas, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005), Hancock (2008) and The Forever Purge (2021). He was married to Evangelina (Vangie) Muniz. He died on 14 October 2006 in Corpus Christi, Texas, USA.- Actor
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Red Foley made his professional debut as a singer in Chicago. He was later discovered by a talent scout at Kentucky's Georgetown College. His mother and father operated a little store at the crossroads in Blue Lick, Kentucky. His father took an old guitar as part payment on an account and gave it to Red. By the time he was seven he was playing with the best of them. Later his family moved Berea, Kentucky while Red continued his "musical education'. In high school he played basketball and ran track. At this time he entered an Atwater-Kent amateur contest and reached the state finals in Louisville. Red was on his way. In the 1930's Red shared the stage on "National Barndance", with Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, and a pint-size yodeling cowboy named George Goebel. He left there in 1937 and moved to Cincinnati, and joined the cast of a cross-the-board network show on which he starred with Red Skelton and singer Jeannette Davis. Red signed with Decca records in 1939 and had only ordinary success for several years. Red thought he needed greater exposure and in 1944, he headline R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company's Saturday night portion n Nashville "Grand Ole Opry. " From that time he was one of America's best loved country singers. Some of his all-time great hits included "Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy", "Peace In The Valley", "Just A Closer Walk With Thee", and "Steal Away". After the death of his first wife, Eva, in 1952, he departed the "Grand Ole Opry", to care for his remaining three unmarried daughters. He remained in virtual retirement until 1954 when Razorback Productions of Springfield, Mo., then the nation's largest producers of country music shows, persuaded Red to star in a new quarter hour series. Sparking Red's interest, he wanted to produce an "Opry" type show. The result was "The Ozark Jubilee", which opened in Springfield's Jewell Theater on July 17, 1954. Only three weeks after the show debuted, the ABC radio network began carrying a 25 minute portion every Saturday night. It's immediate popularity led to the new ABC TV show "Ozark Jubilee". Red remarried to Sally Sweet and made his home in Springfield, Mo. Red sang in the Inaugural Ball for President Truman in 1949 and also in a federal court(as a witness to the ownership rights to "Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy".- Tennessee Ernie Fords lifetime: Thursday, February 13th, 1919 to Thursday, October 17th, 1991, was 26,544 days, equaling 3,792 weeks exactly. Composer, singer and author, educated at the Cincinnati Conservatory. He appeared at the London Palladium, and made many records. He also owned a cattle ranch in California. Joining ASCAP in 1958, his popular-song compositions include "Softly and Tenderly" (Christian). Three others, 2 country "Hogtied Over You" and "Kiss Me Big" + 1 rock 'n roll, "Sixteen Tons".
- Howdy Forrester was born on 31 March 1922 in Vernon, Tennessee, USA. He died on 1 August 1987 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
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Lefty Frizzell was born on 31 March 1928 in Corsicana, Texas, USA. He was married to Alice Harper. He died on 19 July 1975 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Soundtrack
Vern Gosdin was born on 5 August 1934 in Woodland, Alabama, USA. He died on 28 April 2009 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Music Department
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Billy Grammer was born on 28 August 1925 in Benton, Illinois, USA. He is known for Dust to Dust (1994), Bandstand (1958) and Sing a Song for Heaven's Sake (1966). He was married to Ruth Burzynski. He died on 10 August 2011 in Benton, Illinois, USA.- Soundtrack
Josh Graves was born on 27 September 1927 in Tellico Plains, Tennessee, USA. He died on 30 September 2006 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Jack Greene was born on 7 January 1930 in Maryville, Tennessee, USA. He died on 14 March 2013 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
- Jim Hager was born on 30 August 1941 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Hee Haw (1969), The Bionic Woman (1976) and Twin Detectives (1976). He was married to Betty Hager Rivero. He died on 1 May 2008 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
- Jon Hager was born on 30 August 1941 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Hee Haw (1969), The Bionic Woman (1976) and Twin Detectives (1976). He was married to Catherine Akersloot Hager Hayward. He died on 9 January 2009 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
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Merle Haggard was born on 6 April 1937 in Bakersfield, California, USA. He was a music artist and actor, known for Wag the Dog (1997), The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981) and Jack Reacher (2012). He was married to Theresa Ann Lane, Debora J Parret, Leona Bell Williams, Bonnie Owens and Billie Leona Hobbs. He died on 6 April 2016 in Redding, California, USA.- Actor
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George Hamilton IV was born on 19 July 1937 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA. He was an actor, known for A Perfect World (1993), The Neon Palace (1971) and Praise Band: The Movie (2008). He was married to Adelaide (Tinky) Watson Peyton. He died on 17 September 2014 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Bobby Harden was born on 27 June 1935 in the USA. He died on 30 May 2006 in the USA.
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John Hartford was born on 30 December 1937 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019) and Lady Bird (2017). He was married to Marie Hartford. He died on 4 June 2001 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Harold Hawkshaw Hawkins was born on 22 December 1921 in Huntington, West Virginia, USA. He was married to Jean Shepard and Reva Mason Barbour. He died on 5 March 1963 in Camden, Tennessee, USA.
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This singer, songwriter and producer who wrote millionsellers for Nancy Sinatra 'These boots are made for walkin' and for Dean Martin 'Houston' and 'Shades', and for Frank sinatra 'This town' was the son of an oilman. Drafted during the Korean war, he became a country DJ in¨Phoenix in 1953. He began experimenting with session guitarist Al Casey by putting echo on country songs. His first succes was the song 'The fool' written and produced by him, under the name of his first wife 'Naomi Ford' (in fact her name was Naomi Shackleford). This composition was recorded by Sanford Clark and had the backing by Al Casey. It became a top 10 hit in the USA in 1956. His electronic gimmickry influenced an other well-known producer : Phil Spector. In 1957 Lee Hazlewood co-founded Jamie Records in Philadelphia with Lester Sill and Dick Clark, using Clark's TV-show to sell the hits of guitarplayer Duane Eddy. In 1961 and 1962, after founding with Lester Sill the Gregmark Company, he had hits with the Paris Sisters - a trio from San Francisco-. He threatened to quit the business when the United States were swamped by 'British Invasion'. Instead, at request of Jimmy Bowen, he produced hits by film-star offspring Dino, Desi and Billy on the Frank Sinatra-label 'Reprise' in 1965. He reached the top in 1966 with his composition 'These boots are made for walkin', a number 1 hit for Frank Sinatra's daughter Nancy Sinatra. He made with her several hits as 'Jackson', 'Summerwine' or 'Lady Bird'. In the seventies he moved to Sweden where he made several records and worked for television together with the Swedish director Torbjörn Axelmann. The two made also a show for the Swedish television and won 'The Golden Rose of Montreux' (an award for the best televisionprogram). In 1993, the famous British pop group Tindersticks issued a 45 rpm 7'' single 'A marriage made in heaven' based on Hazlewood's composition 'Sand'. It was considered as a tribute to Lee Hazlewood whose portrait has been placed on the cover of that single. Also in 1993 - after an interval of 13 years - Lee hazlewood could be heard on the Finnsh album 'Gypsies and Indians'together with the Finnish female singer Anna Hanski. In 1995 he did a tour with Nancy sinatra in the States, canada and Scandinavia. In 1999 he issued - for the first time in 20 years- a new solo album titled 'Farmisht, flatulence, origami, ARF!!! and me...'. It was a new collaboration with Al casey. Surprisingly Lee Hazlewood gave in 1999 also his first solo performances since 1974 in London (Royal Festival Hall) and in Stockholm where he was backed by his life-time friend Al Casey and his combo.- Actor
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Don Helms was born on 28 February 1927 in New Brockton, Alabama, USA. He was an actor, known for The Queens of Country (2009), Country Style, U.S.A. (1957) and The Wilburn Brothers Show (1963). He was married to Hazel Helms. He died on 11 August 2008 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Actress
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Goldie Hill was born on 11 January 1933 in Karnes City, Texas, USA. She was an actress, known for Opry Video Classics: Duets (2007), Country Music Caravan (1964) and Grand Ole Opry (1953). She was married to Carl Smith. She died on 24 February 2005 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Eddie Hill was born on 21 July 1921 in Delano, Tennessee, USA. He was an actor, known for The Gold Guitar (1966), Forty Acre Feud (1965) and Grand Ole Opry (1953). He died on 18 January 1994 in Tennessee, USA.
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Johnny Horton was born in Los Angeles, but at an early age he moved with his sharecropping parents to Tyler, Texas, where he grew up. Fishing was an early interest in life and he traveled to Alaska to seek employment in this capacity, but after returning to Texas he took up singing. His singing career began in 1950 in Pasadena, California, on radio station KXLA. He later became a regular on "Hometown Jamboree" with Cliffie Stone, on which he was billed as "The Singing Fisherman". In 1951 he made his first recording.
In 1953 he married the widow of Hank Williams, and she took an interest in furthering his career. He became a regular on the radio show "Louisiana Hayride" in 1955 and soon after made an appearance on "Grand Ole Opry". His first hit, "Honky Tonk Man", came in 1956 and was soon followed by "When It's Springtime in Alaska", "The Battle of New Orleans", "Johnny Reb" and "Sink the Bismarck".
In 1960 he recorded "North to Alaska" for the motion picture of the same name (North to Alaska (1960)) starring John Wayne and Stewart Granger. At this point in his career he decided to add acting to his accomplishments and planned on beginning a movie career, but this was not to be. On a foggy night in November of 1960, he was returning from a concert with his manager, Tillman B. Franks, and his bass player, Tommy Tomlinson, when tragedy struck. A car driven by a drunk driver came out of the fog and collided with Johnny's car head on. Horton was killed instantly.- Actor
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David Houston was born on 9 December 1938 in Bossier City, Louisiana, USA. He was an actor, known for Carnival Rock (1957), Teenage Thunder (1957) and Cottonpickin' Chickenpickers (1967). He died on 30 November 1993 in Bossier City, Louisiana, USA.- Randy Howard was born on 9 May 1950 in Macon, Georgia, USA. He was an actor, known for The Black Shoe Drifter (2004). He died on 9 June 2015 in Lynchburg, Tennessee, USA.
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Ferlin Husky was born on 3 December 1925 in Cantwell, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for Hillbillys in a Haunted House (1967), The Devil All the Time (2020) and Las Vegas Hillbillys (1966). He died on 17 March 2011 in Westmoreland, Tennessee, USA.- Soundtrack
Autry Inman was born on 6 January 1929 in Florence, Alabama, USA. He died on 6 September 1988 in Hendersonville, Tennessee, USA.- Tommy Jackson was born on 31 March 1926 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. He died on 9 December 1979 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
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Sonny James was born on 1 May 1928 in Hackleburg, Alabama, USA. He was an actor, known for The Devil All the Time (2020), Kleptomania (1993) and Young Ones (2014). He was married to Doris Shrode. He died on 22 February 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Music Artist
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Jennings, a singer, songwriter and guitarist, recorded 60 albums and had 16 No. 1 country singles in a career that spanned five decades. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in October 2001. With pal Willie Nelson, Jennings performed duets like "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys", "Luckenbach" and "Good Hearted Woman". Those 1970s songs nurtured a progressive sound and restless spirit embraced later by Travis Tritt, Charlie Daniels, Steve Earle and others. His resonant, authoritative voice also was used to narrate the popular TV show The Dukes of Hazzard (1979). He sang its theme song, which was a million seller. "I aimed the narration at children and it made it work," he said in a 1987 AP interview. He traditionally wore a black cowboy hat and ebony attire that accented his black beard and mustache. Often reclusive when not on stage, he played earthy music with a spirited, hard edge. Combined, Jennings had a well-defined image that matched well with his history of battling record producers to do music his way. About his independence, he said: "There's always one more way to do something-- your way." Some of his album titles nourished his brash persona: "Lonesome, On'ry and Mean," "I've Always Been Crazy," "Nashville Rebel," "Ladies Love Outlaws" and "Wanted: The Outlaws." He often refused to attend music awards shows on grounds performers should not compete against each other. Despite those sentiments, Jennings won two Grammy awards and four Country Music Association awards. He did not attend his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame last year. In 1959, his career was nearly cut short by tragedy. He was scheduled to fly on the light plane that crashed and killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper. Jennings gave up his seat on the plane to The Big Bopper, who was ill and wanted to fly rather than travel by bus with those left behind. He and Holly were teen-age friends in Lubbock, Texas, and Jennings was in Holly's band. "Mainly what I learned from Buddy was an attitude," Jennings said. "He loved music, and he taught me that it shouldn't have any barriers to it." Born in Littlefield, Texas, Jennings became a radio disc jockey at 14 and formed his own band not long afterward. By the early 1960s Jennings was playing regularly at a nightclub in Phoenix. In 1963, he was signed by 'Herb Alpert''s A&M Records, then was signed by RCA in Nashville shortly thereafter by Chet Atkins. Once in Nashville, he and Cash became friends and roommates. His hit records began in the mid-1960s and his heyday was the mid-1970s. About his outlaw image, he said: "It was a good marketing tool. In a way, I am that way. You start messing with my music, I get mean. As long was you are honest and up front with me, I will be the same with you. But I still do things my way."- Music Department
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Singer/songwriter Sammy Johns was born February 7, 1946, in Charlotte, North Carolina. He received his first guitar as a present from his father at age nine. He started his own band, called The Devilles, while still in his teens. The Devilles lasted from 1963 to 1973, performed at various local clubs and recorded a few singles on the Dixie label.
In 1973 Sammy secured a record deal with the General Recording Corporation, which released his debut album "Early Morning Love" in 1974. The titular track was a minor Billboard chart hit. He scored his biggest success with the single "Chevy Van." The extremely groovy and mellow tune peaked at #5 on the Billboard pop charts and sold over three million copies. The success of "Chevy Van" inspired the enjoyably low-brow Crown International teen exploitation comedy romp The Van (1977); Sammy co-composed the score for this movie and his signature number "Chevy Van" was prominently featured on the soundtrack ("Chevy Van" was also featured on the soundtrack to the 2004 film Starsky & Hutch (2004)). Alas, his follow-up single, "Rag Doll", was only a modest success. However, Johns went on to become a successful songwriter whose compositions were covered by several popular country singers. John Ellison Conlee had a gold record with his rendition of Sammy's "Common Man" and Conway Twitty scored his final gold record with "Desperado Love." Waylon Jennings sang Johns' "America" in a 1985 national television broadcast celebrating the restoration of the Statue of Liberty. The single for "America" subsequently went gold and was nominated in some country music circles for song of the year. In 1996 Sammy Kershaw did a cover of "Chevy Van" on his album "Politics, Religion, and Her." Johns recorded the comeback album "Honky-Tonk Moon" in 2000.
Johns died on January 4, 2013, at age 66 at Gaston Memorial Hospital in Gastonia, North Carolina.- Music Artist
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George Jones was born on 12 September 1931 in Saratoga, Texas, USA. He was a music artist and actor, known for Ad Astra (2019), Only the Brave (2017) and Crazy Heart (2009). He was married to Nancy Sepulveda, Tammy Wynette, Shirley Ann Corley and Dorothy Bonvillion. He died on 26 April 2013 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Soundtrack
Helen Carter was born on 12 September 1927 in Maces Springs, Scott County, Virginia, USA. She died on 2 June 1998 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Actor
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Grandpa Jones was born on 20 October 1913 in Niagara, Kentucky, USA. He was an actor, known for The Marty Stuart Show (2008), Hee Haw (1969) and Country Boy (1966). He was married to Ramona Jones and Eulalia Marie Losher. He died on 19 February 1998 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Actor
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Merle Kilgore was born on 9 August 1934 in Chickasha, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for Man of Steel (2013), Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021) and Power Rangers (2017). He died on 6 February 2005 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Actor
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Claude King was born on 5 February 1923 in Keithville, Louisiana, USA. He was an actor, known for Seven Psychopaths (2012), The Year of the Yahoo! (1971) and Volunteers (1985). He died on 7 March 2013 in Shreveport, Louisiana, USA.- Actor
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Beecher Kirby was born on 26 December 1911 in Sevierville, Tennessee, USA. He was an actor, known for Hi, Neighbor (1942), Smoky Mountain Melody (1948) and The Porter Wagoner Show (1961). He died on 17 October 2002 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Actress
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Nicolette Larson was born on 17 July 1952 in Helena, Montana, USA. She was an actress, known for Twins (1988), They Call Me Renegade (1987) and The Personals (1982). She was married to Russ Kunkel. She died on 16 December 1997 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
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Neil Levang was born on 28 January 1932 in Adams, North Dakota, USA. He was an actor, known for Rio Grande (1949), The Lawrence Welk Show (1955) and Lawrence Welk's Christmas Reunion (1985). He was married to Nancy Reynoso and Marian Irene Elder. He died on 26 January 2015 in Canyon Country, California, USA.- Actor
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Hank Locklin was born on 15 February 1918 in McLellan, Florida, USA. He was an actor, known for Vice (2018), A Perfect World (1993) and Young Ones (2014). He was married to Anita Crooks and Willa Jean Murphy. He died on 8 March 2009 in Brewton, Alabama, USA.- Music Department
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Larrie Londin was born on 15 October 1943 in Norfolk, Virginia, USA. He is known for Tequila Sunrise (1988), Elephant Parts (1981) and Cinemax Sessions (1986). He died on 24 August 1992 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Actor
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Uncle Dave Macon was born on 7 October 1870 in Smartt, Tennessee, USA. He was an actor, known for The Marty Stuart Show (2008), Grand Ole Opry (1940) and All You Need Is Love (1977). He was married to Matilda Richardson. He died on 22 March 1952 in Readyville, Tennessee, USA.- Actress
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Mindy McCready was born on 30 November 1975 in Fort Meyers, Florida, USA. She was an actress, known for Switchback (1997) and Mindy McCready: Ten Thousand Angels (1996). She died on 17 February 2013 in Heber Springs, Arkansas, USA.- Soundtrack
Country singer Mel McDaniel was born on September 6, 1942 in Checotah, Oklahoma. His father was a truck driver. McDaniel grew up in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. Mel was inspired to play music after he saw Elvis Presley on television. McDaniel learned how to play the trumpet in fourth grade and subsequently learned how to play the guitar. At age fourteen Mel taught himself the guitar chords to "Frankie and Johnny" and performed in a high school talent contest. He made his professional debut at age fifteen performing in a talent contest at Okmulgee High School. Moreover, McDaniel played in several local bands while in high school and began working as a musician at clubs in Tulsa, Oklahoma following graduation from high school. While in Tulsa Mel recorded several singles as well.
McDaniel began performing in Tulsa clubs after marrying his high school sweetheart. He then made an unsuccessful trip to Nashville, Tennessee and had a brief stint performing in the oil fields in Anchorage, Alaska. He eventually returned to Nashville and secured himself a job as a demo singer and songwriter for Combine Music. In 1976 he signed up with the label Capitol Records and released his first single "Have a Dream on Me." Mel's career really took off in 1981 with the rousing hit song "Louisiana Saturday Night." He had his only #1 country hit with the catchy "Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On" in 1985. McDaniel's other notable country hits from the 1980's are "Right in the Palm of Your Hand," "Take Me to the Country," "Big Ole Brew," "I Call It Love," "Stand on It," and "Real Good Feel Good Song."
A member of the Grand Ole Opry since January 11, 1986, McDaniel made frequent appearances on the show. Mel was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2006. Diagnosed with lung cancer in February, 2011, he died at his home from the disease at age 68 on March 31, 2011.- Actor
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Roger Miller was born on 2 January 1936 in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Robin Hood (1973), Superman III (1983) and Into the Wild (2007). He was married to Mary Miller, Leah Kendrick and Barbara Louise Crow. He died on 25 October 1992 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
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Born in Rosine Kentucky, he was the youngest of eight children. Orphaned at age 11 he was raised by his uncle, fiddler Pendleton Vandiver. Learning the fiddle from his mother and taught further by his uncle, at an early age he began playing dances with uncle and brothers. Besides his uncle (whom he immortalized in the song "Unlce Pen") his musical inspiration was Arnold Schultz, a black guitarist from whom he learned the blues. By the early 1930s he and his brother Charlie had a successful duo, cutting their first record in 1936, but in 1938 they broke up. In the late 1930s, the first person to make the mandolin a lead instrument in country music, he developed the style that became bluegrass. In has debut at the Grand Old Opry in 1939 he performed a version of 'Rodgers, Jimmy (II)' tune "Muleskinner Blues" - this is generally considered the first true bluegrass tune. In the classic band The Bluegrass Boys in the late 1940s he set an instrumental standard for bluegrass that still stands. In later years, with the explosion of interest in bluegrass on college campuses, he began an expanded career with festival appearances. In 1981, battling colon cancer, he wrote and recorded "My Last Days on Earth" - those last days lasted another 15 years.- Soundtrack
George Morgan was born on 28 May 1924 in Waverly, Tennessee, USA. He died on 7 July 1975 in the USA.- Daron Norwood was born on 30 September 1965 in Tahoka, Texas, USA. He was married to Suella McCarty, Kimberly Cawthon, Karen Ruddle and Brenda Chapa. He died on 22 July 2015 in Hereford, Texas, USA.
- Tommy Overstreet was born on 10 September 1937 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA. He was married to Diane. He died on 2 November 2015 in Hillsboro, Oregon, USA.
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Bonnie Owens was born on 1 October 1932 in Blanchard, Oklahoma, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for From Nashville with Music (1969), Killers Three (1968) and The Sapphires (2012). She was married to Fred D. McMillen, Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. She died on 24 April 2006 in Bakersfield, California, USA.- Actor
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Buck Owens is a true legend in country music. Along with fellow performers Merle Haggard and Wynn Stewart, Buck helped popularize the Bakersfield Sound, or honky-tonk infused with electric instrumentation and rock influences. Growing up in Arizona, Buck picked cotton and learned to play the mandolin, the guitar and horns. He had his first radio program at age 16 and a year later, worked with the Mac's Skillet Lickers, whose lead singer was Bonnie Campbell. Bonnie soon became the first Mrs. Buck Owens; together, they had a son, Buddy. Buck and his young family moved to Bakersfield, California, in the early 1950s, where he worked as a session guitarist and played for a band called the Orange Blossom Playboys. After a few years of recording rockabilly songs (as "Corky Jones"), Buck signed a contract with Capitol Records in 1957. His first recordings floundered, and it wasn't until the spring of 1959 when he hit with "Second Fiddle." That song only reached No. 24 on Billboard magazine's country singles chart, but it was the follow-up, "Under Your Spell Again" (which reached No. 4 in the fall of 1959) that Buck's future in country music was assured--and was it ever. After several top-five songs that flirted with the No. 1 spot (among them, "Above and Beyond," "Under the Influence of Love" and "Foolin' Around"), he finally hit the top of the charts in June 1963 with "Act Naturally." That song's four-week stay at No. 1 paled in comparison, though, to his incredible 16-week stay that fall with "Love's Gonna Live Here." Eighteen more No. 1 hits, all in the Bakersfield tradition, followed during the next nine years. Many of them featured Buck's chief guitarist, right-hand man and close confidant, Don Rich. Together, Owens and Rich (the leader of Buck's backing band, the Buckaroos) polished their sound, which graced AM radio throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. Buck parlayed his popularity on two country music TV shows: the syndicated "Buck Owens Ranch Show" and CBS' (and later syndicated) Hee Haw (1969). Through it all, he was an astute businessman, keeping control of his publishing rights and master tapes, purchasing several radio stations and forming a booking agency among them. He also recorded a live album in 1969 in London. Then, in 1974, Rich was killed in a motorcycle accident and Buck's life faltered. He recorded for Warner Bros. for a time in the mid- to late-1970s, but only one song, 1979's "Play Together Again, Again" (a duet with Emmylou Harris) was a substantial hit. Then, in 1988, he found renewed popularity when new country star Dwight Yoakam (whose own Bakersfield Sound was strongly influenced by Owens) asked him to duet on "Streets of Bakersfield," which soared to No. 1. He still performs occasional shows at his Crystal Palace, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1996. Buck Owens remains one of country music's most respected (if not underrated) legends.- Actor
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To many of his fans, country music singer Johnny PayCheck was the epitome of the hell-raising outlaw singer. He was known as much for his string of classic country hits as he was for his scrapes with the law. Born Donald Eugene Lytle on May 31, 1938, in Greenfield, Ohio, PayCheck began his career playing in backing bands for George Jones, Ray Price, Porter Wagoner, Faron Young. He also proved himself to be an adept songwriter, writing Tammy Wynette's debut hit, 1966's "Apartment No. 9." PayCheck broke onto the country music charts in 1965 with his first bonafide "A-11." But it wasn't until 1971 that he truly arrived on the scene with "She's All I Got", which peaked at No. 2 that December on Billboard magazine's country singles chart. His follow-up, the raw, soulful "Someone to Give My Love To" from the spring of 1972, also made the top five. Other hits followed, including "Mr. Lovemaker" (1973), "Song and Dance Man" (1974), and 1977's "Slide off Your Satin Sheets" and "I'm the Only Hell (Mama Ever Raised)." But it was his blue-collar anthem, "Take This Job and Shove It", that made Johnny a hero to the working class. "Take This Job and Shove It" was PayCheck's only No. 1 hit on Billboard's country singles chart, spending two weeks there in January 1978; the song also inspired a hit movie of the same name.
Unfortunately, PayCheck was just as well known in the court system, but not as a singer. Among his troubles with the law: He spent time in a military prison in the 1950s for assaulting an officer; and in 1989, was sentenced to prison (he served two years) in connection with a shooting of a man during a barroom quarrel in Ohio.
But to his fans and a legion of younger country singers, Johnny PayCheck will always be known as the epitome of the outlaw country singer who gave the genre some of its best-loved hits and lived life on his own terms.- Actor
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Jody Payne was born on 11 January 1936 in Gerrard County, Kentucky, USA. He was an actor, known for Honeysuckle Rose (1980), Red Headed Stranger (1986) and Monk (2002). He was married to Vicky and Sammi Smith. He died on 10 August 2013 in Stapleton, Alabama, USA.- Actress
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Sarah Colley studied dramatics in Belmont College in Nashville, intending to be a serious actress, but while touring with an Atlanta company, she created the Minnie Pearl character that became her life's work. Her first Grand Old Opry appearance was on the radio show in 1940, followed by 27 years of touring. She was diagnosed with cancer in 1985, and recovered after a double mastectomy. A mild stroke in June 1991 forced her to give up performing.- Luther Perkins was born on 8 January 1928 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. He was an actor, known for The Exotic Ones (1968), Town Hall Party (1952) and Country Style, U.S.A. (1957). He was married to Bertie and Margie Higgins. He died on 5 August 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
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Ben Peters was born on 20 June 1933 in Hollandale, Mississippi, USA. Ben was a composer, known for The Cannonball Run (1981), Breakdown (1997) and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005). Ben died on 25 May 2005 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Actor
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Webb Pierce was born on 8 August 1921 in West Monroe, Louisiana, USA. He was an actor, known for Ad Astra (2019), Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021) and The Help (2011). He died on 24 February 1991 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Actor
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Kenny Price was born on 27 May 1931 in Florence, Kentucky, USA. He was an actor, known for Cold Justice (1991), Hee Haw Honeys (1978) and The Love Boat (1977). He died on 3 August 1987.