10/10/2025
ON THIS DAY IN COUNTRY MUSIC HISTORY
Here are several days in history scraped up off the Internet.
1936: Hank Snow held his first recording session, upstairs in a vacant church in Montreal. The two songs he recorded that day were “Prisoned Cowboy” and “Lonesome Blue Yodel”. His first royalty check: $1.96.
1946: John Prine was born in Maywood, IL. The singer-songwriter was known for an often humorous style of original music that blended elements of protest and social commentary. He released his debut album in 1971, putting out 18 more in all. While wider mainstream success eluded him for years, he earned a sizeable following. Bob Dylan said in 2009, “Prine’s stuff is pure Proustian existentialism. Midwestern mind trips to the nth degree. And he writes beautiful songs.” On April 7, 2020, within days of contracting COVID-19, Prine became one of the pandemic's first celebrity casualties. He was 73 years old.
1947: Hank Thompson recorded "Humpty Dumpty Heart" at radio station WFAA in Dallas, during his first session for Capitol Records.
1952: Marty Robbins’ first single, “I’ll Go On Alone”, was released.
1957: Singer-songwriter Tony Arata was born in Savannah, Ga. His songs have been recorded by Garth Brooks ("The Dance"), Patty Loveless, Trisha Yearwood, Jim Glaser, and Reba McEntire, among others.
1958: Tanya Tucker was born in Seminole, TX. She debuted in 1972 with the song “Delta Dawn” at the tender age of 13. Since then, dozens of albums and hits have followed, along with numerous awards.
1969: Merle Haggard recorded his live album, Okie from Muskogee, in an appropriate location: Muskogee, Oklahoma.
Another Merle moment on this day in history…
In 1970, the Hag was at top of the country album chart with The Fightin' Side of Me, on which the title track became a No. 1 hit.
Also on this day 55 years ago….
Johnny Cash’s “Sunday Morning Coming Down”, written by Kris Kristofferson, charted at No. 1.
1977: Merle Travis was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Also on this day 48 years ago....
Johnny Cash hosted the 11th Annual CMA Awards show at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. Winners included Crystal Gayle, Kenny Rogers, and Ronnie Milsap.
1983: Winners at that year's CMA Awards, hosted by Willie Nelson and Anne Murray, included Lee Greenwood, Janie Frickie, and John Anderson.
1986: Randy Travis received a gold record award for his debut album Storms of Life, as did The Bellamy Brothers for their Greatest Hits.
1988: Among the big winners at the CMA Awards (hosted by Dolly Parton) were Hank Williams, Kathy Mattea, and K.T. Oslin.
1992: Garth Brooks' The Chase debuted at No. 1 on the country album chart and stayed there for 16 weeks.
1995: Lonestar released their self-titled debut album.
1997: LeAnn Rimes' You Light Up My Life: Inspirational Songs was certified gold, platinum and double-platinum by the RIAA.
1998: Alabama hosted their first pay-per-view TV special, Alabama For the Record, via the Las Vegas Hilton.
2012: ABC-TV premiered Nashville. The series starred Connie Britton as Rayna Jaymes, a legendary country music superstar whose stardom begins fading, and Hayden Panettiere as rising teen star Juliette Barnes.
2013: Cal Smith died at the age of 81. He is best known for his 1974 hit "Country Bumpkin", which received Song of the Year Awards from both the ACM and CMA. Prior to his solo career, Smith was a member of Ernest Tubb’s Texas Troubadours.
2014: Taylor Swift was named Billboard's Woman of the Year, the first person to receive that honor twice.
2020: Carrie Underwood was at #1 on the country album chart with her seventh release and first Christmas album, My Gift, making her the first artist to place eight consecutive #1 albums on the Top Country Albums chart.
2021: Mitchell Tenpenny headlined the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville for the very first time.
2022: Anita Kerr, the renowned vocal arranger, passed away just three days short of her 95th birthday.
