08/16/2025
ON THIS DAY IN COUNTRY MUSIC HISTORY: WEEKEND EDITION
1939: Billy Joe Shaver was born in Corsicana, TX. His 1973 album Old Five and Dimers Like Me is considered a classic in the outlaw country genre. The album's lead-off single, "I've Been to Georgia (on a Fast Train)", hit No. 88 on the country charts; Shaver recorded a remake of it in 1993. His 2007 album, the gospel-oriented Everybody's Brother, received a Grammy nomination. He succumbed to a massive stroke on October 28, 2020, at the age of 81. Shaver's death came two weeks after two other major figures in the outlaw country movement, Johnny Bush and Jerry Jeff Walker.
Also born on this day 86 years ago....
Eric Weissberg, in Brooklyn. He is best known for recording "Dueling Banjos", originally recorded by Arthur Smith in the 1950s (as "Feudin' Banjos"), and most famously used in the soundtrack to the movie Deliverance. Weissberg's version hit No. 2 on both the American and Canadian charts, but resulted in a lawsuit filed against him and the film's producers by Smith, who alleged that producers used his song without his involvement or his permission. Weissberg died on March 22, 2020, at the age of 80.
1961: Patsy Cline recorded her signature song “Crazy”, written by Willie Nelson, which soon become a No. 2 chart hit. Nelson originally wrote the song for Billy Walker, who turned it down. The song's eventual success helped launch Nelson as a performer as well as a songwriter.
1969: Merle Haggard’s “Workin’ Man Blues” was at No. 1 on the country charts.
Also on this day 56 years ago….
The guests on this week’s Johnny Cash Show: Melanie, Kenny Rogers and The First Edition, and Grandpa Jones.
1972: Emily Robison, one third of the Dixie Chicks (now Dixie-less), was born in Pittsfield, Mass.
1976: Dolly Parton released her 17th solo album, All I Can Do, which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot Country Albums chart.
1977: America and the rest of the world were in a deep state of shock when Elvis Presley, at just 42 years old, was found dead on the floor of his bathroom. He had been seated on the toilet reading The Scientific Search for Jesus. The cause of death: cardiac arrhythmia. Although Presley is considered a leading figure in the early days of rock and roll, the beginning and end of his career are grounded in country music. Known worldwide for his vocal style, sideburns, jumpsuits, and body gyrations, he sold more than one billion records.
1986: Ashton Shepherd was born in Coffeeville, Al. Her 2008 debut album, Sounds So Good, produced 2 top 40 hits on the Hot Country Songs chart: "Takin' Off This Pain" and the title track. In 2009, she joined Cledus T. Judd for “Polyrically Uncorrect”, a takeoff of the Gretchen Wilson-Merle Haggard duet “Politically Uncorrect”.
1990: Dottie West filed for bankruptcy reorganization, citing $1 million in debts. Documents filed in court showed the singer’s biggest debt was a $703,090 home loan from First American Bank. The bank had recently foreclosed on the singer’s house and she was ordered to vacate the property. In an interview with The Tennessean newspaper, West said she was doing fine, although her financial problems had not been easy. “I’m a survivor. You can knock me down, but you better have a big rock to keep me there,” she said.
2005: Vassar Clements died at the age of 77. The fiddle virtuoso's career spanned several genres, including bluegrass, country, and swing music. He was posthumously inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2018.
2017: Music executive Jo Walker-Meador passed away at the age of 93. She was the CMA’s executive director from 1962 to 1991, and was responsible for the creation of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
