Today in 2002, Brad Paisley’s CMT-sponsored show at Los Angeles’ Universal Amphitheatre ended with a huge jam. “According To Jim” star Jim Belushi sang “The House Is Rockin'” with Paisley and his band, plus Steve Azar, Shannon Lawson and guitarist Albert Lee.
Conway Twitty’s grandson has taken to social media to thank Reba McEntire for an act of kindness she did for his family 26 years ago. Tre Twitty, of the duo Twitty and Lynn (his partner is Loretta Lynn’s granddaughter Tayla), recently met Reba, and in a post on Facebook shared how thoughtful she was to his family just before Conway passed away.
He writes that on June 4th 1993 Conway collapsed on his tour bus and was rushed to the hospital in Springfield, Missouri, with the family told they needed to get their fast because Conway was in “bad shape.” While most of Conway’s family drove from just outside of Nashville, his father Michael called Reba to let her know of Conway’s condition and she offered up her private jet to take him there.
“My dad went and got on Reba’s plane and flew to Springfield. They all got there and got their chances to say their goodbyes before Poppy passed on the morning of June 5th,” he shared. “Later that day they all flew back to Nashville on Reba’s plane, their world forever changed.”
But that’s not even where the story ends. Tre shares that when Michael asked Reba how much they owed her for the plane, she wouldn’t take their money. He writes, “Reba said ‘Your daddy took me on tour and gave me $5,000 a night when I wasn’t worth $500, you don’t owe me anything. I loved him.’”
Finally Tre notes, “Country Music is all about family. Thank you Reba for being there for mine.”
Today in 2001, it was revealed that Dixie Chick Martie Seidel had become Martie Maguire when she married Gareth Maguire on August 10th in a super-secret ceremony in Hawaii. They have since welcomed three daughters: fraternal twins Eva Ruth and Kathleen ‘Katie’ Emilie were born April 27, 2004. Katie was named after Gareth’s late sister, Kathleen. Third daughter Harper Rosie Maguire was born July 25, 2008.
Kelsea Ballerini recently released the new song “Homecoming Queen?” leaving fans anxiously awaiting a new album, and it sounds like they’ll have to wait a little longer.
In an interview with “Music Week,” Kelsea says the record should be out, “Next year, spring,” adding, “We don’t have a date yet.”
So, what should fans expect from the record? Well, Kelsea jokes, “All the things!,” adding, “So far on this record, there’s just a lot going on,” noting, “there’s a lot more country. There’s also a lot more country pop. We have a song with horns, we have a song with a string quartet. We have two collaborations.”
Kelsea says while her last album “Unapologetically” was a “concept record,” she notes, “this is opposite of that. It’s quite liberating – this one’s just like, ‘Here you go, try and figure this out!’”
Today in 1965, the Statler Brothers made their chart debut with “Flowers On The Wall”.
Written and composed by the group’s original tenor, Lew DeWitt, the song peaked in popularity in January 1966, spending four weeks at No. 2 on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart, and reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song was used in the soundtrack to the 1994 film ‘Pulp Fiction’ and as the title theme of the 2001-2002 BBC Radio 4 sitcom ‘Linda Smith’s A Brief History of Timewasting’.
The song won the 1966 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary (R&R) Performance – Group (Vocal or Instrumental).
The Statler Brothers re-recorded the song in 1975 for their first greatest hits album for Mercury Records, The Best of The Statler Brothers. The song is also featured on Nancy Sinatra’s album Boots (1967).
In 2000, Eric Heatherly brought the classic back to life when he released his version of the song.
Bonus trivia: Despite the name, only two members of the group (Don and Harold Reid) are actual brothers and none has the surname of Statler. The band, in fact, named themselves after a brand of facial tissue they had noticed in a hotel room (they joked that they could have turned out to be the Kleenex Brothers).
The ACM recently announced the addition of seven new Artist of the Decade Awards, and now another winner has been revealed, with the ACM naming Chris Stapleton their first-ever Artist-Songwriter of the Decade.
Chris, who has before this had won nine ACM Awards, received his honor during a surprise presentation at the Berry Hill Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. The Artist-Songwriter of the Decade Award “recognizes a songwriter whose creative works and performance have impacted country music over the decade.”
“Had Chris Stapleton not been an artist, his impact on country music as a songwriter would be indelible,” Kelly Rich, ACM Special Awards Committee Co-Chair, shares. “Had he not been a songwriter for himself and others, his influence as a recording artist, performer and vocalist would have been just as undeniable. In combination, however, Chris epitomizes the spirit and intent of this award.”
Today in 1962: Hall of Famers Flatt and Scruggs recorded “The Ballad of Jed Clampett.” It went on to become the theme song of the TV series, “The Beverly Hillbillies.”
The show ran from 1962 to 1971. The show had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor backwoods family from the Ozarks region who move to posh Beverly Hills, California after striking oil on their land. The show was produced by Filmways and was created by writer Paul Henning. It was followed by two other Henning-inspired “country cousin” series on CBS: Petticoat Junction and its spin-off Green Acres, which reversed the rags-to-riches, country-to-city model of The Beverly Hillbillies.
The Beverly Hillbillies ranked among the top 20 most-watched programs on television for eight of its nine seasons, twice ranking as the number one series of the year, with 16 episodes that remain among the 100 most-watched television episodes in history. It accumulated seven Emmy nominations during its run. The series remains in syndicated reruns, and its ongoing popularity spawned a 1993 film remake by 20th Century Fox.
Lady Antebellum fans just got the news they’ve been waiting for. The band announced that their new album, “Ocean,” produced by Dann Huff, is set to drop November 15th.
“There’s this theme of returning to the core of who we are—as writers, vocalists and people—that came out in each of these songs,” Dave Haywood explains. “Our time in the studio with Dann had an excitement that felt like we were making our first album all over again.”
The album features 13 tracks, including the title track, which the band has just released. Hillary Scott says the song has, “such a cinematic and theatrical melody with a message that became the cornerstone of this record for us.” She adds, “’Ocean’ is all of the things that we think and feel when we hear the word. This album is immersed in life stories about barely keeping your head above water all the way to those times that make you feel like everything is smooth sailing.”
Check out the track list below:
“What If I Never Get Over You”
“Pictures”
“Crazy Love”
“You Can Do You”
“What I’m Leaving For”
“Be Patient With My Love”
“Alright”
“Let It Be Love”
“On A Night Like This”
“Boots”
“The Thing That Wrecks You” feat. Little Big Town
“Mansion”
“Ocean”
Today in 2003, Alan Jackson has reclaimed the #1 spot on both the “Radio & Records’” Country Top 50 chart as well as “Billboard’s” Hot Country Singles chart with “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” his duet with Jimmy Buffett. He was also at #1 for a fifth week on “Billboard’s” Top Country Albums chart. And while all this sounds cool, consider that having a #1 song for eight collective weeks also made a little history for Alan and Jimmy. For starters, the song notched the most weeks at #1 for any country track that year. This was also the first time since 1962 that a country duet has logged eight weeks in the top slot – and only the second time since 1964 that any country single has achieved the feat.
Josh Turner’s tour bus was involved in a deadly crash yesterday morning San Luis Obispo County, California., which left one person dead and seven injured.
While Josh wasn’t on the bus, it was carrying members of his road crew, and the news obviously has hit him hard. In fact, following the accident he has now canceled his concert tonight at the Central Washington State Fair in Yakima
“Josh Turner and his road family have suffered a devastating loss,” the singer’s rep said in a statement. “Please keep the crew, band and Josh in your thoughts and prayers.”
The person who died, who has now been identified as David Turner, along with one other person got ejected from the bus when it plunged down an embankment. Two of the injured were airlifted out with major injuries and the other five passengers had moderate injuries and were taken by ambulance to the hospital.
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