Today in 1978, Merle Haggard married fellow country singer, Leona Williams. They wed following his divorce earlier in the year from country singer Bonnie Owens.
Here they are in the mid-1970s, with a song written by Williams for Connie Smith, entitled “Dallas”.
Gwen Stefani turned the big 5-0 yesterday, and her man Blake Shelton took to social media with a sweet message for her big day.
“Happy Birthday @gwenstefani !!!! I love you so much it’s actually stupid…,” he tweeted. “And possibly illegal in the state of California.”
But Blake will be celebrating Gwen with more than just a tweet. “Entertainment Tonight” reports that Blake has taken her away for the big birthday, noting he “wants to make her feel special.” The source adds he’s also planning a Halloween-themed party for her birthday.
“Gwen is turning 50 and she’s over the moon about it. She feels confident in her age and she is completely in love,” the insider notes. “Blake wants to make her feel special. He’s planning a big party for her, he is going all out! It’s a costume party. Gwen is a huge costume lover. She has always loved dressing up for Halloween.”
Today in 1975, Willie Nelson picked up his first #1 single as an artist on the Billboard country chart with “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain.”
Written by songwriter Fred Rose and originally performed by Roy Acuff, the song has been covered by many artists, including Hank Williams Sr., Johnny Russell, and Charley Pride. Most notably, the song was recorded by Willie Nelson as part of his 1975 album Red Headed Stranger. Both the song and album would become iconic in country music history, and jump start Nelson’s success as a singer and recording artist.
Source: Wikipedia
A new documentary, The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash, is set to premiere on November 11 on YouTube.
A trailer for the 90-minute doc, directed by recently Emmy-winning filmmaker Thom Zimny, dropped on Tuesday. Zimny is known for directing Elvis Presley: The Searcher and Springsteen on Broadway.
The documentary features interviews with family members as well as several of Johnny Cash’s musical collaborators and friends, including fellow Country Music Hall of Fame member Emmylou Harris.
“He had a message and his message was the truth about being alive in this world,” Harris says about Cash.
The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash had premiered at the SXSW Film Festival and recently screened at the Telluride Film Festival.
The movie will also be screened at the 50th Annual Nashville Film Festival on Monday, October 7.
Source: RTT News
Today in 1995, Alison Krauss went home four with trophies from the 29th annual Country Music Association awards, aired on CBS from Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House: Female Vocalist of the Year; the Horizon Award; Vocal Event; and Single, for “When You Say Nothing At All.”
Yesterday marked two years since the Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting, which left 58 people dead and more than 400 people wounded, and Jason Aldean, who was on stage when the shooting started, took to Instagram to remember the victims of the tragedy.
“This will always be a tough day for us,” he shared. “Not a day goes by that we don’t think about our @route91harvest family.”
Jason wasn’t the only artist to take to social media to remember the lives lost. Many other artists took to social media to honor the lives of those affected by the tragedy.
Today in 1985, the film, “Sweet Dreams,” starring Jessica Lange as Patsy Cline, opened in theaters nationwide.
The film was written by Robert Getchell and directed by Karel Reisz. It stars Jessica Lange, Ed Harris, Ann Wedgeworth, David Clennon, James Staley, Gary Basaraba, John Goodman, and P. J. Soles.
The film was nominated for Academy Award for Best Actress (Jessica Lange). For all the musical sequences, Lange lip-synced to the original Patsy Cline recordings. The soundtrack of the same name was released in September 1985. This film has developed a cult following based on Lange’s acclaimed performance.
Source: Wikipedia
Garth Brooks was back with another edition of “Inside Studio G” and opened with the trailer for his upcoming A&E biography, “Garth Brooks: The Road I’m On,” which kicks off November 24th at 9 pm. The biography will air over two nights, with Garth teasing that there will also be a third night of Garth programming, representing “the coolest moment in our history.”
As for what fans can expect from the biography, Garth notes “just be ready,” admitting he’s been “very open and honest” in the special, and noting it’s really all about the fans, which is what makes a Garth Brooks concert special. He also revealed that his daughters will be featured in the biography, one of the first times they’ve been on camera talking about their dad.
Garth also took time out to talk about the late songwriter Busbee, who he worked with on the song “People Loving People.” Garth called him a “great writer, great producer,” as well as a “lovely spirit and lovely being.”
Garth also revealed his next Dive Bar show will be in Florida, with the venue and date being revealed today after 3 pm, Iowa time.
Today in 1969, Loretta Lynn recorded her signature song, “Coal Miner’s Daughter.”
Released in 1970, the song became Lynn’s signature song, one of the genre’s most widely known songs, and provided the basis for both her autobiography and a movie on her life.
“Coal Miner’s Daughter” tells the true story of Lynn’s life growing up in rural Kentucky “in a cabin on a hill in Butcher Holler”, while her father, Melvin “Ted” Webb, worked all night in the Van Lear coal mine. The song additionally discusses how she and her seven siblings lived off of a coal miner’s salary (“Daddy loved and raised eight kids on a miner’s pay”), and that her father always made sure there was love in the Webb household.
Subsequent verses recall Lynn’s other childhood experiences and hardships, such as her mother reading the Bible by a coal-oil light or having bloody fingers from constantly doing the laundry using an abrasive “warsh” board (this pronunciation was reflective of her Appalachian Kentucky roots), ordering shoes from a mail-order catalog, and working so hard every day that everyone slept because “they were tired.”
In the song’s final verse, the now-adult Lynn returns to her homestead, which has since been abandoned (“Not much left but the floor; nothing lives here anymore …”). However, she remarks that the “memories of a coal miner’s daughter” remain.
“Coal Miner’s Daughter” was unlike anything Lynn had ever recorded previously. She had become known for her sassy back-talking songs, including “Don’t Come Home A’ Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind)” (an angry-wife’s warning to a hard-drinking husband not to come home drunk and intent on making love) and “Fist City” (wherein a married woman threatens her husband’s would-be temptress). However, fans quickly reacted to the song with praise and turned the song into one of country music’s iconic hits.
In addition to reaching No. 1 on the Country charts, “Coal Miner’s Daughter” also was Lynn’s first single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 83.
Source: Wikipedia
Just one week after Zac Brown Band released the new album “The Owl,” frontman Zac Brown surprised fans with a solo record, and it may turn off some of his country devotees.
Zac released “The Controversy” Friday, describing the record as “his first pop solo album,” featuring collaborations with pop and EDM artists like Max Martin, Shroom, Benny Blanco, Jason “Poo Bear” Boyd and Sasha Sirota.
One of those songs is a tune about ghosting in a relationship called “Swayze,” as in Patrick Swayze.
The Zac Brown Band’s latest release, “The Owl” debuts at number two this week on the all-genre Billboard 200 Album chart. The band moved 106,000 equivalent album units, 99,00 in traditional album sales, to debut at two making it their sixth Top Ten album.
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