This day in 1986, after 28 years with Columbia Records, country legend Johnny Cash was dropped from the label. Here’s the kicker – he learned about his contract’s cancellation in the newspapers.

Columbia first signed Johnny Cash in 1960, using a lucrative contract to lure him away from Sun Records, his first label and also the early home of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. Cash’s first Columbia single, “All Over Again,” made the country Top 5, and his second, “Don’t Take Your Guns To Town” made it all the way to #1, while also crossing over to the pop Top 40. But the biggest hits of Cash’s career were yet to come, including an incredible eight #1 albums in an eight-year span: Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash (1963); I Walk The Line (1964); Johnny Cash’s Greatest Hits (1967); At Folsom Prison (1968); At San Quentin (1969); Hello, I’m Johnny Cash (1970); The Johnny Cash Show (1970); and Man In Black (1971). During this period, Johnny Cash established himself as a titanic figure in American popular culture while selling millions upon millions of records for Columbia, but by the mid-1980s, fashions in country music had shifted dramatically away from his old-school style, and the hits stopped coming.

In 1986, having also recently dropped jazz legend Miles Davis from its roster of artists, Columbia chose to end its no-longer-profitable relationship with Johnny Cash. Cash did not remain professionally adrift for long, however, releasing four original albums and numerous re-recordings of earlier material over the next seven years on Mercury Records. But it was not until 1994 that Cash truly found his creative bearings again. That was the year that he released the album American Recordings, the first in a series of albums on the label of the same name headed by Rick Rubin, the original producer of the Beastie Boys and the co-founder, with Russell Simmons, of Def Jam Records.

Under Rubin’s influence, Cash moved to a raw, stripped-down sound that proved to be enormously successful with critics, with country traditionalists and with hipster newcomers to country music.

Johnny Cash went on to have two more massively successful solo albums with American Recordings prior to his death in 2003. Ironically, Rick Rubin went on to become co-head of Columbia Records in 2007, a position he left in 2012.

Source: History.com

This day in 2000: Brad Paisley was performing at the West Virginia Interstate Fair and Exposition when he got the surprise of a lifetime. Gov. Cecil H. Underwood showed up to hear Brad’s music and to present him with the “Distinguished West Virginian Award.” The honor is presented to native West Virginians who have shown a lifetime commitment to community service and excellence in their respective career fields. Past award recipients include Kathy Mattea and astronaut John McBride. This date was also dubbed “Brad Paisley Day” in his home state.

This day in in 1983, Alabama hit #1 with “The Closer You Get.”

“The Closer You Get” was written in 1980 by J.P. Pennington and Mark Gray, members of Exile. However, the song was not immediately recorded by Alabama. Two earlier versions were released as singles – the first by Exile (which failed to gain much attention) and singer Don King, whose version reached No. 27 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in October 1981. In addition, Rita Coolidge recorded the song for her 1981 album, Heartbreak Radio, and released her version as a single.

Alabama’s version differed substantially from King’s acoustic version. According to country music writer Tom Roland, the song featured “distorted guitars, a more elaborate arrangement and an altered vocal sound.”

The end result was Alabama’s 10th No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. In addition, “The Closer You Get” registered enough airplay on Top 40 radio stations to peak at No. 38 on the Billboard Hot 100.

A music video was filmed for the song, and has aired on CMT and Great American Country.

This day in 2005, the movie “Wedding Crashers,” starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, debuted in theaters. Dwight Yoakam was featured in the opening scene being chewed out by an ex as a “hillbilly” in a divorce negotiation.

This day in 1972, Tom T. Hall records “(Old Dogs, Children And) Watermelon Wine” around noon at Mercury Custom Recording Studio in Nashville.

The song was Hall’s third number one on the U.S. country singles chart. “(Old Dogs, Children And) Watermelon Wine” spent one week at the top and a total of thirteen weeks on the chart. On June 1, 2014, Rolling Stone ranked it at #93 in their list of the 100 greatest country songs.

The song is a true account of Hall’s experience at the 1972 Democratic National Convention, where he had a conversation with a janitor at a Miami Beach hotel. The janitor appraises his own life by concluding that the only worthwhile things are the three listed in the song’s title.