Acadiana’s Classic Country Mustang 107.1 is all about playing you the best in classic country hits.
Now, we want to bring you a look back at the biggest moments in country music history that happened this week.
Let’s take a look:
July 14th
1973
Bluegrass/country guitarist Clarence White (of The Byrds) died at 29 after being hit by a drunk driver. He was loading equipment into his car after a gig in Palmdale, California, when he was struck.
1975
Born on this day in Enterprise, Alabama, was Jamey Johnson, country music artist. His second album, That Lonesome Song produced two singles, the Top 10 hit “In Color” and “High Cost of Living.”
1980
The combustible couple Glen Campbell and Tanya Tucker opened the Republican National Convention in Detroit with a duet of the National Anthem. Campbell later admitted they were “higher than the notes we were singing.”
1981
$175,000 worth of sound equipment and instruments was stolen from Merle Haggard prior to a show in Houston. Most of the equipment was recovered the next day when the thief tried to sell it at a local pawn shop.
1990
Garth Brooks was at #1 on the US Country charts with, “The Dance”. The song, written by Brooks’ friend, Tony Arata, was a key track on his self-titled debut album Garth Brooks and is considered by many to be Brooks’ signature song.
1992
Born on this day in Pittsburg, Texas was singer and songwriter Koe Wetzel. ‘High Road’ gave him a #1 County Airplay hit in 2025. The song was taken rom his sixth studio album 9 Lives
2002
Kenny Chesney’s 7th album No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems was at #1 on the Country charts. It produced 5 chart singles between 2002 and 2003: “The Good Stuff” was the biggest hit of Chesney’s career at the time, not only spending seven weeks at the top of the country charts, but also becoming Billboard’s #1 country single of 2002.
July 15th
1948
Born on this day American musician Owen Hale best known for playing drums with Lynyrd Skynyrd as well as a studio drummer in Nashville, TN appearing on many records by Patty Loveless, Doug Stone and Toby Keith among others.
1955
Slim Whitman’s “Rose Marie” became an international smash hit, debuting on the UK charts and quickly rising to #1. The song’s 11-week run in pole position stood as one of the longest runs for many years on the UK charts.
1957
Born on this day in Red Bay, Alabama, was Mac McAnally, country music singer-songwriter, session musician and record producer. His ninth chart entry came in late 2008-early 2009 as a guest vocalist on Kenny Chesney’s #1 cover of his 1990 single “Down the Road”. He is also a member of Jimmy Buffett’s backing band, The Coral Reefer Band.
1967
Born on this day was American country music artist Elbert West. Initially a session songwriter in Nashville, West saw his first chart success in the 1990s as a co-writer on singles for country singer Tracy Lawrence, including the #1’s “Sticks and Stones” and “Can’t Break It to My Heart”. West co-wrote album tracks for other artists, including tracks for Tim McGraw and John Michael Montgomery. West died on May 18, 2015.
2003
Johnny Cash made his first public appearance since the funeral for his wife, June Carter. It also turned out to be his last ever public performance. Along with son John Carter Cash, he performed “Folsom Prison Blues”, “Ring Of Fire”, “Understand Your Man” in Hiltons, Virginia.
July 16th
1982
The American comedy-drama film Six Pack directed by Daniel Petrie and starring Kenny Rogers was released. In the movie Kenny Rogers plays race car driver Brewster Baker. The film grossed over $20 million during its theatrical run.
1984
Alabama released “If You’re Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band)” which went to #1 on the Country charts. The track was the fourteenth in a string of 21 consecutive #1 singles in as many releases, a string that spanned from 1980 through 1987.
1986
Dolly Parton’s Dollywood theme park opened in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Dollywoodhas over 3,000 people on its payroll, making it the largest employer in the community. In addition to standard amusement park thrill rides, Dollywood features traditional crafts and music of the Smoky Mountains area.
1990
Garth Brooks was at #1 on the US Country charts with, “The Dance”. The song, written by Brooks’ friend, Tony Arata, was a key track on his self-titled debut album Garth Brooks and is considered by many to be Brooks’ signature song.
1996
Billy Ray Cyrus’ Some Gave All became the first debut album by a country artist certified for wholesale sales of 9 million copies. The album featured four hit singles on the Billboard country charts, the first of these was Cyrus’s breakthrough song “Achy Breaky Heart”.
2006
Kenny Chesney set a new record for a country show when his concert at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, grossed $4 million. The bill also featured Dierks Bentley, Gretchen Wilson, Big & Rich and Carrie Underwood.
July 17th
1964
Born on this day in Kingston Springs, Tennessee, was Craig Morgan country music singer, songwriter. A veteran of the United States Army, Morgan began his musical career in 2000 releasing his self-titled debut album. In 2005 he scored “That’s What I Love About Sunday,” which spent four weeks at the top of the Billboard country charts.
1972
Born on this day in Wildwood, Florida, was country music singer Elizabeth Cook who released the single “Sometimes It Takes Balls To Be A Woman” which was co-written with Melinda Schneider.
1974
Guitarist and fiddle player Don Rich, a member of Buck Owens’ backing band, The Buckaroos, was killed in a motorcycle accident on State Route 99 north of Bakersfield, California, he was 32. As the bandleader for Buck Owens and the Buckaroos it was the sound of Rich’s Telecaster and his close harmonies with Buck that became the foundation for The Bakersfield Sound.
1975
A Russian language version of Conway Twitty’s 1970 hit, “Hello Darlin'” was broadcast to a worldwide audience as part of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. The song, which in Russian was called “Privet Radost,” was seen as a “gesture of goodwill” from the Apollo crew to the Soviet Union’s Soyuz crew. Twitty had worked with a language professor from the University of Oklahoma to record the phonetic Russian version of the song.
1976
Born on this day, Luke Bryan, country singer, songwriter who began his musical career in the mid-2000s, writing songs for Travis Tritt and Billy Currington. Had the #1 singles “Rain Is a Good Thing” and “Someone Else Calling You Baby”.
2000
Tim McGraw released “My Next Thirty Years” as the fifth single from McGraw’s A Place in the Sun album. The song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks.
July 18th
1954
Born on this day, was Ricky Skaggs, country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer, who was the 1982 Country Music Association singer of the year. He scored the US country #1 single ‘Crying My Heart Out Over You’.
1966
Buck Owens was at #1 on the US Country charts with “Think Of Me.” The singer and songwriter who had 21 #1 hits on the Billboard country music charts with his band the Buckaroos, pioneered what came to be called the Bakersfield sound.
1980
The film Honeysuckle Rose, starring Willie Nelson, opened across America. The plot sees Buck Bonham (Willie Nelson) a country singer, with a good family, struggling to find national fame. He juggles his music career with his responsibilities to his wife and son. He has everything going his way until the daughter of his former guitarist joins his tour. The road leads to temptation, which leads to his downfall.
1982
Willie Nelson was at #1 on the country album chart with Always on My Mind, which became the Billboard #1 country album of the year. The album spent 22 weeks at the top of the charts and stayed for a total of 253 weeks on the Billboard Top Country Albums charts. The title track was originally recorded by Brenda Lee in 1972 and has since been recorded by dozens of performers including Elvis Presley in 1972 and John Wesley Ryles in 1979.
1986
USA Today printed articles concerning Columbia Records’ decision not to renew Johnny Cash’s contract. Cash had released a steady string of hit singles and over 30 albums during his 28 years with the label.
1990
Garth Brooks was at #1 on the Country singles chart with “The Dance.” Written by Tony Arata it is considered by many to be Brooks’ signature song.
Info from This Day In Country Music