April 4th: On this day

1938
Born on this day in Scottsville, Kentucky, was Norro Wilson, country music singer, songwriter and producer. Wilson has written numerous hits including songs for Charlie Rich, Charley Pride, George Jones and Tammy Wynette, and has also produced artists, including Joe Stampley, Margo Smith, Sara Evans, Kenny Chesney and Shania Twain.

1944
Born on this day in Walden, near Beaumont, Texas, was Bob McDill, songwriter who has written numerous songs for country music artists, including 31 #1 hits for artists including Anne Murray, Don Williams, Waylon Jennings, and Mickey Gilley.

1971
Born on this day in Saltville, Virginia, was Clay Davidson country music artist who released his debut album Unconditional in 2000. Its title track was a top 5 hit for him on the Billboard country charts, and the album produced two more Top 30 hits.

1977
Kenny Rogers was at #1 on the country charts with “Lucille”. Written by Roger Bowling and Hal Bynum, the song is about a man in a bar that meets a woman who has left her husband. It became Rogers’ first major hit as a solo artist after leaving the successful country/rock group The First Edition the previous year. An international hit, it reached #1 on the Billboard Country Singles chart and #5 on theBillboard Hot 100 and reached the top of the UK singles chart in June 1977.

1995
The Road Goes on Forever by American country supergroup The Highwaymen was released, featuring the line-up of Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson. The album open’s with the Steve Earle song “The Devil’s Right Hand”.

1996
Shania Twain was at #1 on the US country chart with The Woman in Me, her second studio album and her first with the majority of the songs co-written by her. It went onto become her biggest-selling recording at the time of its release, selling 4 million copies by the end of the year.

2006
Hank Williams Jr. surrendered to police on a warrant issued in an alleged assault on a hotel waitress last month. Holly Hornbeak, 19, told police she was waiting tables at the Peabody Hotel’s lobby bar when the country superstar asked to kiss her and lifted her off the ground in a chokehold. The country singer cut short a hunting trip to return to Memphis and surrender to the sheriff’s department. All charges were later dropped citing lack of evidence.

2008
The Statehouse Museum in Little Rock, Arkansas hosted the Sparkle & Twang: Marty Stuart’s American Musical Odyssey. The exhibit was on loan from the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville and ran until October 5, 2008.

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