Ray Turner’s Day in Country Music History

October 18th: On this day

1952
Hank Williams married Billie Jean Jones Eshlimar in Minden, Louisiana. The next day two public ceremonies were held at the New Orleans Civic Auditorium, where 14,000 seats were sold for each. After Williams’s death, a judge ruled that the wedding was not legal because Jones Eshlimar’s divorce had not become final until eleven days after she married Williams.

1967
Ode to Billie Joe the debut album by Bobbie Gentry was at #1 on the chart. It was the only album to displace The Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band from its 15-week reign at the top of the Billboard 200 album chart. The recording of the title track “Ode to Billie Joe” generated eight Grammy nominations, resulting in three wins for Gentry and one win for arranger Jimmie Haskell.

1979
Johnny Cash received the United Nations Humanitarian Award for his longstanding support for two children’s homes in Jamaica and his work for the Youth For Christ Organisation. The ceremony was held at the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville.

1980
Born on this day was Josh Gracin, country music singer who is a former member of the United States Marine Corps. He first gained public attention as the fourth-place finalist on the second season of the Fox Networks talent competition American Idol.His self-titled debut album was released in 2004 and it produced the #1 hit, “Nothin’ to Lose.”

1988
Randy Travis was back at #1 on the country chart with Always & Forever, his second album. Released from this album were the singles “Too Gone Too Long”, “I Won’t Need You Anymore (Always and Forever)”, “Forever and Ever, Amen” and “I Told You So”, all of which reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts.

2010
Kenny Chesney was at #1 on the Country chart with his fourteenth studio albumHemingway’s Whiskey. Four of the albums singles; “The Boys of Fall”, “Somewhere with You”, “Live a Little”, and “Reality” have all hit #1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart.