Ray Turner’s Day in Country Music                                    History

January 14th: On this day

1929
Born on this day in Ralls, Texas, was William Marvin Walker, better known as Billy Walker the country music singer and guitarist. He is best-known for his 1962 hit, “(I’d Like to Be In) Charlie’s Shoes”. Nicknamed The Tall Texan, Walker had more than 30 charted records during a nearly 60-year career and was a longtime member of the Grand Ole Opry. Walker was killed on May 21, 2006 in a car accident when the van he was driving back to Nashville after a performance in Foley, Alabama veered off Interstate 65 in Fort Deposit and overturned.

1937
Born on this day in Beaumont, Texas, was Billie Jo Spears, country music singer who reached the top-10 of the Country music charts five times between 1969 and 1977, her biggest hit being the 1975 “Blanket on the Ground.” She died of cancer aged 73 on December 14th, 2011.

1948
Born on this day in St. Louis, Missouri, was Joseph Henry “T Bone” Burnett, musician, songwriter, and record producer. Burnett has produced artists such as Roy Orbison, Lisa Marie Presley, John Mellencamp, Los Lobos, Counting Crows, Elton John & Leon Russell, Elvis Costello and his wife Diana Krall, Natalie Merchant and The Wallflowers as well as Tony Bennett and k.d. lang. Burnett won Grammy Awards for the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack and for his work with Alison Krauss and Robert Plant on the 2007 album Raising Sand.

1976
Glen Campbell’s signature song “Rhinestone Cowboy” was up for nominations for a Grammy Award for Best Country Song as well as for Record of the Year, (but didn’t win). Written by Larry Weiss, Campbell first heard the song on the radio during a tour of Australia and decided to record it.

1988
The Trio collaboration album, by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris, received a Grammy nomination for Best Album. Parton, Ronstadt and Harris first attempted to record an album together in the mid-1970s, but scheduling conflicts and other difficulties prevented its release.

1995
Tim McGraw was at #1 on the US Country chart with “Not A Moment Too Soon,” the singers fourth release from the album of the same name.

2006
With the song, “She Let Herself Go,” George Strait scored his 40th #1 hit on theBillboard Hot Country Songs chart, all of them solo. It tied him with a 20-year-old record for most #1’s on the country chart, held by Conway Twitty (35 solo, five duet with Loretta Lynn).