Gold Country NEWS

1959
The Western series The Rebel was aired for the first time on TV. The show would run until Sept 1961, with the theme song being sung by Johnny Cash.

1968
Johnny Cash proposed to tour partner June Carter during a concert in London, Ontario. She said yes. The couple married on March 1, 1968, in Franklin, Kentucky and had one child together, John Carter Cash, born March 3, 1970. Cash and Carter continued to work together and tour for 35 years until Carter's death in 2003. Cash died four months later.

1971
Sammi Smith was at #1 on the US Country chart with her country - pop crossover hit, "Help Me Make It Through the Night". Smith's version won a Grammy Award for Best Country Music Female performance. Written by Kris Kristofferson and released on his 1970 album Kristofferson, he later stated that he got the inspiration for the song from an magazine interview with Frank Sinatra. When asked what he believed in, Frank replied, "Booze, broads, or a bible...whatever helps me make it through the night."

1975
Guests on this week's edition of the TV show Pop! Goes the Country included Charley Pride, Gary Stewart and The Four Guys. The weekly half-hour syndicated variety country series ran from 1974 through 1982 for a total of 234 episodes and was recorded at the Grand Ole Opry House. The show featured performances by and interviews with country music singers, both established celebrities and up and coming singers and musicians.

1976
"Good Hearted Woman" by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson was at #1 on the country chart. In 1969, Jennings and Nelson were staying in a motel in Fort Worth, Texas. Jennings was inspired to write the song after reading an advertisement that promoted Ike and Tina Turner. Jennings joined Nelson during a poker game and told him about the idea and the singers completed the song while Nelson's wife, Connie Koepke, wrote it down.

1989
Country music winners at the 31st Annual Grammy Awards included; K.T. Oslin who won Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance, for "Hold Me", Best Male Country Vocal Performance went to Randy Travis for Old 8x10, Best Country Performance by a Group went to The Judds for "Give a Little Love", Best Country Vocal Collaboration was won by k.d. lang & Roy Orbison for "Crying", and Best Country Instrumental Performance was Asleep at the Wheel for "Sugarfoot Rag."

1990
Warner Bros. released Travis Tritt's debut album, Country Club. The track "Help Me Hold On" went on to give the singer a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.

2015
Tim McGraw took the stage at this years Oscars and sang Glen Campbell's nominated song, "I'm Not Gonna Miss You." McGraw was handpicked by the Campbell family to fill in for the ailing legend. A first-time Oscar nominee, Campbell was unable to travel to Los Angeles for the show due to his deteriorating health.

2016
American country music singer and songwriter Sonny James, best known for his 1957 hit, 'Young Love' died in Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 87. Dubbed the Southern Gentleman, James had 72 country and pop chart hits from 1953 to 1983, including 23 No.1 Country hits.

2024
American bluegrass banjo player and comedian Roni Stoneman died age 85. She was widely known as a cast member on the country music show Hee Haw. She was the youngest daughter of Ernest V. "Pop" Stoneman, patriarch of the Stoneman Family, one of the most famous family groups in early country music. As a member of the Stoneman Family, she won the Country Music Association Award for Vocal Group of the Year in 1967. She was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2021 with the rest of her family.