This Day in Country Music: July 25, 2023!

1923-06-14 Recording of 1st country music hit (Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane)

Jul 25, 1943 Roy Acuff has a son, also named Roy, in Nashville

Jul 25, 1944 Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters record Cole Porter's "Don't Fence Me In" in Los Angeles for the movie "Hollywood Canteen." Gene Autry remakes it as a country hit the following year

Jul 25, 1947 Jim Reeves makes his first pitching start for the Henderson Oilers, of the Lone Star League, after being acquired from the Marshall Comets for two players. Reeves gets an 18-7 win in his Oilers debut

Jul 25, 1948 Singer/songwriter Steve Goodman is born in Chicago. The folk performer is best known for writing "You Never Even Called Me By My Name," by David Allan Coe; and "City Of New Orleans," an Arlo Guthrie pop hit remade by Willie Nelson

Jul 25, 1950 Gene Autry is a sheriff who's forced to arrest a man he believes is innocent in the debut of "Beyond The Purple Hills." The movie also features Pat Buttram, Jerry Scoggins and Frankie Marvin

Jul 25, 1950 Lefty Frizzell records "If You've Got The Money I've Got The Time," "I Love You A Thousand Ways" and "Shine, Shave, Shower (It's Saturday)" in his first recording session, at Dallas' Jim Beck Studio

Jul 25, 1951 Hank Williams records "Lonesome Whistle" and "Crazy Heart" at Nashville's Castle Studio. He also takes a swipe at "Baby, We're Really In Love," though he records it again the following month

Jul 25, 1952 "Barbed Wire" appears in movie theaters with Gene Autry portraying a cattle buyer. He's backed by Pat Buttram, Clayton Moore, Frankie Marvin and Jerry Scoggins

Jul 25, 1952 Rodeo rider Rex Allen and sidekick Slim Pickens come to the aid of the Army in the western "Old Oklahoma Plains," which debuts in theaters. Woodwind player Darol Rice has a cameo role

Jul 25, 1955 Capitol releases Tommy Collins' two-sided hit, "I Guess I'm Crazy" backed with "You Oughta See Pickles Now"

Jul 25, 1955

Columbia signs The Collins Kids to a recording contract. It never amounts to any hits, but it's an important step in the career of California songwriter Larry Collins, who writes such hits as "Delta Dawn" and "You're The Reason God Made Oklahoma"

Jul 25, 1966 Capitol releases Sonny James' "Room In Your Heart"

Jul 25, 1966 Capitol releases Buck Owens' album "Carnegie Hall Concert"

Jul 25, 1970 Marty Robbins is grand marshal for the Nashville 420 NASCAR race at the Fairgrounds Speedway, won by Bobby Isaac

Jul 25, 1970 Charley Pride goes to #1 on the Billboard country singles chart with "Wonder Could I Live There Anymore"

Jul 25, 1970 "Tammy's Touch" takes Tammy Wynette to #1 on the Billboard country albums chart

Jul 25, 1972 "The Jerry Reed When You're Hot You're Hot Hour" airs for the last time in its run as a CBS summer replacement series. Reed sings "You'll Never Walk Alone" on the episode, which also features Larry Storch and Gladys Knight & The Pips

Jul 25, 1972 The New York Mets' Tug McGraw pitches two scoreless innings to win as the National League tops the American 4-3 in 10 innings in Atlanta. It's the only All-Star appearance ever for McGraw, the father of country music's Tim McGraw

Jul 25, 1974

Roy Clark guests on NBC-TV's "The Mac Davis Show" along with actress Loretta Swit and impressionist Rich Little

Jul 25, 1975 Jessi Colter makes a return visit to "The Midnight Special," performing "I'm Not Lisa" on the NBC music series. Also appearing in the installment are Helen Reddy, Neil Sedaka and Janis Ian

Jul 25, 1975 Fiddler Jason Roberts is born in Texas. Raised on the sounds of Bob Wills and Johnny Gimble, he becomes a significant member of Asleep At The Wheel and appears on albums by Clay Walker, Trace Adkins and Suzy Bogguss

Jul 25, 1977 MCA releases Mel Tillis' "I Got The Hoss"

Jul 25, 1977 The Nashville Palace opens across the street from the Opryland Hotel, owned by a group of investors that includes Jerry Reed. The first week's guests include his daughter, Seidina Reed, and Lorrie Morgan. The venue provides a training ground for Randy Travis, Alan Jackson and Ricky Van Shelton on their way up

Jul 25, 1978 Kitty Wells drops a suit against Capricorn Records when the label agrees to release her from her recording contract.

Jul 25, 1981

B.J. Thomas and The Charlie Daniels Band appear on NBC's "Barbara Mandrell & The Mandrell Sisters," where the CDB does "In America"

Jul 25, 1982 Charlene Tilton, just married to Johnny Lee, stars in the NBC-TV movie "The Fall Of The House Of Usher"

Jul 25, 1983 The Oak Ridge Boys are named honorary Dallas citizens when they present their fifth Stars For Children benefit at Reunion Arena. The bill also features Lee Greenwood, The Commodores, Rosanne Cash and George "Goober" Lindsey.

Jul 25, 1984 Tammy Wynette is hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles with infected vocal cords after shooting a performance at the Greek Theatre for the ABC special "The Olympic Gala"

Jul 25, 1984 Mickey Gilley meets president Ronald Reagan and vice president George Bush, singing at a Texas Republican fundraiser in Austin

Jul 25, 1984 MCA releases Lee Greenwood's "Fool's Gold"

Jul 25, 1987 Steve Wariner's "The Weekend" reaches #1 on the Billboard country singles chart

Jul 25, 1987 Left-handed fiddler Joe Holley dies of pneumonia in Fresno, California. During his tenure in Bob Wills' Texas Playboys, he appeared on such recordings as "Stay A Little Longer," "Smoke On The Water" and "Heart To Heart Talk"

Jul 25, 1989 The late Keith Whitley earns a gold album from the RIAA for "Don't Close Your Eyes"

Jul 25, 1989 Earl Thomas Conley claims a gold album from the RIAA for his "Greatest Hits"

Jul 25, 1991 After feminists find fault with her song "Maybe I Mean Yes," Holly Dunn sends an open letter to the media saying she's asked radio and video outlets to stop playing it. Opponents contend the single can be interpreted to condone date rape

Jul 25, 1992 Garth Brooks' single "The River" peaks at #1 on the Billboard country singles chart.

Jul 25, 1994 Jerry Lee Lewis' attorney announces the Killer has settled his tax debt with the Internal Revenue Service.

Jul 25, 1994 Wade Hayes records "Don't Stop" at the Soundshop in Nashville

Jul 25, 1994 Arista releases The Tractors' "Baby Likes To Rock It"

Jul 25, 1995 The "Forrest Gump" soundtrack receives a quadruple-platinum album from the RIAA. It features Willie Nelson's "On The Road Again" and Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog," plus songs by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bob Dylan, Duane Eddy, Bob Seger, Randy Newman, B.J. Thomas and Harry Nilsson

Jul 25, 1995 Warner Bros. releases Travis Tritt's "Sometimes She Forgets," written by Steve Earle

Jul 25, 1995 Charlie Rich dies while on vacation in Hammond, Louisiana, from a blood clot in his lung. Known as "The Silver Fox," Rich's countrypolitan sound led to million-sellers with "Behind Closed Doors" and "The Most Beautiful Girl"

Jul 25, 1995 Doug Stone has surgery to remove a benign polyp from his nasal passage at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville

Jul 25, 1997 Elvis Presley's Memphis opens at 126 Beale Street. It's the first restaurant branded with The King's name

Jul 25, 1997 Martina McBride debuts "A Broken Wing" at the Grand Ole Opry, where she's joined on stage by her father, Daryl Schiff.

Jul 25, 1997

John Berry serenades 48 couples shortly after they're married in a mass ceremony, sponsored by Cincinnati radio station WYGY-FM. He sings "Your Love Amazes Me" and "I Will If You Will" at Coyotes Music & Dance Hall in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky.

Jul 25, 1999 "I think this is the only time in my career where I can truthfully say my music is out of this world!" Suzy Bogguss' recording of "Someday Soon" is used as a wakeup call for astronauts on the Columbia space shuttle

Jul 25, 2000 Kenny Rogers' "She Rides Wild Horses" is certified by the RIAA for shipments of one million copies, giving him at least one platinum album in each of four straight decades

Jul 25, 2001 The T Bone Burnett-produced "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack is certified double-platinum by the RIAA. It features John Hartford, Emmylou Harris, Ralph Stanley, Alison Krauss, The Soggy Bottom Boys, Harry McClintock, Norman Blake and The Whites

Jul 25, 2001 The Dave Matthews Band performs at the AmSouth Amphitheatre in Nashville. Joining him briefly: banjo player Bela Fleck, and his group, The Flecktones

Jul 25, 2003 Hank Thompson undergoes surgery for a brain aneurysm

Jul 25, 2004 Hank Williams Jr.'s show at the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa, California, is interrupted for 25 minutes when a fan has a heart attack in the fourth row. The next song in Bocephus' set is the aptly titled "A Country Boy Can Survive"

Jul 25, 2009 Alan Jackson performs for 35,000 people--all of them watching from boats--during AquaPalooza on Lake Martin in Alabama. The set list includes a song Hank Williams wrote nearby, "Kaw-Liga"

Jul 25, 2009 Lee Greenwood sings the national anthem prior to the Wolverine Power Systems 200 stock car race, won by Justin Lofton at the Berlin Raceway in Marne, Michigan

Jul 25, 2010 Marty Stuart is recognized with a marker on the Mississippi Country Music Trail at the corner of Byrd Avenue & Main Street in his hometown, Philadelphia

Jul 25, 2014

Mel Tillis plays a benefit for the Harold Shedd Music Mill Gallery in Bremen, Alabama