This Day in Country Music

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28th Dec 1958, Born on this day in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was Joe Diffie, country music singer known for his ballads and novelty songs. Diffie has scored five #1 singles: "Home", "If the Devil Danced (In Empty Pockets)", "Third Rock from the Sun", "Pickup Man" and "Bigger Than the Beatles". He’s also co-wrotten singles for Holly Dunn, Tim McGraw and Jo Dee Messina, as well as recording with Mary Chapin Carpenter and George Jones.

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29th Dec 1970, Lynn Anderson was at #1 on the US Country charts with "Rose Garden". Written by Joe South, the song was also a major pop hit internationally, topping the charts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, Norway and hitting the top three in the United Kingdom. Anderson's version of "Rose Garden" remains one of the most successful country crossover recordings of all-time.

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30th Dec 1952, Hank Williams loaded up his '52 Cadillac with his guitar, stage suits and other things he would need for this short tour that would take him up through West Virginia and Ohio. At around 11:30am Charles Carr, a 19 year old college freshman Hank had hired to drive him, left his mothers boarding house on N. McDonough St. in Montgomery, Alabama. Hank was wearing dark blue pants, a white button up shirt, a tie and a navy blue overcoat. It was unseasonably cold over the south that day as a snow storm covered the entire southeastern united states. More on Hank Williams: http://www.thisdayincountrymusic.com/pa ... k_williams

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31st Dec 1943, Born on this day in Roswell, New Mexico, was John Denver (Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr.), singer, songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. Denver recorded and released over 300 songs, earning him 12 gold and 4 platinum albums with his signature songs "Sunshine on My Shoulders", "Take Me Home, Country Roads", "Leaving on a Jet Plane", "Rocky Mountain High", "Annie's Song" and "Calypso". Denver was killed on October 12, 1997 at the age of 53 when his experimental Rutan Long-EZ plane, crashed into the Pacific Ocean near Pacific Grove, California.

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1st Jan 1953, American singer-songwriter and musician Hank Williams died aged 29. Williams is regarded as one of the most important country music artists of all time. 35 of his singles (five released posthumously) were placed in the Top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, including 11 that ranked #1, including "Cold, Cold Heart," "Hey, Good Lookin'," "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive," and "Your Cheatin' Heart." During his last years Williams's consumption of alcohol, morphine and painkillers severely compromised his professional life. More on Hank: http://www.thisdayincountrymusic.com/pa ... k_williams

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2nd Jan 1936, Born on this day in Fort Worth, Texas, was Roger Miller the singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known for his honky tonk-influenced novelty songs. His best known songs included the chart-topping country/pop hits "King of the Road", "Dang Me" and "England Swings", all from the mid-1960s. A lifelong cigarette smoker Miller died on October 25, 1992 of lung and throat cancer at the age of 56.

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3rd Jan 1976, C. W. McCall was at #1 on the US country album chart with Black Bear Road, which included the #1 hit novelty song, "Convoy". The song itself was largely responsible for starting a nationwide citizens' band radio craze. The song "Black Bear Road" in turn popularized the now-infamous road itself, along with its "You don't HAVE to be crazy to drive this road - but it helps" sign.

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4th Jan 2006, The house where Johnny Cash lived for 35 years was bought by Bee Gees singer Barry Gibb. The rustic house near Nashville, Tennessee went on the market in June 2005 with an asking price of $2.9m (£1.7m). Gibb said he planned to preserve the house to honour the Cash memory. Unfortunately Gibb's ownership of the house was short-lived. In April 2007, the house burned to the ground. Gibb was having the house renovated when a flammable spray sealer caused fire to break out during construction.

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5th Jan 1980, Kenny Rogers started a three-week run at the top of the Billboard country chart with "Coward Of The County.” The song also reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and #1 on the UK pop chart where it remains the most recent traditional country music song to hit #1 in the UK.

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6th Jan 1924, Born on this day in Shelby, North Carolina, was Earl Scruggs the American musician noted for perfecting and popularizing a 3-finger banjo-picking style (now called Scruggs style). Worked with Bill Monroe in the "Blue Grass Boys", scored the hit as Flatt and Scruggs with "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" for the TV show The Beverly Hillbillies in 1962. Scruggs died from natural causes on March 28, 2012, in a Nashville hospital.