Country

Died On This Date (March 31, 2011) Mel McDaniel / Country Music Star

Mel McDaniel
September 6, 1942 – March 31, 2011

Photo by Dean Dixon

Mel McDaniel was a successful country music artist who scored several hits during the 1980s.  Born and raised in Oklahoma, McDaniel was one of millions of kids who were inspired to make music after witnessing Elvis Presley on television.  Thankfully for us, he remained faithful to that dream.  McDaniel eventually landed in Nashville where, during the mid ’70s,  he landed a deal with Capitol Records.  By the late ’80s, McDaniel had released such hit records as “Louisiana Saturday Night,” “Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On,” and the Bruce Springsteen-penned, “Stand On It.”  In 1996, he was seriously injured when he took a fall from a Lafayette, Louisiana stage and never fully recovered.  He then suffered a major heart attack in 2009.  But it was ultimately cancer that took Mel McDaniel’s life on March 31, 2011.  He was 62.

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Mel McDaniel: Greatest Hits - Mel McDaniel

Died On This Date (March 30, 2011) Harley Allen / Country Singer & Songwriter

Harley Allen
June 23, 1956 – March 30, 2011

Harley Allen was a country singer and highly sought-after songwriter.  Born to bluegrass legend Red Allen in Dayton, Ohio, Allen eventually landed in Nashville and began releasing a string of albums with his brothers, the Allen Brothers, and on his own.  In 2002, his voice could be heard on the Grammy-winning “Man Of Constant Sorrow” from the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack.  As an in-demand songwriter, Allen penned or co-wrote charting records for the likes of Garth Brooks, Dierks Bentley, Del McCoury, Alan Jackson, Alison Krauss and many many more.  His “The Baby” ended up being a huge hit for Blake Shelton.  Harley Allen died of lung cancer on March 30, 2011.  He was 55.

Thanks to Craig Rosen at Number1Albums


Died On This Date (March 20, 2011) Ralph Mooney / Steel Guitar Legend

Ralph Mooney
September 16, 1928 – March 20, 2011

Ralph Mooney was an innovative and influential steel guitar player who launched his career after moving from Oklahoma to California during the 1940s.  By the ’50s, he was a staff player for Capitol Records where he played on records by the likes of Buck Owens, Rose Maddox, Wanda Jackson, and Merle Haggard. He later spent the better part of twenty years playing with Waylon Jennings.  By all accounts, the “Bakersfield sound” may never have been fully realized without the genius of Mooney.  As a songwriter, Mooney made perhaps his biggest mark with the 1956 Ray Price hit, “Crazy Heart,” which he co-wrote with Chuck Seals.  Although he had been retired since the mid ’90s, Marty Stuart coaxed Mooney out of retirement to play on his 2010 Grammy-winning Ghost Train: The Studio B Sessions.  Ralph Mooney was 82 when he passed away on March 20, 2011.

Thanks to Jon Grimson for the assist.



Died On This Date (March 17, 2011) Ferlin Husky / Country Legend

Ferlin Husky
December 3, 1925 – March 17, 2011

Ferlin Husky was a country music singer who launched his career in 1945 and released a string of hits that stretched through the mid ’70s.  During WWII Husky, a Merchant Marine, entertained the troops on his ship.  After the war, he landed a recording contract with Capitol Records thanks to the help of Cliffie Stone.  In 1953, he scored his first #1 hit with the Jean Shepard duet, “A Dear John Letter.”  The hits continued with such records as “Gone” and “Wings Of A Dove.”  He also dabbled in acting during the late ’50s.  Husky suffered from heart problems since the 1970s and passed away from cardiac trouble on March 17, 2011.  He was 85.

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Ferlin Husky

Died On This Date (March 16, 2011) Carlton Haney / Bluegrass Promoter

Carlton Haney
DOB Unknown – March 16, 2011

Photo by Marcia Goodman

Carlton Haney was a bluegrass and country music promoter who first came into the business while he was dating Bill Monroe’s daughter during the 1950s. It was during that time that he began booking shows for Monroe and eventually began managing bluegrass act, Reno & Smiley.  During the ’60s he became one of the first, if not THE first promoter to put together package shows that featured both bluegrass and country artists.  That lead to one of the America’s first successful multi-day bluegrass festivals which he launched over Labor Day weekend, 1965 in Fincastle, Virginia.  Over the course of his career, he was cited as a major contributor to the ultimate successes of such artists as Loretta Lynn, the Osbourne Brothers, Porter Waggoner, and Waylon Jennings, on whose Okie From Muskogee and The Fightin’ Side Of Me live albums, Haney can be heard introducing the singer.  He also penned a handful of bluegrass and country hits for others over the years.  Carlton Haney was 82 when he passed away on March 16, 2011.

Thanks to Janice Brooks at Bus of Real Country for the assist.