Country

Died On This Date (April 22, 2008) Bob Childers / Americana Singer-Songwriter

Bob Childers
November 20, 1946 – April 22, 2008

Oklahoma singer-songwriter Bob Childers passed away on Tuesday, April 22, 2008 of emphysema and related lung disease. Childers was a the so-called godfather or Red Dirt Music, a hard to define sub-genre of country/Americana that includes elements of country, rock and folk. After touring much of the country’s dive bars and honky tonks through the ’70s, Childers released his debut album at the dawn of the ’80s. Over his career, he wrote over 1500 songs and earned accolades from no less than fellow Oklahoman, Garth Brooks who wrote a song with him. He was even invited to perform at the White House in 1982. 2004 saw the release of Restless Wind – A Tribute To The Songs of Bob Childers, a 3-CD set that included Jimmy Lafave, Cross Canadian Ragweed and The Red Dirt Rangers.




Died On This Date (April 15, 1998) Rose Maddox / Country Legend

Rose Maddox (Born Roselea Brogdon)
August 15, 1925 – April 15, 1998

rose-maddoxRose Maddox was a country singer, musician and songwriter who performed with her siblings as Maddox Brothers and Rose during the late ’30s and early ’40s.  When her brothers went off to serve their country in WWII, Rose continued as a solo act and later rejoined the boys upon their return.  And even though they were considered a “hillbilly” band, they were most popular in California, likely due to its growing population of Southern immigrants.   They have been called the “greatest hillbilly band of all time,” while Rose has been referred to as the “grandmother of rockabilly.”  After the group disbanded in the late ’50s, Rose signed to Capitol Records as a solo act.  She scored several Top 20 hits including a #4 hit duet with Buck Owens.   In the mid ’60s, Rose switched gears a bit and started performing bluegrass.  She found a new audience among the folk revivalists of the era.  She continued recording and performing occasionally well into the ’90s, even earning a Grammy nomination in 1996.  She died of kidney failure in 1998 at the age of 71.

What You Should Own

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America's Most Colorful Hillbilly Band, Vol. 1 - The Maddox Brothers and Rose

Died On This Date (April 14, 1995) Burl Ives / Beloved Folk Singer

Burl Ives
June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995

burlivesPerhaps best known as the narrator and voice of the snowman in the Holiday classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Burl Ives was also an accomplished folks singer whose catalog includes many American standards.  He was also an author and Academy Award-winning actor for his supporting role in Our Man In Havana.   When Ives was in his second year of college, he had an epiphany while sitting in his English glass.  School was a waste of his time, he thought, so out the door he went, never to look back.  Except perhaps, when that same school named a building after him some six decades later.  Ives spent most of the ’30s traveling around the U.S. performing for change whenever he needed funds to move on.   In the ’40s he went to work for CBS Radio who gave him his own program where he performed traditional folk songs for his loyal fans.   From there he moved on to acting, winning roles in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, East of Eden and of course, Our Man in Havana.  In the ’50s he got blacklisted for alleged Communist ties, so he falsely ratted out Pete Seeger and others as Communists in a deal that got him back to work.  And not surprisingly, he was shunned by Seeger and the folk community for many years to come.  In 1964, Ives’ warm and gentle voice starred in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. His “Holly Jolly Christmas” from that program is one of the most popular Christmas songs of all times.  Ives died of cancer at the age of 85.

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Burl Ives

Died On This Date (April 6, 1998) Tammy Wynette / The First Lady Of Country Music

Tammy Wynette
May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998

Tammy Wynette was rightfully known as the “First Lady of Country Music” due in part to her domination of the country music charts during the late ’60s and early ’70s. With hits like “Stand By Your Man,” and “D-I-V-O-R-C-E” she personified female country singers of the era. Her songs reached the top of the country music charts 17 times and earned her two Grammys. In 1969, Wynette married George Jones, with whom she had several more hits as his duet partner. A couple little know facts about Wynette were that she was a stand-out basketball player in high school, and that she renewed her cosmetology license every year so she’d have something to fall back on. She was also the voice of Hank Hill’s mother on King Of The Hill. As is generally the case with country stars of the ’60s and ’70s, Wynette’s popularity waned in the ’80s, but she found a new popularity in 1991 when she teamed up with British electronic band the KLF on “Justified And Ancient (Stand By The JAMs)”,  a number one hit throughout much of the world. A couple of years later, she joined forces with Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn for the great Honky Tonk Angels album. Wynette suffered from numerous health problems throughout her life resulting in over two dozen major surgeries. Her body finally gave in on April 6, 1998, when she died in her sleep from a pulmonary blood clot.

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Tammy Wynette

Died On This Date (April 4, 1980) Red Sovine / Popular Country Singer

Woodrow “Red” Sovine
July 17, 1917 – April 4, 1980

Red Sovine was an American country singer who was best known for his trucker songs of the ’60s.  Thanks to their strong narratives, these tunes resonated not only with truck drivers of the day, but with rockabilly bands and fans, both then and now.   Born in Charleston, WV, Sovine eventually settled in Shreveport, LA where he began to get noticed thanks to his appearances on KWKH’s “Louisana Hayride” program.   His “Hayride” co-star, Hank Williams helped him land a recording contract with MGM Records.    The early ’50s found Sovine working with Webb Pierce, with whom he duetted on his first #1 hit record, a cover of George Jones’ “Why Baby Why.”  He continued to perform and record well into the ’70s, but in a twist of irony, Red Sovine, the king of truck driving songs, died of injuries after crashing his van while having a heart attack.

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20 All-Time Greatest Hits - Red Sovine