Country

Died On This Date (February 17, 2013) Mindy McCready / Country Music Star

Mindy McCready
November 30, 1975 – February 17, 2013

mindy-mccreadyMindy McCready was a hugely successful country music singer whose debut album, 1996’s Ten Thousand Angels sold over 2 million copies.  Born in South Florida, McCready began singing when she was just three years old.  When she was just 18, she moved to Nashville to pursue a career in music.  Quickly signed to BNA Records, McCready’s debut album was released to much fanfare and ultimately yielded four hit singles with “Guys Do It All The Time” reaching #1.  That was followed by four more albums and several hit country singles.  In all, McCready landed on the Country Singles chart twelve times and sold over 3 million albums.  During McCready’s later years, she was involved in a few rocky relationships that continually fed the tabloids with troubling stories of abuse and drug addiction.  In 2008, she was hospitalized after an apparent suicide attempt, and in 2010, was again hospitalized for a possible drug overdose that appeared to have been unintentional.  Over the years, McCready had legal issues that were mostly attributed to substance abuse.  In 2010, she appeared on the Celebrity Rehab reality program after which she was said to be looking forward to getting back into the studio.  In April of 2012, McCready gave birth to her second child, and in January of 2013, the boy’s father, producer David Wilson, was found in his home of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.  On February 17, 2013, Mindy McCready reportedly took her own life.  She was 37.

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Died On This Date (January 4, 2013) Sammy Johns / Had 1975 Hit With “Chevy Van”

Sammy Johns
February 7. 1946 – January 4, 2013

Sammy-JohnsSammy Johns was a folk and country-rock singer-songwriter who scored a major ’70s pop hit with 1975’s “Chevy Van.”  Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Johns was just nine when he picked up the guitar.  By the time he was a teenager, he was fronting his own band, the Devilles.  After a few records with the Devilles, Johns moved to Atlanta and signed a solo deal with General Records who released his self-titled debut in 1973.  The album’s “Chevy Van” took about a year or so to catch on, but when it did, it became one of the biggest singles of the ’70s.  Reaching #5 on the Billboard pop charts, the record sold more than 1 million copies in the US alone.  It was later covered by Eric Church, Sammy Kershaw, and Waylon Jennings to name a few.  The long list of artist who have recorded songs written by Johns includes Conway Twitty, John Conlee, and Fu Manchu.  Sammy Johns was 66 when he passed away on January 4, 2013.  Cause of death was not immediately released.

Thanks to Henk de Bruin for the assist.

What You Should Own

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Click to find at amazon.com

Sammy Johns

Died On This Date (December 12, 2012) Willie Ackerman / Legendary Nashville Session Drummer

Willie Ackerman
May 1, 1939 – December 13, 2012

Willie Ackerman was a Nashville based drummer who, over a career that stretched from 1957 through the ’80s, recorded or performed live with the likes of Willie Nelson, Louis Armstrong, Loretta Lynn, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, and the Monkees, to name just a few.  Ackerman was just 17 when he launched his music career, and what followed were stints for the Grand Ole Opry, Hee Haw, and RCA Studios where he played on countless recordings. He was one of the few drummers who made the a successful transition from the traditional country of his early years, to the Nashville Sound of the ’60s, through the Outlaw movement of the ’70s.  Legendary records he can be heard on include Marty Robbins’ “El Paso,” George Jones’ “The Last Tour,” and Jerry Reed’s “Amos Moses.”  Willie Ackerman was 73 when he died in his sleep on December 13, 2012.

Thanks to Henk de Bruin for the assist



Died On This Date (September 11, 2012) Homer Joy / Wrote “Streets Of Bakersfield”

Homer Joy
April 12, 1945 – September 11, 2012

Homer Joy at left with Buck Owens. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Marko
Homer Joy at left with Buck Owens. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Marko

Homer Joy was a country singer and songwriter who is best remembered for penning “Streets of Bakersfield” for Buck Owens.  The song, which he wrote in a motel in the Bakersfield-adjacent town of Oildale, California in 1973, ultimately became Owens’ final #1 country hit in 1988.  Although Owens played the song live as far back as 1972 and put it on two of his own albums, it wasn’t until  Dwight Yoakam invited him to duet with him in ’88 that it became the iconic ode to the Central California city that it is.  The tune, in fact, is listed as one of the greatest 100 country songs of the 20th century and consistently appears on best country duets lists.   It was back  in 1972 that Joy first went to work for Owens’ publishing company, Black Book Music, and in just two years, recordings of his songs by others sold more than 3 million copies.   Joy soon made a bit of a name for himself as a performer as well.  Signed to Capitol Records in 1974, Joy had a fairly big country hit with “John Law.”  He was also a popular concert draw at honky-tonks and rodeos for many years.  After the success of “Streets Of Bakersfield,” Joy built his own studio where he produced countless records by other artists.  According to his website, recordings of songs he wrote have sold more than 20 million copies.  Homer Joy was 67 when he passed away on September 11, 2012.

 

Thanks to Henk de Bruin for the assist.

Died On This Date (July 16, 2012) Kitty Wells / Country Music Legend

Kitty Wells (Born Ellen Deason)
August 30, 1919 – July 16, 2012

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Kitty Wells was actually one of a very few country music stars who were actually born in Music City.  Wells launched her music career when she was around 17, at first singing on a local radio station with her sisters as the Deason Sisters.  At 18, she married Johnnie Wright and went on to perform with him.  In 1952, just as she was eying a life beyond show business, Decca Records asked her to record “It Wasn’t God Who Made The Honky Tonk Angels” as an answer song to Hank Thompson’s “The Wild Side Of Life.”  Since she could use the $125 payment at the time, she reluctantly agreed, having no idea that the song would become a life-changing hit for her.  Recorded by the legendary  Owen Bradley, the single was initially banned from many radio stations due to its title and the subversive idea that God in fact, did not make honky-tonk angels.  But it became a massive hit, selling over 800,000 copies during its initial release.  It ultimately reached #1 on the country music charts making Wells the first female to ever accomplish that feat.  It remained at the top for eight weeks and even cracked the top 30 of the pop charts.  The song went on to become Wells’ signature song.  Meanwhile, she continued to release hit singles and albums through the ’50s and early ’60s, but by the late ’60s, her record sales were dwindling, so she launched her own syndicated television show, The Kitty Wells/Johnnie Wright Family Show, again, the first female country star to do so.  She continued to release albums tour well into the ’80s – although the crowds were smaller, they were no less enthusiastic about hearing her hits.  In 1991, Wells was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys.  She and Wright remained married until his passing in 2011 – one of the longest celebrity marriages ever.  On July 16, 2011, Kitty Wells died following a stroke. She was 92.

What You Should Own

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20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: Best of Kitty Wells - Kitty Wells