Died On This Date (March 7, 2013) Claude King / Country Music Great
themusicsover Claude King
February 5, 1923 – March 7, 2013
Claude King was a popular country singer throughout the ’60s and ’70s. Born near Shreveport, Louisiana, King was just 12 years old when he picked up the guitar. During the ’50s, he became a regular on the widely popular radio program, Louisiana Hayride, often sharing the bill with the likes of Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, and Hank Williams. In 1961, King signed with Columbia Records’ Nashville label and commenced to release a series of country hits that started with 1661’s “Big River Big Man.” Later that year, he scored another hit with “The Comancheros.” His biggest success came in the Spring of 1962. “Wolverton Mountain” sat at the top of the Country charts for nine of the 26 weeks it resided there. The record also cracked the Top 10 of the pop charts and went on to sell over a million copies. The hits continued for the next ten years, with 29 in all finding their way to the charts. King continued to record and perform well into the 2000s and even found time to act in several movies along the way. Claude King passed away on March 7, 2013, but not before celebrating his 67th wedding anniversary a few weeks earlier. He was 90.
What You Should Own
Stompin’ Tom Connors was a Canadian country and folk singer-songwriter who reportedly penned over 300 songs and released some 50 albums totaling over 4 million copies sold. At the age of 15, Connors left home to hitchhike across Canada, writing songs on his guitar along the way. During his last stop, he was short on cash to buy himself a beer, so the hotel’s barkeep said he’d give him the beer if he’d sing a few songs. That turned into a 13-week run at the hotel, a weekly spot on the local radio station, and several recordings. Throughout his career, Connors wrote and recorded numerous popular songs. His “The Consumer” was used as the theme song for a popular CBC program, while his “The Hockey Song” became an arena favorite throughout the NHL. In 1978, Connors retired to his farm in protest over policies of the Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunications Commission. He reactivated his career in 1988 and continued to perform and record up until his final years. Connors is ranked # 13 on The Greatest Canadian list and was pictured on a 2009 Canadian postage stamp. Stompin’ Tom Connors was 77 when he died of natural causes on March 6, 2013.
Mindy 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.
Sammy 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 
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,