Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe TODAY IN COUNTRY MUSIC HISTORY (Wednesday, Nov. 6) Advertisement Stonewall Jackson is born in Emerson, N.C., 1932. Guy Clark born in Monahans, Texas, 1941. Tex Ritter is inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, 1964. Hank Williams records his best-known version of "Honky Tonkin'" for MGM Records, 1947. Glen Frey of the Eagles born in Detroit, 1948. Sonny James has his 16th consecutive No. 1 with "Here Comes Honey Again," 1971. MUSIC AND MORE ALAN JACKSON A BIG WINNER TONIGHT? Alan Jackson's record 10 CMA Award nominations is far more than anyone else has this year, so does that mean he'll be the big award winner? Jackson is up for male vocalist, entertainer and album ("Drive") of the year honors, along with seven other awards at the CMA Awards show in Nashville tonight. "Drive" also generated nominations for single, song and video of the year. Don't forget the six nominations garnered by Toby Keith, the reigning Male Vocalist of the Year, not to mention Brad Paisley and George Strait, with four each, and three apiece for Alison Krauss and Kenny Chesney. Advertisement Competition is tough in all categories, especially Album of the Year, as a rare tie produced six finalists instead of the usual five -- Jackson's "Drive," Keith's "Pull My Chain," Krauss and Union Station's "New Favorite," "The Great Divide" by Willie Nelson, Chesney's "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems" and George Strait's "The Road Less Traveled." The awards ceremony will be broadcast nationwide on CBS. BELLAMYS' PUBLICIST CAMPAIGNS FOR DUO AWARD The Bellamy Brothers are among the nominees for CMA duo of the year and their publicist did a little political-style campaigning for votes. Signs saying "Rock the Boat, Vote Bellamy Brothers Duo of the Year" were hung all along Music Row in Nashville by the Bellamys' publicist, Diana Henderson. She also took the Bellamy campaign to media and sought out endorsements from other country artists. Howard Bellamy didn't know about the signs until he saw them this week, he tells the Nashville Tennessean. "I thought I was running for governor." He and kid brother David have been nominated 15 times but have never won a CMA award, losing out to giants like the Judds and Brooks & Dunn. This year they're up against Brooks & Dunn, Montgomery Gentry, Sons of the Desert and the Warren Brothers. Advertisement MERLE WORKING ON NEW ALBUM At 65, Merle Haggard is not about to let a little surgery keep him down. Not hardly. "I'm back on the warpath," Haggard tells the Knoxville News-Sentinel, as he completes work on his new album, "The Great United Flag," expected to be released Jan. 1. And he's just started another tour after foot and back surgery sidelined him for a few months. Haggard says weeks of recuperation -- and "real good pain pills" -- allowed him to write and record for the new album. "We're still up, we're still running and we still have good players," Haggard says.
