Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe TODAY IN COUNTRY MUSIC HISTORY (Friday, Nov. 22) Advertisement Nashville's first Disc Jockey Convention, 1952. John Anderson's first Top Ten single, "1959," charted, 1959. Johnny Cash is featured on the cover of LIFE magazine, 1969. Charley Pride records No. 1 single, "She's Just an Old Love Turned Memory," 1976. Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Life" is certified platinum, 1977. Keith Whitley weds Lorrie Morgan, 1986. (Saturday, Nov. 23) Bluegrass singer Charlie Sizemore born in Richmond, Ky., 1960. Moe Bandy's first Top Ten single, "It Was Always So Easy (to Find an Unhappy Woman)," charted, 1974. Roy Acuff, "The King of Country Music," dies at 89 in Nashville, 1992. Faith Hill has her first network TV special, 2000. Vince Gill and Dolly Parton host "Grand Ole Opry, A Celebration" TV special marking Opry's 75th anniversary, 2000. (Sunday, Nov. 24) Johnny Carver born in Jackson, Miss., 1940. The first country album to sell a million copies, "Wanted: The Outlaws," is certified platinum, 1976. Emil Dopyera, inventor of the Dobro guitar, dies at 74, 1977. Advertisement Clara Webb Butcher, mother of Loretta Lynn, Crystal Gayle, Jay Lee Webb, and Peggy Sue, dies, 1981. MUSIC AND MORE BILLY JOE SHAVER'S NEW ALBUM HAUNTING Singer-songwriter Billy Joe Shaver's new album, "Freedom's Child," hit retail shelves this week, nearly two years after his son and collaborator Eddy died of a drug overdose. Shaver's songs always have been about life's struggles, but this album is especially poignant. Not only does it reflect Shaver's feelings after losing his son, but he lost his wife and mother to cancer in 1999 and he suffered a heart attack while performing at a Texas honky-tonk soon after Eddy died. "It is easier to be honest when you write about what you know," Shaver tells The Denver Post. "So, it's kind of hard to get away from that." RASCAL FLATTS' SINGLE DETHRONES URBAN'S Rascal Flatts' "These Days" is at the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles and Tracks chart, ending a six-week No. 1 run by Keith Urban's "Somebody Like You." The trio, winners of the CMA's Horizon Award for an act showing the most growth, just saw their second album, "Melt," debut at No. 1 on Billboard's country album chart. Advertisement "Landslide" by the Dixie Chicks and George Strait's "She'll Leave You With a Smile" stayed at Nos. 3 and 4 and "Who's Your Daddy?" by Toby Keith rose from the seventh spot to No. 5. JO DEE LOOKS FORWARD TO AMA AWARDS Jo Dee Messina, nominated for the American Music Awards' favorite female country artist, was elated when she learned she'd gotten the nod. And she knows where she wants to sit at the Jan. 13 show. "I've always been a huge fan of the show and its musical diversity," Messina tells LAUNCH. "Here's hoping they seat me on ... oops, I mean near Lenny Kravitz!" Martina McBride and Lee Ann Womack also are nominated for the award.
