Apr 4, 1971

Clay Davidson is born in Saltville, Virginia. He signs a recording contract with Virgin Records, earning a hit with his debut single, "Unconditional," in 2000

Apr 4, 1970

Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan nest at #1 on the Billboard country singles chart for two weeks with "Tennessee Bird Walk"

Apr 4, 1970

Jimmy Dean has a return engagement on ABC's prime-time show "Jimmy Durante Presents The Lennon Sisters Hour"

Apr 4, 1968

Bobby Goldsboro picks up a gold single from the RIAA for "Honey"

Apr 4, 1968

Martin Luther King Jr. is killed at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. Expected riots force the cancellation that weekend of the Grand Ole Opry for the first time since 1928

Apr 4, 1966

Capitol Records releases the album "Just Between The Two Of Us," by Merle Haggard and Bonnie Owens

Apr 4, 1964

Johnny Cash's "Understand Your Man" hits #1 on the Billboard country singles chart

Apr 4, 1963

Seven years after he first recorded it, Stonewall Jackson cuts the hit version of "Don't Be Angry" at the Columbia Recording Studios in Nashville

Apr 4, 1963

Merle Haggard has a son, Noel, in Bakersfield, California. The younger Haggard lands on the country charts twice during the 1990s, though he never earns a hit

Apr 4, 1960

Warner Bros. releases The Everly Brothers' pop hit "Cathy's Clown." Reba McEntire reinvents it as a country single in 1989