June 10 in Country Music History

In 1944, Nat King Cole went to Number One on the newly christened country charts with "Straighten Up And Fly Right".  He owned that spot for six weeks. 

In 1952, Thom Schuyler, once a part of SKO, Schuyler, Knobloch, and Overstreet, and also Schulyer, Knobloch, and Bickhardt,   and noted singer, songwriter, and music executive, was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  As a performer, he has been associated as a solo artist or part of the above three acts with charted hits a total of nine times, including with the Number One hit, "Baby's Got A New Baby". 

In 1978, Willie Nelson had a Number One with "Georgia On My Mind".

In 1988, Herman Crook of the Crook Brothers passed away.  He was the harmonica player for the immensely popular group. 

In 1988, Ricky Van Shelton joined the Grand Ole Opry.

In 1989, Clint Black was leaving here a "Better Man" with a Number One attached to it.  I often wonder how big a star Clint Black would have been if he had stuck with the kind of material with which he was so successful at the beginning of his career, like this one, and "Killin' Time". 

In 1997, one of our favorites, Carolina Cotton, passed away from cancer. 

In 1998, Steve Sanders, who was associated with the Oak Ridge Boys as a singer and musician, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Florida. We have a gospel album he recorded as a youngster that listed him as Little Stevie Sanders. He also worked as an actor, and was particularly memorable in an episode of "Gunsmoke".

In 2004, Ray Charles, whose album, "Modern Sounds In Country and Western" redefined the parameters of country music, passed away after a bout with cancer.