9 December 1938, Bossier City, Louisiana, USA, d. 30 November 1993, Bossier City, Louisiana, USA. Houstons forefathers included Sam Houston, who fought for Texas independence from Mexico, and the Civil War general Robert E. Lee. His parents were friends of 20s singer Gene Austin, who was his godfather and encouraged his talent. Houston made his debut on The Louis
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5 February 1923, on a farm near Keithville, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA. His date of birth has, since 1961, frequently been cited incorrectly owing to promotional material released by his then manager, Tillman Franks, who at the time thought it tactful to lose a decade from his new clients age. King showed an early interest in music and was a proficient guitarist by the
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Jack Henry Greene, 7 January 1930, Maryville, Tennessee, USA. Greene took guitar lessons when he was eight years old, then added drumming to his abilities. Moving to Atlanta in the late 40s, he became part of the Cherokee Trio with Lem Bryant and Speedy Price. He then became a member of the Rhythm Ranch Boys and was a popular radio entertainer on Georgia Jublilee on WTJH. Gr
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19 July 1937, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA. George Hamilton IV is one of the few American country stars to have become a household name in Britain, although he is sometimes confused with the actor George Hamilton. George Hamilton I was a farmer in the Blue Ridge, he says, George Hamilton II was a railroad man who loved country music and collected Jimm
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Henry Ned Miller, 12 April 1925, Raines, Utah, USA. When Miller was a small child, the family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah where, after completing his education, he worked as a pipe fitter. He became interested in songwriting and country music and learned to play the guitar, but had no real inclination to be a performer. In the mid-50s, he married and moved to California, w
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Lonnie Melvin Tillis, 8 August 1932, Tampa, Florida, USA. The family relocated to Dover, 18 miles east of Tampa, when Tillis was only eight months old. He contracted malaria when aged only three, and was left with a permanent stutter. During his school days, various treatments failed to cure this speech problem and though originally embarrassed by it, he managed in later yea
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Harold Franklin Hawkins, 22 December 1921, Huntingdon, West Virginia, USA, d. 5 March 1963, Camden, Tennessee, USA. Hawkins started on guitar but became proficient on many instruments. Success in a talent contest in 1937 led to paid work on radio stations in Huntingdon and Charleston. In 1942, he performed on radio in Manila when stationed in the Philippines. After his disch
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Calvin Grant Shofner, 7 April 1932, Gans, Oklahoma, USA. The Shofner family moved to California, where Calvin met the rodeo-rider Todd Mason, becoming his stooge for knife and bullwhip tricks. Mason taught him how to play the guitar and at the age of 15 he was a vocalist with the San Francisco country band Kitty Dibble And Her Dude Ranch Wranglers. After military service, he
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Jim Edward Brown, 1 April 1934, Sparkman, Arkansas, USA. From the early 50s to 1967, Brown sang with sisters Maxine and Bonnie as the Browns but had solo successes in 1965 with I Heard From A Memory Last Night and Im Just A Country Boy, after his sisters had persuaded Chet Atkins to record him solo. When the trio disbanded in 1967, he pursued a
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Wynnford Lindsey Stewart, 7 June 1934, on a farm near Morrisville, Missouri, USA, d. 17 July 1985, Hendersonville, Tennessee, USA. Stewarts uncle was a major league pitcher, which inspired hopes of a baseball career, until he was told that he would never be big enough. He became interested in songwriting, learned to play the guitar, and at the age of 13, he appeared re
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Norma Jean Bowman, 30 January 1937, Pell City, Alabama, USA. Pruett, one of 10 children, used to listen to the Grand Ole Opry with her parents and she harmonized with her brothers and sisters. She married Jack Pruett, and in 1956, they settled in Nashville where he became Marty Robbins long-standing lead guitarist. She wrote several songs for Robbins, and Count M
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12 November 1950, Knobel, Arkansas, USA. Fairchild was raised on a farm and was entertaining at every opportunity. The family moved to St. Louis when she was 12 years old and she was soon recording for the local Norman label and working on television. In 1968 she moved to Nashville to further her career and among her early singles is Remember The Alimony for Kapp
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Franklin Delano Reeves, 14 July 1932, Sparta, North Carolina, USA, d. 1 January 2007, Centerville, Tennessee, USA. A singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who had his own radio show at the age of 12, Reeves moved to California, where by the late 50s, he had his own television show. He first charted in 1961 with Be Quiet Mind on Decca Records, but in 1965, h
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James Cecil Dickens, 19 December 1920, Bolt, West Virginia, USA. Dickens has summarized his early life as the youngest of 13 children in humorous country songs such as A-Sleeping At The Foot Of The Bed and Out Behind The Barn. He had no intention of following his father into the coalmines, and being 4 feet 11 inches tall effectively ruled it out. When
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