Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Grand Ole Opry 11/30 & 12/1

Update:
A couple of changes to the line-up. Elizabeth Cook has been added to Saturday night, along with Jeannie Seely, while George Hamilton IV has cancelled.

The Grand Ole Opry has posted the line-ups for the 3 shows this weekend. There will be usual 1 show on Friday night and 2 shows on Saturday night as the Opry continues the run at the Ryman Auditorium. The highlight this weekend will be the return of Alabama to the Opry stage, as they are scheduled for both shows on Saturday night. Alabama, who are members of the Country Music Hall of Fame, retired a number of years back, but over the past several years, have reunited for a few recordings and appearances. But this time around there are only 3 members instead of 4 as drummer Mark Herndon is no longer part of the group. I am sure most of you remember that this resulted in a nasty lawsuit where it was discovered that Mark was nothing more than a paid employee for Alabama and not an equal partner in the group.

In addition to Alabama on Saturday night, also appearing will be Riders In The Sky, with special guest Wilford Brimley. I always that Wilford was a fine actor, especially his part in "The Natural" with Robert Redford. Of course, if there is anyone who looks like a cowboy and could fit in with Riders In The Sky, it is Wilford. The Quebe Sisters Band will also be featured during that segment.

The Friday Night Opry will feature guest artists Elizabeth Cook, Darryl Worley and Andy Griggs. And when looking at the line-up, you will notice that Jimmy Dickens is only scheduled for the 1st show on Saturday night. Maybe he has come to the realization that 2 shows is too much for the voice.

Friday November 30
7:00: Jeannie Seely (host); Kristy Lee Cook; Jesse McReynolds
7:30: Jimmy Dickens (host); Canaan Smith; The Whites
Intermission
8:15: Bill Anderson (host); Connie Smith; Andy Griggs
8:45: John Conlee (host); Elizabeth Cook; Darryl Worley

Saturday December 1
1st show
7:00: Jimmy Dickens (host); Greg Bates; Jimmy C Newman
7:30: Mike Snider (host); Jean Shepard; John Conlee; Elizabeth Cook
8:00: Riders In The Sky (host); Wilford Brimley; Jim Ed Brown;The Quebe Sisters Band; Opry Square Dancers
8:30: Bill Anderson (host); Alabama

2nd show
9:30: John Conlee (host); Greg Bates; The Whites
10:00: Jim Ed Brown (host); Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press; Elizabeth Cook
10:30: Riders In The Sky (host); Wilford Brimley; Jeannie Seely; The Quebe Sisters Band; Opry Square Dancers
11:00: Bill Anderson (host): Alabama

7 Opry member so Friday night, with 8 for the 1st show on Saturday and 7 for the 2nd show. The Ernest Tubb Midnight Jamboree will feature an archived show hosted by Charlie Louvin.

Here is the line-up for the Tuesday Night Opry, December 4
7:00: Diamond Rio; Jim Ed Brown
7:30: Jana Kramer; Jimmy Dickens
Intermission
8:15: Connie Smith; Randy Houser
8:45: Lauren Alaina; Del McCoury Band

For this week's look back at Opry history, here is the line-up from Saturday December 1, 1979, 33 years ago this Saturday evening.

1st show
6:30: Mrs Grissoms
Bill Monroe (host): Love, Come Home
Jimmy Dickens: I'm Little But I'm Loud
Bill Monroe: Life's Railway to Heaven

6:45: Rudy's
Ernest Tubb (host): Jealous Lovin' Heart
Roy Drusky: Peel Me A Nanner
Connie Smith: Back Up on the Mountain
Ernest Tubb: Waltz Across Texas

7:00: Shoney's
Porter Wagoner (host): Ole Slewfoot
Wilburn Brothers: Arkansas
Marion Worth: Shake Me, I Rattle
Ernie Ashworth: The DJ Cried
Charlie Walker: Don't Play Me No Songs About Texas
Porter Wagoner: Everything I Always Wanted/On A Highway Headed South

7:30: Standard Candy
Roy Acuff (host): Wabash Cannonball
Jean Shepard: Candy Kisses
Stonewall Jackson: Why I'm Walking
Justin Tubb: What's Wrong With the Way That We're Doing it Now
Crook Brothers/Tennessee Travelers: Buck Creek Gal
Roy Acuff: Will the Circle Be Unbroken/I Saw the Light

8:00: Martha White
Grandpa Jones (host): Uncle Eph's Got the Coon
Vic Willis: Last Cheater's Waltz
Stu Phillips: Great El Tigre
Bill Carlisle: Worried Man Blues
Wilma Lee Cooper: As Long As I Live
Grandpa & Ramona Jones: It Takes A Lot of Living

8:30: Acme
Hank Snow (host): Merry Go-Round of Love
Billy Walker: Funny How Time Slips Away
4 Guys: Mama Rocked Us to Sleep with Country Music
Billy Grammer: San Antonio Rose
Jeanne Pruett: Back to Back
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Nubbing Ridge
Hank Snow: I'm Glad I got to See You One More Time

2nd show
9:30: Kelloggs
Ernest Tubb (host): In the Jailhouse Now
Wilburn Brothers: The Light House
Roy Drusky: Second Hand Rose
Connie Smith: When God Dips His Love Into My Heart
Ernie Ashworth: There's No Place I'd Rather Be Tonight
Texas Troubadours: C-Jam Blues
Tinker Tubb: That's The Way Loves Goes
Ernest Tubb: Blue Christmas

10:00: Fender
Charlie Walker (host): Pick Me Up on Your Way Down
Jean Shepard: He Played the Bongo, I Played the Banjo
Justin Tubb: Keep Me From Blowing Away
Charlie Walker: Crazy Arms

10:15: Union 76
Roy Acuff (host): Sunshine Special
Wilma Lee Cooper: When My Time Comes to Go
Charlie Louvin: Who's Gonna Love Me Now
Roy Acuff: I'll Fly Away

10:30: Trailblazer
Grandpa Jones (host): Piney Jane
Marion Worth: Someone Is Looking for Someone Like You
Vic Willis: Shenendoah
Grandpa Jones: Mt. Laurel

10:45: Beechnut
Stonewall Jackson (host): Be & You & A Dog Named Boo
Crook Brothers/Tennessee Travelers: Old Joe Clark
Stonewall Jackson: Angry Words

11:00: Coca-Cola
Hank Snow (host): There's A Fool Such As I
Billy Grammer: Somewhere My Love
Stu Phillips: There Must be Another Way to Say Goodbye
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Hollow Poplar
Bill Carlisle: Stopped By on My Way to the Show
Kirk McGee: While I'm Away
Hank Snow: As Love Goes

11:30: Little Debbie
Billy Walker (host): Cross the Brazos at Waco
4 Guys: Turn Your Radio On/Mam Rocked Us to Sleep with Country Music
Jeanne Pruett: Satin Sheets/Break My Mind
Billy Walker: Behind Closed Doors/Don't Worry

Amazing that each segment on the 1st show was hosted by a Hall of Fame member, or a future member. The talent line-up was pretty good on this night.

21 comments:

  1. Great to see Alabama doing the Opry. I grew up listening to those guys in the 1980's & 1990's. They are well deserved members of the Hall of Fame.

    Wilford Brimley? Now that is cool. He even looks Country.

    The Quebe Sisters is a highlight of the night for me. I am really impressed with those gals. They are keeping it traditional that is for sure.

    Great lineup.
    I'll be listening in this week for sure.

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  2. I'll be with Riders in the Sky in Gainesville, Florida on Friday night. Looks like they'll be hightailing it back to Nashville on the overnight...road warriors of the highest caliber! Reminds me a lot of people like Ernest Tubb who would play some dance hall in West Texas on Friday night, drive overnight to do to the Opry and the Midnight Jamboree on Saturday and drive overnight again to a Sunday matinee somewhere in West Virginia. Stands in stark contrast to the large percentage of the current Opry cast who can't even bother to drive across town once or twice a year to make an appearance on the show. Just one of many reasons I've got a lot of respect for the Riders!

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  3. Fred, Bismarck:

    Byron, this feels like a question that must have been asked before:

    With the Opry back downtown for the winter, and doing two shows, why doesn't the E.T. Record Shop revive the live Jambouree at its downtown store? Or is the old setup -- stage, etc. -- now torn out?

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  4. Fred, the old set up is still there, so that is a good question. I do know that a few years back they did a few shows Jamboree shows from the downtown store during the winter run of the Opry at the Ryman. I was at 2 of the shows, one with Ricky Skaggs hosting and another with George Hamilton IV. Both shows had people packed in and many standing on the sidewalks outside of the shop. Just guessing, but that might have been some of the issue. Too many people standing and pushed into the shop.

    On the other hand, maybe it is just too hard to do the show from the downtown shop after having the convience of the Music Valley Drive theater.

    (from Byron)

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  5. Even a relatively simple broadcast from the Broadway shop would be an expensive undertaking. Just getting modern sound reinforcement gear in the shop without the additional needs of a radio broadcast for a single night is probably cost prohibitive for them (especially given the state of the overall music retail industry).

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  6. Fred again:

    Thank you, fellows; makes sense. I suppose if it were practical to do, a true heart like David McCormick would be doing it.

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  7. FYI--Doug Green said that Riders in the Sky had been in the studio all week recording a new album with Wilford Brimley...which explains his presence on the Opry tomorrow night.

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  8. And Jim Ed hosted in place of The Potato, and made it a point to say he's fine.

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  9. Thanks Barry. Also, no Jimmy Dickens tonight.. Jim Ed Brown hosted the segment. He did mention that Jimmy would be on Saturday.
    (Byron)

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  10. Michael, I forgot to thank you for noticing Jimmy not being there also. You got your comments in about 2 minutes before me (I think I was typing and you were posting). Nice to know that others are also still listening to the Opry.

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  11. I wasn't racing you, honest! I listen as much as I can, although I admit to preferring it when there's one Saturday night show and WSM airs the classics.

    But I was thinking about something last night. If you look at old Friday Night Opry lineups, they almost always had only three performers per 30-minute segment until, by the 1980s, the older acts were there almost all the time.

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  12. Byron:
    I'll post this here rather than back a few posts on the Hall of Fame discussion. I have seen in four different places now that the five finalists in the Veterans Category are The Browns, Jerry Reed, Dottie West, The Wilburn Brothers and Mac Wiseman. One lady was very "upset" that it had been leaked out. I do not know if she was with the CMA or not? Three of these acts are deceased, so I believe in 2013 we may see a tie. I cannot see the CMA letting a deceased artist go in alone. They need and want the PR at the medallion ceremony. If this is Dottie West' year (as many think it is), I would bet either The Browns or Mac Wiseman are also inducted along with her. Just some thoughts.

    Also, it was mentioned that Kenny Rogers was on the ballot in the Modern Category. No other names were given.

    Just a FYI.

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  13. David, thanks for that info. I know that if that is the ballot and those are the veterans, we should all agree to be glad for and about whoever is elected, and upset that the others haven't been elected. They are all deserving, and there should be no argument about that.

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    1. Agree Michael:
      It gives me hope to see Mac Wiseman on the ballot. Not that I'm a "big" fan of his, but the fact that they are still looking at artists from the 1950's and true traditionalists.

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  14. David, I think I know at least one of the sources of the information that you received. But I question it only from the standpoint that I think right now, the ballot that is out is the ballot to narrow the Hall of Fame categories to the 5 finalists. One of the sources that I saw listed those 5 names, and then after the last name, which was Mac Wiseman, they had the word "others".

    Now if those are the 5 finalists, what I find interesting is that only 1 of those, Jerry Reed, was a finalist last year. That just shows how much the category can change from year to year.

    Now, of those listed above, I would have to give the edge this year to Dottie West. There is a full-blown campaign going on to get her elected, and it has a lot of support. My personal choice, and who I think deserves to get in, are The Browns.

    As far as the medallion ceremony, if you remember a couple of years ago when Don Williams was elected, he was ill and did not attend, and he was the only one honored that night, so it can happen.

    One final note about Mac Wiseman. If memory serves me right, he is a former president of the Country Music Foundation, which is the parent organization of the CMA and who actually operates the Hall of Fame. Every past president who has been eligible, has been elected to the Hall, with Vince Gill and Emmylou Harris being 2 of the most recent. That might give an edge to Mac.

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    1. Byron:
      I was thinking that Jimmy Dean was honored with Don Williams. (Of course Jimmy had passed away by then). If memory serves me correct Don was suppose to be there in person, cancelling only days before.
      I too noticed that Jerry Reed was the only one that was on the ballot again. Missing is June Carter, Archie Campbell and Hank, Jr.
      Now 2012 has not been a great year for Hank, Jr. He has been in the news a lot with his "comments" this year. That may have hurt his chances for a little while.
      I would have thought support would be coming in for Bobby Bare more than it is. It really surprised me that he was not included these last two years (if this is the 2013 ballot).
      What leaves me to believe that Reed, West, Wiseman, Browns & Wilburns is the finally five is the fact that a certain lady (couldn't remember her name if I tried) was very vocal on one blog about how the ballot was to remain confidential, and wanted to basically know who let the cat out of the bag. I'm guessing she was with the CMA?

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    2. sorry .. "leads" me to believe...

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  15. Not to belabor the point, as I would certainly agree that the five acts mentioned are very diserving and I would like to see them all inducted, but I would also say that if you've ever met Mac Wiseman he is one of the kindest gentlemen ever. He not only represents a link to the early CMA, as an artist and as a record man, but he's also one of the last first-generation bluegrass pioneers and it would be nice to see bluegrass get recognized by the Hall again after so many years. I believe Mac is about 85 and is now wheelchair bound and it would sure be nice for him to receive this honor while he was around to enjoy it. Same with the Browns. Maxine Brown has to be in her 80s and I believe from what I've read and heard her say she's really hoping for the Hall of Fame and said the number 13 was her lucky number. Sure be nice if next year's class was all five mentioned. It's simply embarassing that the Wilburns, Dottie West & Jerry Reed were not inducted in the Hall while they were living!

    Oh, and I saw the comment about Kenny Rogers in the modern category -- remember what I said earlier about his Hall of Fame residency...

    (oldtimeopry)

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  16. David, you are probably right. From my standpoint, I don't understand why the CMA does not announce the 5 finalists on the ballot. The Pro Football Hall of Fame does it, as does the Rock Hall of Fame. I think it would create some excitement and discussion. It's not like the artists who are still living don't know they are on the ballot.

    You are right about Jimmy Dean and Don Williams. In fact, if I remember right, Don was actually in Nashville and became ill the day before, with a sore throat.

    It does not surprise me that Hank, Jr. did not make the final ballot. I don't think the voters wanted to go in that direction this year. Not surprised either about June Carter. I don't think the body of her work qualifies her for the Hall. Archie Campbell is a different story. And I agree that Bobby Bare should be in there somewhere.

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  17. Does anyone know who the Presidents of Country Music Foundation are other than Mac Wiseman,Emmylou Harris,Vince Gill since 1964.As for June Carter Cash I do think she is worthy of the Hall of Fame.She was a good comedian and her work with Johnny Cash.I would love to see Dottie West,Jerry Reed,Mac Wiseman.Hank Jr.,the Browns in the Hall of Fame.I guess we will have to see what happens when that day comes.

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  18. Loved the Quebe Sisters Saturday night. Would love to see and hear more of them. I wish modern commercial country music would start playing them and others of their style.

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