tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344993590139159352.post2665365239542556184..comments2024-03-29T09:38:59.536-04:00Comments on Fayfare's Opry Blog: Grand Ole Opry 11/21 & 11/22fayfarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00173166778978335059noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344993590139159352.post-70174211868146211152014-11-24T17:22:29.934-05:002014-11-24T17:22:29.934-05:00On an unrelated note, Bea Hitt passed away this pa...On an unrelated note, Bea Hitt passed away this past week in Bella Vista, Arkansas, at the age of 91. "Aunt Bea" was a family friend and the sister of Speck Rhodes and was the last surviving member of their family band that also included brothers Slim and Dusty. She was a fine fiddle player and was still playing at events around Northwest Arkansas until just a year or so ago. She was the only female member of their family band, the "Log Cabin Mountaineers", who played the RKO vaudeville circuit in the 30's and while Bea was never part of the Opry family she was one of the last surviving links to that era of entertainment. Barryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04287831362702766918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344993590139159352.post-567049074220151382014-11-23T20:45:19.705-05:002014-11-23T20:45:19.705-05:00I seem to remember that at one time Eddy Arnold ow...I seem to remember that at one time Eddy Arnold owned the water company in Brentwood, Tennessee. He also drove a VW bug. <br /><br />And as a huge Tiger fan growing up, the Al Kaline story is true. This was when the player's union under Marvin Miller was just getting going and there were a few players who I think wanted to throw Al out of baseball!! At the very least, they thought he was nuts. And Marvin would tell the story about Al many time to illustrate his point about the players being underpaid and not appreciated by the owners. (I guess that is a subject for another day and time). Byronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07610237116677181633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344993590139159352.post-60218922675456399082014-11-23T18:39:21.949-05:002014-11-23T18:39:21.949-05:00Fred, Bismarck:
Yes, Michael, Paisley should blus...Fred, Bismarck:<br /><br />Yes, Michael, Paisley should blush to have made that ad about the best place to spend the weekend and WSM should blush to play it.<br /><br />I'm a baseball fan like Michael and Byron, and can remember when the minimum MLB salary was $6,000 and many players took jobs during the off-season. I can also remember how Al Kaline, toward the end of his great career, refused $100,000 from the Tigers ... because he wasn't worth it, he said!<br /><br />By contrast, A-Rod is still owed three years and $62 million from the Yankees, and can anyone imagine him waiving that, or even a dollar of it?<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344993590139159352.post-50407761143257928432014-11-23T11:33:11.701-05:002014-11-23T11:33:11.701-05:00Fred, there's the joke The Potato tells, suppo...Fred, there's the joke The Potato tells, supposedly first told about Roy Acuff or Eddy Arnold, that a tour group found him mowing the lawn, didn't recognize him, asked him what he's paid to do that, and he replied, "The woman who lives there lets me sleep with her." Now, I don't KNOW exactly how Mr. Acuff and Eddy Arnold lived, but between them they owned about 95% of the state of Tennessee, so they weren't hurting.<br /><br />What you two discussed is an issue in all of "entertainment." Look at athletes. Derek Jeter has a compound in Tampa that's so big, it's called "St. Jetersburg." Well, he's been paid enough to afford it, just as, say, Garth Brooks has. The money today is so different and so much greater. It also helps explain why Brad Paisley would rather appear on "Two and a Half Men" than on the Opry, despite his ad for the Opry, which could be charitably described as consisting of what comes out of the back end of a bull.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01998867386294693956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344993590139159352.post-59169535267547137732014-11-23T11:28:55.960-05:002014-11-23T11:28:55.960-05:00Fred, you are so right. Many of the homes of those...Fred, you are so right. Many of the homes of those stars from the earlier days of the Grand Ole Opry and country music were very modest. Some of it was that the artists remembered where they came from, and also from the fact that very few country artists made much money in those days. The venues were small, and after paying expenses and the musicians, not much was left. <br /><br />Many times when I am in Nashville I will drive past some of the former homes of those artists and it does bring back such great memories. Then you look at the mansions, the gates and fences and the estates where today's stars live now, and you tend to think how out of touch they are with their fans compared to those from the past generations. Byronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07610237116677181633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344993590139159352.post-39459328928094434672014-11-22T21:24:31.434-05:002014-11-22T21:24:31.434-05:00Fred, Bismarck:
Yeah, 50-60 years ago country sta...Fred, Bismarck:<br /><br />Yeah, 50-60 years ago country stars lived more like their fans. My old friend Merv Rawes and his wife (of New Philadelphia, O.) used to stay at the Butlers' (Carl and Pearl) when they went to Nashville. Faron Young and Merv would go out to eat when Faron was in the area. And so on.<br /><br />The digs of these stars, as exemplified by Hank Snow's Rainbow Ranch, tended to be modest. I remember reading that, for years after Stoney's heart attack, Wilma Lee Cooper mowed their lawn!<br /><br />Now everybody, including the fans, has more money, but the music is worse. You can't have it all, I guess.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344993590139159352.post-77964418849315239022014-11-22T19:01:39.063-05:002014-11-22T19:01:39.063-05:00So right Mike, and of course Maybelle Carter compl...So right Mike, and of course Maybelle Carter complained about the spots she was given also. <br /><br />For those who are interested, in today's Tennessean, which can be viewed online, there is a fine article about the homes of Hank Snow and Maybelle Carter, that are up for sale in Madison, which is where most of the Grand Ole Opry and other country stars lived when they came to town in the 1950s. Also for sale is the office that Tom Parker used when he managed Elvis. The office originally belonged to Eddy Arnold. Some great history there. From the outside, Hank's house and property is in pretty bad shape. I know the last time I saw it in October, it looked bad. But, the article is great reading and interesting. Byronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07610237116677181633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344993590139159352.post-57500194647465093462014-11-22T10:50:50.403-05:002014-11-22T10:50:50.403-05:00Fred, I think in 1955 it would have been Tommy Vad...Fred, I think in 1955 it would have been Tommy Vaden with Mr. Snow. I THINK Chubby Wise came a couple of years later.<br /><br />Remember that then, most acts spotlighted band members. Not just Mr. Acuff, whose segments usually included individual performances by several of the Smoky Mountain Boys. That's one change that remains incomprehensible to me: why today's artists don't do that.<br /><br />This lineup also reminds me of a complaint that Herman Crook and the McGees voiced: that their audience was the farmers who went to bed early, so, naturally, they were on later segments. The Opry was even mismanaged in 1955, although at a far more competent and thoughtful level.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01998867386294693956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344993590139159352.post-80918462646650544892014-11-22T08:14:33.963-05:002014-11-22T08:14:33.963-05:00Fred, Bismarck:
PL, I was a devoted weekly listen...Fred, Bismarck:<br /><br />PL, I was a devoted weekly listener in 1955 and wish my memory were better. I'm sure Tommy fiddled them off on some of those segments. On others, the obvious candidates would be those string acts already shown on a given segment, such as the Possum Hunters (8 pm), Crook Brothers (9:30, 11), Sam & Kirk McGee (11:30) and the Fruit Jar Drinkers (also 11:30).<br /><br />Otherwise, most of our Hall of Fame acts had great fiddlers of their own who could have done the honors: Paul Warren for Flatt and Scruggs; whoever Bill Monroe had at the time; Hank Snow's man (I'd have to check), etc. If Roy Acuff had been on that night, we would have heard Howdy Forrester.<br /><br />That was when the Opry was the Opry, for sure!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344993590139159352.post-24842842857396748322014-11-21T14:01:42.021-05:002014-11-21T14:01:42.021-05:00Who played all of the fiddle tunes in the 1955 lin...Who played all of the fiddle tunes in the 1955 lineup? Maybe Tommy Jackson or the old-time bands?PLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11632095460801950001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344993590139159352.post-54986669974962600212014-11-21T08:46:48.080-05:002014-11-21T08:46:48.080-05:00Fred, that's a GREAT dream.
I want your list, ...Fred, that's a GREAT dream.<br />I want your list, plus Sturgill Simpson, Mandy Barnett, Dailey and Vincent, and a few other folks who aren't afraid to appear on the 'Opry any time they've been asked. In other words, folks to whom the 'Opry means something.<br />GREAT dream. Nat Hill IVnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344993590139159352.post-34005163779473984362014-11-20T21:01:47.210-05:002014-11-20T21:01:47.210-05:00Fred, Bismarck:
In my dreams ...
The Opry makes...Fred, Bismarck:<br /><br />In my dreams ... <br /><br />The Opry makes its biggest news splash in decades by canning all the no-shows and seldom-seens, and announces, as part of a back-to-our-roots movement, a big audition -- a la Ralph Peer in 1927 -- for genuine country acts.<br /><br />In my dreams, established acts of the bluegrass and oldtime world apply -- from Gillian Welch to Larry Cordle, Rhonda Vincent and the Tennessee Mafia Jug Band. As well as dozens of talented newcomers we've never heard of. The Opry trumpets its signings with a active PR effort.<br /><br />For this to happen, somebody else would doubtless have to own and run the Opry. But that's in my dreams too!<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344993590139159352.post-21999066724216348982014-11-20T18:17:27.298-05:002014-11-20T18:17:27.298-05:00You are correct, Byron. Except in Tom T Hall's...You are correct, Byron. Except in Tom T Hall's case, it is not "year" or "years", but "decades"!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344993590139159352.post-26670078279524546922014-11-20T17:44:26.549-05:002014-11-20T17:44:26.549-05:00In the case of Garth, Tom T, Travis and Trisha, we...In the case of Garth, Tom T, Travis and Trisha, we are not talking "year" but "years"!!Byronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07610237116677181633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344993590139159352.post-39522650556845026502014-11-20T17:33:17.789-05:002014-11-20T17:33:17.789-05:002014 has almost come to an end, and it may be a re...2014 has almost come to an end, and it may be a record-breaking year for non-appearances by Opry members. Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton, Tom T Hall, Travis Twitt, Trisha Yearwood, Alan Jackson....and on and on... Why won't you fire them all, Pete Fisher?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344993590139159352.post-34436984119698089982014-11-19T17:16:30.360-05:002014-11-19T17:16:30.360-05:00Terrific stuff as always. Should we try a technica...Terrific stuff as always. Should we try a technicality? Herman Crook was a member longer than Jean Shepard. Lewis Crook may or may not have been. I BELIEVE he arrived at the end of 1927 or beginning of 1928 and therefore was a member longer, but she has almost caught up.<br /><br />By the way, the lineup from November 21 is also the last Saturday night of Roy Acuff's life. He died on the 23rd.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01998867386294693956noreply@blogger.com