Grand Ole Opry 8/24 & 25

Welcome back Garth Brooks!!! Yes, Garth is scheduled to appear on the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday night. Really nice to see Garth coming back to perform on the show. He has said many times that being an Opry member is one of the highlights of his career and while he makes very few appearances, it is always a special night when Garth is on.

Garth will be closing out both shows on Saturday night and I would expect, especially the second show, to feature an extended segment. Once Garth gets on stage, and at the Opry, he likes to give the fans something extra. As someone who has seen Garth at the Opry numerous times, I am pleased that he is back.

Joining Garth on Saturday night will be Opry members Ricky Skaggs, The Whites, Mike Snider and Connie Smith. Connie, Mike and The Whites are also scheduled for Friday night, to be joined by Bobby Osborne and Dailey & Vincent.

Gary Mule Deer is guesting on all three shows this weekend, joined on Friday night by Jimmie Allen, making a return appearance, The Sisterhood, Hall of Fame member Charlie McCoy; The Wild Feathers, Craig Campbell, and closing out the show, T. Graham Brown. Joining Gary Mule Deer on Saturday will be Carly Pearce and Molly Tuttle.

Friday August 24
7:00: Connie Smith (host); Jimmie Allen; Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press
7:30: Mike Snider (host); The Sisterhood; Charlie McCoy
Intermission
8:15: The Whites (host); Gary Mule Deer; The Wild Feathers
8:45: Dailey & Vincent (host); Craig Campbell; T. Graham Brown

Saturday August 25
Early Show
7:00: Mike Snider (host); Carly Pearce; Molly Tuttle
7:30: Ricky Skaggs (host); The Whites
8:00: Connie Smith (host); Gary Mule Deer; Opry Square Dancers
8:30: Garth Brooks

Late Show
9:30: Mike Snider (host); Carly Pearce; Molly Tuttle
10:00: Ricky Skaggs (host); The Whites
10:30: Connie Smith (host); Gary Mule Deer; Opry Square Dancers
11:00: Garth Brooks

Pretty thin on Saturday night, but then again, you have Garth for both shows.
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And now, here is the posted Grand Ole Opry line-up from 10 years ago, the weekend of August 22 & 23, 2008:

Friday August 22
8:00: Jeannie Seely (host); The Whites; Rockie Lynne
8:30: Jimmy C Newman (host); Darryl Singletary; Rebecca Lynn Howard
9:00: Jim Ed Brown (host); Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press; Josh Gracin
9:30: John Conlee (host); Connie Smith; Sawyer Brown

Saturday August 23
1st show
7:00: Jim Ed Brown (host); Connie Smith; Jimmy C Newman; The Whites
7:30: Riders In The Sky (host); Jan Howard; George Hamilton IV; Opry Square Dancers
8:00: Trace Adkins (host); Martina McBride; Wynonna; Lee Greenwood

2nd show
9:30: Jim Ed Brown (host); Jimmy C Newman; Martina McBride
10:00: Trace Adkins (host); Connie Smith; The Whites
10:30: Jeannie Seely (host); Ernie Ashworth; Wynonna; Opry Square Dancers
11:00: Riders In The Sky (host); George Hamilton IV: Lee Greenwood

Now from 50 years ago, Saturday August 24, 1968:
1st show
6:30: Bobby Lord (host); Grandpa Jones
6:45: Charlie Walker (host); Glaser Brothers; The Four Guys
7:00: George Hamilton IV (host); Osborne Brothers; Lorene Mann; Hugh X. Lewis
7:30: Roy Acuff (host); Loretta Lynn; Stringbean; Crook Brothers; Brother Oswald
8:00: Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs (host); Stu Phillips; Norma Jean; Mel Tillis
8:30: Porter Wagoner (host); Ray Pillow; George McCormick; Archie Campbell; Fruit Jar Drinkers;

2nd show
9:30: Bobby Lord (host); Loretta Lynn; Grandpa Jones; Charlie Walker; Stringbean
10:00: Glaser Brothers (host); Harold Weakley; Lorene Mann
10:15: Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs (host); Stu Phillips; The Four Guys
10:30: Porter Wagoner (host); Dolly Parton; Mel Tillis
10:45: Roy Acuff (host); Norma Jean; Crook Brothers
11:00: George Hamilton IV (host); Archie Campbell; Ray Pillow; Fruit Jar Drinkers; Sam McGee
11:30: Marty Robbins (host); Hugh X. Lewis; Osborne Brothers; Don Winters

Looking back in the history of the Grand Ole Opry, there are a couple of events worth noting. First, is was 27 years ago, Saturday August 24 that Dottie West appeared on the Grand Ole Opry for the final time. Secondly, it was 18 years ago, Saturday August 26, 2000 that Pam Tillis joined the cast of the Grand Ole Opry.

Country music stylist Dottie West enjoyed one of the longest hit making careers of any woman of her generation. Known for her 1964 Grammy-winning recording "Here Comes My Baby," she also was a country pioneer with ad jingles (including the famous Coca-Cola "Country Sunshine" campaign of the 1970s), and she recorded successful duets with Jim Reeves, Don Gibson, Jimmy Dean and Kenny Rogers.

Born Dorothy Marie Marsh, she grew up in a large, poor family. She worked her way through college and married steel guitarist Bill West in 1953. He took a job in Cleveland, Ohio, and she landed a singing slot on that city's Landmark Jamboree TV show as half of the Kay-Dots duo with Kathy Dee (Kathy Dearth). By 1958 Dottie had children Dale, Morris, Kerry and Shelly, but continued to sing professionally. On weekends the Wests would drive south to Nashville to try to establish contacts in the music industry there. Finally she successfully auditioned for Starday in 1959, but little came of the affiliation. In 1961 the family moved to Music City. Dottie signed with Atlantic, but fared no better than she had at Starday.

Dottie continued to write songs, however, and Jim Reeves had a hit with her composition "Is This Me" in 1963. He brought her to the attention of RCA's Chet Atkins, who signed Dottie and produced her self-penned "Here Comes My Baby." It earned her Grand Ole Opry membership and the first Grammy won by a female country artist. She had other Top Ten singles with "Would You Hold It Against Me" (1966) and "Paper Mansions" (1967), as well as hit duets with Reeves ("Love Is No Excuse," 1964) and Don Gibson ("Rings of Gold," 1969).

Patsy Cline served as her mentor, and Dottie, in turn, befriended others, boosting the careers of Larry Gatlin, Jeannie Seely, Steve Wariner, and Tony Toliver, while serving as a den mother for a generation of struggling pickers and writers. Dottie's own songwriting led to her composing twelve Coca-Cola jingles, including the Clio Award-winning "Country Sunshine," which also became a 1973 Top Ten hit. She moved to United Artists in 1976 and later scored a pair of #1 hits with "A Lesson in Leavin'" (1980) and "Are You Happy Baby?" (1980-81). She also recorded a highly successful string of duets with Kenny Rogers, including "Everytime Two Fools Collide" (1978), and "What Are We Doin' in Love" (1981), which also became a Top Twenty hit on the pop charts.

Along the way, Dottie shed her gingham/sweetheart image and reemerged as a glamorous, sexy star with a $50,000 wardrobe and a glitzy stage show. After she and Bill West divorced, she married two younger husbands in succession and lived extravagantly. But bad investments and a lull in her career in the late 1980s led to bankruptcy in 1990. Dottie passed away a year later, on September 4, 1991, from injuries suffered in a Nashville car crash while on her way to an Opry appearance.

Since her death, Dottie has been mentioned as a candidate for induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. After several years of pressure from her friends and fellow artists, Dottie West was finally elected into the Country Music Hall of Fame earlier this year and will be formally inducted later in the fall.

Here is the running order from Saturday August 24, 1991, the final Opry appearance by Dottie West:

1st show
6:30: Bonanza
Porter Wagoner (host): Company's Coming
Ernie Ashworth: Shamrock Motel
Porter Wagoner: Green, Green Grass of Home/Ol' Slewfoot

6:45: Hall of Fame
Jim and Jesse (host): Dream on Me
Skeeter Davis: The End of the World
Bill Carlisle: Is Zat You Myrtle
Jim and Jesse: A Flower in the Desert

7:00: Shoney's
Del Reeves (host): Girl on the Billboard
Billy Grammer: Steel Guitar Rag
Jean Shepard: If You Can Live With It
Dottie West: I Can't Help It
David Houston: I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen
Del Reeves: Good Time Charlie's

7:30: Standard Candy
Jimmy C Newman (host): La Cajun Band
McCarters: No Where to Go But Up/If I Could Stop Loving You
Clinton Gregory: If It Weren't for Country Music/Satisfy Me and I'll Satisfy You
Jimmy C Newman: Colinda/The Ring that Shines

8:00: Martha White
Roy Acuff (host): Wabash Cannonball
Stonewall Jackson: Side-Steppin' the Blues/Muddy Water
Connie Smith: Did We Have to Come this Far to Say Goodbye/Louisiana Man
Opry Square Dance Band/Melvin Sloan Dancers: Bill Cheatham
Roy Acuff: I Can't Help It

8:30: Opryland USA
Hank Snow (host); Tangled Mind
George Hamilton IV: Forever Young
Roy Drusky: Too Old to Die Young
Charlie Walker: Pick Me Up on Your Way Down
Johnson Mountain Boys: Maybe You'll Change Your Mind
Hank Snow: I'm Glad I Got to See You Once Again

2nd show
9:30: Dollar General
Porter Wagoner (host): Ol' Slewfoot
Connie Smith: The Key's in the Mailbox
Ernie Ashworth: Talk Back Trembling Tips
Bill Grammer: Steel Guitar Rag/Gotta Travel On
Jeannie Seely: Too Far Gone
Porter Wagoner: I'll Go Down Swinging

10:00: Little Debbie
Del Reeves (host): Six Days on the Road/Truck Driving Man
Skeeter Davis: He Says the Same Things to Me
Del Reeves: Don't You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me

10:15: Tennessee Pride/Sunbeam
Roy Acuff (host): Just A Friend
Wilma Lee Cooper: Gathering Flowers from the Hillside
Dan Kelly: Sally Goodin

10:30: Pet Milk
Jimmy C Newman (host): Pistol Packin' Mama
Jean Shepard: Days of Wine and Roses
Jimmy C Newman: Down on the Bayou

10:45: B.C. Powder
Charlie Walker (host): Right or Wrong
Clinton Gregory: Satisfy Me and I'll Satisfy You/Nobody's Darling But Mine
Opry Square Dance Band/Melvin Sloan Dancers: Golden Slippers
Charlie Walker: Pick Me Up on Your Way Down

11:00: Coca Cola
Hank Snow (host): Geisha Girl
Jim and Jesse: When I Dream About the Southland
Dottie West: Here Comes My Baby
Justin Tubb: Keep Me from Blowing Away
McCarters: Everytime You Leave
Hank Snow: It Kinda Reminds Me of Me

11:30: Creamette
George Hamilton IV (host): Early Morning Rain
Stonewall Jackson: Side-Steppin' the Blues
Roy Drusky: I Really Don't Want to Know
Johnson Mountain Boys: Duncan & Brady/Springtime in Glory
George Hamilton IV: Life's Railway to Heaven

Pam Tillis has enjoyed many career-defining moments on stage at the Grand Ole Opry. The daughter of singer and songwriting legend Mel Tillis, she made her Opry debut on the Ryman Auditorium stage at age eight, singing "Tom Dooley" with her dad. "It was a larger-than-life moment for me," Pam recalls. "It was sort of like he was passing me the baton. The microphone came down to me and it was in slow motion. My little knees were knocking together. I got my knees under control and it traveled up. My lip was twitching and I was a like little kiddie Elvis."

In 2000, Pam was on the legendary stage once again, now looking down rather than up, as Little Jimmy Dickens invited her to became an Opry member. Without a moment's hesitation, she said yes.

Throughout her career, Pam has earned nearly 20 Top 10 singles, three Country Music Association awards, including the coveted Female Vocalist of the Year in 1994, and two Grammys. She has experimented with pop, Broadway, and jazz, seamlessly incorporating those influences into music that remains unmistakably country at its core.

Throughout the '80s, Pam worked as a back-up vocalist, jingle singer, club performer, songwriter, and demo singer before her first hit single, "Don't Tell Me What to Do" reached the Top 5 in 1990. She followed with hits including "Maybe It Was Memphis," "Shake the Sugar Tree," "Mi Vida Loca," and "All The Good Ones Are Gone." Two albums were million-sellers.

"In all my years in the music business," Pam says, "I've been very proud that I wasn't calculated, that I really did what I felt, and what I thought was honest for me to sing. Daddy always said, 'Never change who you are; let it come around to you.' So when things did happen for me, it was because what I wanted to do was what people now wanted to hear."

Here is the running order from Saturday August 26, 2000, the night Pam Tillis became a member of the Grand Ole Opry:

1st show
6:30: WSM online/Tex Mex
Jeannie Seely (host): Leaving and Saying Goodbye
The Whites: Pins & Needles
Bill Carlisle: I've Waited too Long
Mandy Barnett: Hurt/Trademark
Jeannie Seely: Making Plans

7:00: Shoney's
Porter Wagoner (host): Howdy, Neighbor, Howdy
Billy Walker: She Goes Walking Through My Mind
Matt King: A Woman's Tears
Connie Smith: I Never Stopped Once Loving You
Jack Greene: Ever Since My Baby Went Away
Porter Wagoner: I've Enjoyed as Much of This As I Can Stand/On a Highway Headed South

7:30: Standard Candy
Marty Stuart (host): Hillbilly Highway
Darryl Worley: When You Need My Love
Charlie Louvin: Will You Visit Me on Sundays
Pam Tillis: All the Good Ones are Gone/Maybe it was Memphis

8:00: Martha White
Bill Anderson (host): Southern Fried
Pam Tillis: Mi Vida Loca
T. Bubba Bechtol: Comedy
Holly Dunn: You Really Had Me Going
Opry Square Dance Band/ Melvin Sloan Dancers: Cherokee Shuffle
Bill Anderson: Still

8:30: Physicians Mutual
Jimmy Dickens (host): Mountain Dew
Skeeter Davis: The End of the World
Jimmy C Newman: Colinda
Jeanne Pruett: Temporarily Yours
Mike Snider: John Henry
Jimmy Dickens: Life Turned Her that Way

2nd show
9:30: Big Lots
Porter Wagoner (host): My Long Journey Home
Connie Smith: How Long; Oh, How Long/He Was There All the Time
Jeanne Pruett: Satin Sheets
George Hamilton IV: Forever Young
Porter Wagoner: Daddy's Old Sayings and Mama's Beliefs/Sorrow on the Rocks

10:00: Lincoln Mercury/Opryland Hotel
Jimmy Dickens (host): Sleeping at the Foot of the Bed
Skeeter Davis: I Can Call Jesus Anytime
Stu Phillips: Colorado
Mandy Barnett: Up the Lazy River/The Whispering Wind
Jimmy Dickens: I'd Rather Sleep in Peace than Know You're Gone

10:30: Folex Spot Remover/Joggin' In A Jug
Marty Stuart (host): Rock Island Line
Matt King Burying Bones
Pam Tillis: No Use Crying Over Spilled Perfume/I Said A Prayer
Opry Square Dance Band/Melvin Sloan Dancers: Sally Goodin
Marty Stuart: Dark As a Dungeon

11:00: Coca Cola
Bill Anderson (host): Po Folks
Mike Snider: If My Nose was Runnin' Money
Holly Dunn: Devil, Stand Back
Billy Grammer: I Dreamed of an Old Love Affair
Bill Anderson: A Picture from Life's Other Side

11:30: Wildhorse Saloon
Charlie Walker (host): Cherokee Maiden
T. Bubba Bechtol: Comedy
Darryl Worley: When You Need My Love/A Good Day to Run

There you have it for this week. I hope everyone enjoys the Opry this weekend and Garth's return.