Grand Ole Opry 3/20 & 3/21

Good Thursday Afternoon All:

First, I hope everyone is safe and well. So much going on right now and we need to be taking care of ourselves. While it may take a little time, things will get back to normal, and that includes the world of music. Currently, tours and concerts are being cancelled or postponed, in some cases into summer. And that includes the Grand Ole Opry. While the Opry is still expecting to resume shows in April, and tickets are available for future shows, the feeling is that probably will not happen. While the lost of those shows takes away the pleasure of attending or listening to the Opry, the show has continued as the Opry staff is committed to keeping the circle unbroken by putting on an abbreviated Saturday night show.

Last week's show was very well received, with an estimated half a million viewers watching the show on the various platforms in which it was presented. And while many of us missed some of our favorites, it was nice to see Connie Smith, Bill Anderson, Jeannie Seely, and the guest artists. A nice variety. It was very strange to hear no applause or audience response and there was a little awkwardness between some of the songs, but overall, it was an excellent show.

Even more exciting is that the Opry has decided to continue these broadcasts, with the focus this Saturday night on The Circle network.  The Circle is an over-the-air network that hopefully most of you will be able to pick up. My understanding is that the show will also be available on the web.

As I type this on Thursday afternoon, the Opry has not released a line-up for Saturday night. When I contacted the Opry, there was no information to give. My guess is that they are still firming it up as things are probably pretty fluid right now.

Continuing forward, I will still be posting and updating information as I receive it and the blog will continue, even if there is little information from the Opry to report.

I'll post as soon as I receive the line-up.

But for now, here is the Opry line-up from 25 years ago, the 3rd Saturday in March 1995:

Saturday March 18
1st show
6:30: Grandpa Jones (host); Jeanne Pruett
6:45: Bill Monroe (host); Skeeter Davis
7:00: Porter Wagoner (host); Jean Shepard; Brother Oswald; Jeannie Seely; Alison Krauss
7:30: Ricky Skaggs (host); Ketty Lester; Charlie Walker; Joe Diffie
8:00: Bill Anderson (host); The Whites; Jack Greene; Opry Square Dance Band; The Melvin Sloan Dancers
8:30: Hank Snow (host); The Four Guys; Stonewall Jackson; Bill Carlisle; Jimmy C Newman

2nd show
9:30: Porter Wagoner (host); Jim Ed Brown; Wilma Lee Cooper; Joe Diffie
10:00: Grandpa Jones (host); Riders In The Sky
10:15: Bill Monroe (host); Jean Shepard
10:30: Ricky Skaggs (host); Alison Krauss
10:45: Bill Anderson (host); Billy Walker; Opry Square Dance Band; The Melvin Sloan Dancers
11:00: Hank Snow (host); Jack Greene; Charlie Louvin; Jan Howard; Johnny Russell
11:30: The Four Guys (host); Connie Smith; Ray Pillow; Jeannie Seely

Who remembers Ketty Lester?

Ketty Lester was born Revoyda Frierson on August 16, 1934 in Hope, Arkansas. As a young child, she first sang in her church, and later in school choirs. She won a scholarship to study music at San Francisco State College, and in the early 1950s, she began performing under the name "Ketty Lester" in the city's Purple Onion club. She later toured Europe as a singer with Cab Calloway's orchestra.

Returning to California, she recorded her first single, "Queen for a Day", for the Everest label. She was introduced by Dorothy Shay to record producers and songwriters Ed Cobb and Lincoln Mayorga  who won her a contract with Era Records in Los Angeles. In 1961, they released her single "I'm a Fool to Want You" b/w "Love Letters". Radio listeners and disc jockeys preferred the B-side, a reworking of a 1945 hit by Dick Haymes, and Lester's recording of "Love Letters", which rose to #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 early in 1962. The record also reached #2 on the R&B chart and #4 in the UK Singles Chart, selling over 1 million copies.

In 1962, she toured the UK as support act on the Everly Brothers tour. The follow-up, a version of George and Ira Gershwin's "But Not for Me" from the musical Girl Crazy, reached #41 in the U.S. pop charts and #45 in the UK. She released an album, Love Letters, which contained the tracks "You Can't Lie to a Liar" and a cover of Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" (both of which were issued as singles) and was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance category.

She continued to record for Era with little success until 1964, when she signed for RCA. She released several unsuccessful singles for that label, and two albums,  By the early 1970s, she gave up singing commercially and turned to acting. She reportedly was offered the role eventually taken by Diahann
Carroll in the 1968-71 TV series Julia, and appeared in a variety of movies.

She established herself as a television actress in the 1970s and 1980s, playing the roles of Helen Grant on Days of Our Lives (1975–77) and as Hester-Sue Terhune on Little House on the Prairie (1977–83). as well as making appearances on other television shows and movies.

At last word, she is still alive.

Now from 50 years ago, Saturday March 21, 1970:

7:30: Charlie Louvin (host); Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper; Stringbean; Justin Tubb; Darrell McCall
8:00: Lester Flatt (host); Stu Phillips; Connie Eaton; Crook Brothers
8:30: George Morgan (host); Grandpa Jones; Ernie Ashworth; Margie Bowes
9:00: Ernest Tubb (host); Earl Scruggs Revue; Del Wood; Fruit Jar Drinkers; Penny DeHaven; Billy Parker
9:30: Hank Snow (host); Jimmy C Newman; Jean Shepard; Merle Travis
10:00: Stu Phillips (host); Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper; Stringbean
10:15: Charlie Louvin (host); Grandpa Jones; Justin Tubb
10:30: Lester Flatt (host); George Morgan; Connie Eaton
10:45: Ernest Tubb (host); Earl Scruggs Revue; Crook Brothers
11:00: Hank Snow (host); Ernie Ashworth; Merle Travis; Fruit Jar Drinkers; Margie Bowes; Sam McGee
11:30: Jimmy C Newman (host); Jean Shepard; Ray Pillow; Del Wood

Looking back at past Grand Ole Opry dates, March 20, 1976 was the date of the Opry's annual reunion show, often called "Old Timer's Night." Held yearly beginning in 1974, it was a night in which former members of the Grand Ole Opry would return to visit and perform. It was always a great night of memories.

Here is the running order from 44 years ago, Saturday March 20, 1976

1st show
6:30: Mrs Grissoms
Charlie Walker (host): My Shoes Keep Walking to You
Willis Brothers: The World is Waiting for the Sunrise
Charlie Walker: Marbles

6:45: Rudy's
Stonewall Jackson (host): Me & You & A Dog Named Boo
Justin Tubb: As Long as There's a Sunday/Cold Brown Bottle
Stonewall Jackson: Why I'm Walking

7:00: Shoney's
Bill Anderson (host): If You Can Live With It
Dottie West: (?)
Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper: Nobody's Darling But Mine
Duke of Paducah: If You Knew Susie
Paul Howard: Stay a Little Longer
Bill Anderson and Mary Lou Turner: Sometimes
Bill Anderson: I Love You Drops

7:30: Standard Candy
Roy Acuff (host): Wabash Cannonball
Honey Wilds: Sittin' on Top of the World
Chet Atkins: (?)/ Wheels/Wildwood Flower/Freight Train/(?)
Sid Harkreader: Mockingbird Breakdown/Red Wing
Minnie Pearl: Jealous Hearted Me
Crook Brothers and The Tennessee Travelers: Cotton Eyed Joe

8:00: Martha White
Grandpa Jones (host): Are You from Dixie
Connie Smith: Til I Kissed You
Hank Locklin: These Arms You Push Away
Jimmy C Newman: Alligator Man
Jimmy Driftwood: The Mixed Up Family

8:30: Stephens
Hank Snow (host): I'm Movin' On
Jeanne Pruett: Satin Sheets
Jimmy Dickens: Sleepin' at the Foot of the Bed
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Hickory Leaf
Pee Wee King: Tennessee Waltz
Hank Snow: Paper Roses

2nd show
9:30: Kellogg's
Bill Anderson (host): Wild Weekend
Willis Brothers: Maiden's Prayer/Faded Love
Dottie West: Last Time I Saw Him
Stonewall Jackson: Washed My Hands in Muddy Water
Charlie Walker: Marbles
Bill Anderson and Mary Lou Turner: Sometimes/That's What Made Me Love You

10:00: Fender
Minnie Pearl (MC): (?)
Connie Smith: Til I Kissed You
Justin Tubb: Keep Me From Blowing Away
Minnie Pearl: Careless Love

10:15: Union 76
Roy Acuff (host): Night Train to Memphis
Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper: Nine Pound Hammer
Jan Howard: Make the World Go Away
Roy Acuff: I Saw the Light

10:30: Trailblazer
Grandpa Jones (host): Make Me a Pallet Down on the Floor
Stu Phillips: Great El Tigrae
Pee Wee King: Bonaparte's Retreat
Grandpa Jones: In My Dear Old Southern Home

10:45: Beechnut
Jimmy C Newman (host): Big Mamou
Alcyone Beasley: Silver Threads Among the Gold
Crook Brothers and The Tennessee Travelers: Mississippi Sawyer
Jimmy C Newman: Jambalaya

11:00: Coca Cola
Hank Snow (host): Wreck of the Old 97
Skeeter Davis: The End of the World
Hank Locklin: These Arms You Push Away
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Nubbing Ridge
Skeeter Davis: Midnight Blue
Kirk McGee: Blue Night
Hank Snow: Address Unknown

11:30: Elm Hill
Roy Drusky (host): Truck Driving Man
Jeanne Pruett: Satin Sheets/Count Me Out
Jimmy Dickens: Family Reunion/We Could
Roy Drusky: This Life of Mine

Yes, Minnie Pearl was the MC of her segment, not the host.

Honey Wilds was one of the returning Opry members that night, and I wanted to just take a moment to remember his contributions to the Opry, as they are largely forgotten.

Honey Wilds was a Southern humorist and regular performer on the Grand Ole Opry between 1932 and 1952, He was the creative force behind the Opry's first tent tours, which were instrumental in bringing rural music to mass audiences. His recorded legacy was less substantial, resulting in only a handful of songs. Regardless, the reason why Wilds' name is frequently omitted from the official record is a simple -- yet infinitely complex -- one: he was a minstrel singer who performed in blackface for white audiences during the segregation era. Rather than serving as a painful reminder of America's past, he instead fell prey to the nation's notoriously selective memory, and has essentially vanished.

Lee David Wilds was born in 1902. His father, the owner of a brickyard, died of pneumonia at the age of 32. He grew up in a racially mixed community, learning to play the blues from the black musicians who performed at a nearby theater. He also took up the ukelele. In the mid-'20s, he joined a minstrel show, forming a duo with Lasses White, a blackface comedian and veteran of vaudeville. White, who had earned his nickname as a child because of his sweet tooth, was known for giving his partners complementary stage names, and so Honey Wilds was born.

Although music accounted for a large share of Lasses and Honey's act, the two men were primarily comedians. They performed novelty songs, often parodies of current hits. Like Al Jolson and Emmett Miller before them, their act consisted of material appropriated from African-American culture, allowing white audiences the opportunity to experience.  Most blackface performers insisted that their work sprung not from racism but from a deep admiration for black popular culture; the validity of such statements is debatable, although in Wilds' case it appears to be true, especially given his background and adult friendships with the likes of DeFord Bailey, one of country music's few black acts.

In 1932, Lasses and Honey were offered a six-week contract to perform at the Opry. Wilds ended up staying on for over two decades, his tenure broken only by a brief 1939 foray into Hollywood; although he soon returned to the Opry, White remained in California. Instead of going solo, Wilds formed another duo, Jam-Up and Honey, in 1940. Following his return from the West Coast, he also began pondering methods of improving the existing touring network, which consisted typically of two or three acts hitting the road together. With the Opry's endorsement, he bought an 80-by-200 foot tent, assembled a road crew and a wide variety of entertainers, and began promoting the tour throughout the country. The Opry tent shows proved highly successful, running annually from early April to Labor Day between 1940 and 1949.

Despite close friendships with Hank Williams (according to legend, it was Wilds who nicknamed Hank Jr. "Bocephus"), Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, Red Foley, and other Opry staples, Wilds rarely wrote or recorded his own material, focusing instead on live performances. Among his few existing recordings include "Alabamy Bound," a traditional country-blues, and "De Lion's Cage," an old Emmett Miller routine cut with producer Owen Bradley. In 1952, Jam-Up and Honey left the Opry to accept an offer in Knoxville; by that time, the duo no longer performed in blackface, and their act gradually fell out of favor. In 1957, the team split, and Wilds dropped out of music, running a service station until 1960, at which time he began hosting a local children's television program. By 1967, he had retired permanently, and died several years later.

There you have it for this week. As always, thanks for reading and commenting and I hope everyone enjoys the Opry this weekend.