Grand Ole Opry 3/6 & 3/7

So how is everyone feeling today? Based on all of the comments I have read, including those on Facebook and Twitter, Rhonda Vincent's invitation to be the next new member of the Grand Ole Opry might be the most popular decision that the Opry has made in many, many years. Personally, this should have happened a long time ago and I am very happy for Rhonda. I think it is safe to say that Dan Rogers in off to a great start with first, Gene Watson and now Rhonda Vincent becoming Opry members. It should be a great evening on Tuesday March 24.

As far as the Grand Ole Opry is looking this weekend, it is nice to see Jesse McReynolds listed on the schedule for Saturday night, in which he will be recognized upon his 56th anniversary as a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Jesse, along with his late brother Jim, became Opry members on March 2, 1964. After Jim passed away in 2002, Jesse has continued on as a solo member. While recent health issues have limited some of Jesse's Opry appearances, hopefully he is well enough to make Saturday night's show.

Looking at the schedule, Opry members John Conlee, Mark Wills and Steve Wariner are scheduled for both Friday and Saturday night. On Friday night, that trio will be joined by The Whites, Connie Smith and Mike Snider, while on Saturday night, in addition to Jesse, Riders In The Sky, Bill Anderson, Bobby Osborne and Lorrie Morgan are listed. For Lorrie, this will be her first Opry show of 2020.

Blanco Brown is schedule to appear both nights this weekend, joined on Friday night by Sam Outlaw, Chonda Pierce, Sierra Hull and Brandy Clark. On Saturday night, in addition to Blanco, the guest artists include Rhett Akins, comedians Williams & Ree and Maddie & Tae.

Friday March 6
7:00: John Conlee (host); Sam Outlaw; Mike Snider
7:30: Mark Wills (host); The Whites; Blanco Brown
Intermission
8:15: Connie Smith (host); Chonda Pierce; Sierra Hull
8:45: Steve Wariner (host); Brandy Clark

Saturday March 7
7:00: John Conlee (host); Mark Wills; Riders In The Sky
7:30: Bill Anderson (host); Jesse McReynolds; Rhett Akins
Intermission
8:15: Steve Wariner (host); Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press; Blanco Brown; Opry Square Dancers
8:45: Lorrie Morgan (host); Williams & Ree; Maddie & Tae

Of the 11 acts scheduled for the Friday Night Opry, 6 are Opry members, while 8 of the 12 acts on Saturday are members of the Opry's cast.

Hosting the Ernest Tubb Midnight Jamboree this week will be George Hamilton V.
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And now, here is the running order from 25 years ago, the first Saturday in March 1995:

Saturday March 4
1st show
6:30: Riders In The Sky (host); Bill Carlisle
6:45: Grandpa Jones (host); Skeeter Davis
7:00: Porter Wagoner (host); Jean Shepard; Jim Ed Brown; Jan Howard; The Whites
7:30: Billy Walker (host); Natalie Stovall; Jimmy C Newman; Mark Collie
8:00: Bill Anderson (host); Hank Locklin; The Four Guys; Jack Greene; Opry Square Dance Band; The Melvin Sloan Dancers
8:30: Ricky Skaggs (host); Jeannie Seely; Lorrie Morgan

2nd show
9:30: Porter Wagoner (host); Charlie Louvin; Brother Oswald; Hank Locklin; The Whites
10:00: Grandpa Jones (host); Jean Shepard; Hal Ketchum
10:15: Lorrie Morgan (host); Roy Drusky
10:30: Bill Anderson (host); Riders In The Sky
10:45: Jimmy C Newman (host); Charlie Walker; Opry Square Dance Band; The Melvin Sloan Dancers
11:00: Jeannie Seely (host); John Conlee; Mark Collie
11:30: Jack Greene (host); The Four Guys; Ricky Skaggs; Stu Phillips

From 50 years ago, Saturday March 7, 1970:

7:30: Jimmy C Newman (host); Jean Shepard; Ray Pillow; Stringbean
8:00: Lester Flatt (host): Loretta Lynn; Wilma Lee Cooper; Crook Brothers
8:30: Billy Walker (host); Dottie West; Earl Scruggs Revue; Stu Phillips; Lonzo and Oscar
9:00: George Morgan (host); Jim and Jesse; Grandpa Jones; Margie Bowes; Fruit Jar Drinkers
9:30: Del Reeves (host); Willis Brothers; Jeannie C. Riley; Hank Williams, Jr.
10:00: Jimmy C Newman (host); Jean Shepard; Stringbean; Ray Pillow
10:15: George Morgan (host); Loretta Lynn; George Lindsay; Stu Phillips
10:30: Lester Flatt (host); Dottie West; Wilma Lee Cooper; Lonzo and Oscar
10:45: Billy Walker (host); Earl Scruggs Revue; Jim and Jesse; Crook Brothers
11:00: Willis Brothers (host); Grandpa Jones; Justin Tubb; Fruit Jar Drinkers; Margie Bowes; Sam McGee
11:30: Del Reeves (host); Jeannie C. Riley; Hank Williams, Jr.

March 7, 1964 was an important date in the history of the Grand Ole Opry as Jim and Jesse, along with Ernie Ashworth, made their first appearances as members of the Grand Ole Opry.

Raised near Coeburn, Virginia, Jesse McReynolds grew up in a family steeped in traditional mountain music. That background made it natural for him to follow the footsteps of his grandfather, Charlie McReynolds, who was one of the first musicians to record for Victor (later known as RCA) in Bristol, Virginia, in 1927.

In 1952, Jim and Jesse made their major-label debut on Capitol Records. In 1967, three years after joining the Opry, the duo had a Top 20 country hit with “Diesel on My Tail.”

“The first time we were on the Opry, we thought, ‘Gosh, think of all the people who’ve been here.’ I see all these young people come in now and just stand downstairs where so many big stars have been throughout the years. We were the same way — never dreamed we’d ever get to the Grand Ole Opry,” Jesse says.

The brother act recorded for several other labels, including their own Old Dominion Records, releasing such classics as “The Flame of Love,” “Cotton Mill Man,” and John Prine’s “Paradise.”
The duo regularly made the country charts from the ’60s through the ’80s, with such tunes as “Better Times A-Coming,” “Ballad of Thunder Road,” “Freight Train,” “North Wind,” and “Oh Louisiana.” They were inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Hall of Honor in 1993.

Working with or without Jim, Jesse has performed in musical settings that cross a variety of genres. Jim and Jesse recorded one of the first bluegrass-rock crossovers in 1965, with their Chuck Berry tribute, Berry Pickin’ in the Country. In 1969, the Doors’ Jim Morrison picked Jesse to play mandolin on The Soft Parade. While working with banjoist Eddie Adcock, fiddler Kenny Baker and Dobro player Josh Graves, Jesse recorded during the late ’80s and early ’90s as part of the Masters supergroup.

Since completing what turned out to be the last album recorded with his brother, ‘Tis Sweet to Be Remembered, Jesse built a new edition of his backup band, the Virginia Boys. Jesse recorded an instrumental album with fiddle wizard Travis Wetzel, and his 2007 album Dixie Road featured several originals, as well as masterful covers of songs including Helen Carter’s “The First One to Love You” and Dan Fogelberg’s “Run for the Roses.”

Having spent more than 60 years in music, Jesse, who will turn 91 later this year, still performs on the Grand Ole Opry has his health permits.

Singer/songwriter and guitarist Ernie Ashworth listened to the Grand Ole Opry as a youth in his native Huntsville, AL, and he began writing songs even before taking up the guitar. By 1948 he was playing in a band called the Tunetwisters and appearing on Huntsville radio station WBHP. Making the move to Nashville the following year, Ashworth earned a living as an early member of that city's fabled community of songwriters and performed on radio stations WLAC and WSIX. He became a staff writer for the Acuff-Rose publishing house, composing songs for such performers as Little Jimmy Dickens and Carl Smith and even crossing over to the pop sphere when he placed "I Wish" with rock & roll crooner Paul Anka. In 1955, Wesley Rose greased the wheels for Ashworth's signing to the MGM label as Billy Worth, but the six singles he cut for the label went nowhere on the charts. In 1957, Ashworth returned to Alabama and took a job at Huntsville's Redstone Arsenal missile plant.

Meanwhile, Rose remained determined to further Ashworth's music career and managed to get him signed to Decca in 1960. Now billed as Ernest Ashworth, he hit the Top Five with his first Decca single, "Each Moment (Spent With You)." That same year he scored a Top Ten hit with "You Can't Pick a Rose in December." In 1962, he signed with the Acuff-Rose-owned Hickory label and again hit the Top Five with "Everybody but Me." A year later, he had his only number one hit with the John D. Loudermilk-penned "Talk Back Trembling Lips." That song was tailor-made for Ashworth's vulnerable tenor voice. It propelled him to Most Promising Male Artist awards from Billboard and Cashbox magazines and to Grand Ole Opry membership in 1964. With further successes, such as the self-penned "I Love to Dance With Annie," Ashworth was a consistent hitmaker up to the release of 1970's "The Look of Goodbye." After four singles on the independent O'Brien label flopped, he retired to his farm in Lewisburg, TN, continuing to appear regularly on the Opry and occasionally touring the country. In 1989 he became the owner of Ardmore, TN, radio station WSLV, and his occasional recording releases in the 1990s found favor among tradition-minded European country listeners.

In his later years, Ernie would appear occasionally on the Grand Ole Opry while continuing to manage his radio stations. In 2008, he was elected to the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.

Ernie Ashworth passed away in March 2009.

Here is the best that I was able to put together as to the running order 56 years ago, the night Jim and Jesse, along with Ernie Ashworth made their first appearances as members of the Grand Ole Opry cast.

7:30: Luzianne
Jimmy Newman (host): Alligator Man
Wilburn Brothers: (?)
Marion Worth: You Took Him Off My Hands
Stringbean: Little Pink
Jimmy Newman: D.J. For A Day
Del Wood: Waiting for the Robert E Lee
Merle Kilgore: (?)
Wilburn Brothers: (?)
Jimmy Newman: Six Days on the Road

8:00: Martha White
Flatt and Scruggs (host): (?)
Skeeter Davis: The End of the World
Glaser Brothers: (?)
Ernest Ashworth: Talk Back Trembling Lips
Flatt and Scruggs: (?)
Ray Pillow: (?)
Crook Brothers: Black Mountain Rag
Glaser Brothers: (?)
Flatt and Scruggs: (?)

8:30: Stephens
Roy Acuff (host): Low & Lonely
June Stearns: (?)
Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper: Each Season Changes You
Archie Campbell: Comedy
Roy Acuff: The End of the World
Hank Williams, Jr: Long Gone Lonesome Blues
Brother Oswald: My Curly Headed Baby
Howdy Forrester: Soldiers Joy
Roy Acuff: Mothers Only Sleeping

9:00: Pet Milk
Ernest Tubb (host): (?)
Jean Shepard: (?)
Billy Walker: Forever
Jim and Jesse: (?)
Ernest Tubb: (?)
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Ida Red
Cousin Jody: I Suffered More Than You'll Ever Know
Jean Shepard: (?)
Ernest Tubb: (?)

9:30: Kellogg's
Leroy Van Dyke (host): (?)
Dottie West: (?)
The Carter Family: (?)
The Browns: (?)
Leroy Van Dyke: (?)
Wilburn Brothers: (?)

10:00: Schick
Jimmy Newman (host): The Mover
Stringbean: (?)
Wilburn Brothers: (?)

10:15: SSS Tonic
Flatt and Scruggs (host): (?)
Marion Worth: He Loves Me; He Loves Me Not
Del Wood: Queenie of the Town
Flatt and Scruggs: (?)

10:30: Harvey's
Roy Acuff (host): (?)
Skeeter Davis: He Says the Same Things to Me
Ernest Ashworth: A Week in the County Jail
Roy Acuff: (?)
Howdy Forrester and Jimmy Riddle: Black Mountain Rag

10:45: Ford
Ernest Tubb (host): (?)
Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper: I Wanna Be Loved
Crook Brothers: Lafayette
Ernest Tubb: (?)
Stoney Cooper: Canadian Reel

11:00: Coca Cola
Leroy Van Dyke (host): (?)
Jean Shepard: (?)
Billy Walker: Charlie's Shoes
Glaser Brothers: (?)
Leroy Van Dyke: (?)
Hank Williams, Jr: Cold, Cold Heart
Sam McGee: Dear Old Southern Home
Glaser Brothers: (?)
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Katy Hill
Leroy Van Dyke: (?)

11:30: Gretsch Guitars
Marty Robbins (host): (?)
The Browns: (?)
Willis Brothers: Private Lee
Jim and Jesse: (?)
Marty Robbins: (?)
Cousin Jody: Cripple Creek
Don Winters: (?)
Willis Brothers: Everlovin' Dixieland
Marty Robbins: (?)

To finish it up, Opry Country Classics returns on Thursday March 5 with Chris Young, T.G. Sheppard, Maggie Rose, Mandy Barnett and The Swon Brothers listed. I did not see any host or spotlight artist highlighted.

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