Grand Ole Opry Saturday September 5

Before getting into Saturday #26 of the Circle Grand Ole Opry shows, Opry member Jeannie Seely has been in the news lately as she has celebrated her 80th birthday and has released a new album.

In honor of Jeannie's accomplishments, I thought I would share this interview that was recently printed in Billboard magazine.

Were COVID-19 not in the way, Jeannie Seely would be holding court at the SOURCE Awards on Aug. 25, co-hosting an event that celebrates the women who were instrumental in the growth of Nashville’s music business. Seely would be swapping jokes and one-liners with Brenda Lee about height and aging, likely with a little sexual innuendo thrown in to keep the crowd laughing, handling the spot light at age 80 as well as she ever has in over 50 years as a Music City artist. Seely has been
a Grand Ole Opry member since 1967, the same year that she won a Grammy for her signature song, “Don’t Touch Me.” But her comfort and command of the stage have her living out her golden years as a veritable golden girl, country’s version of Betty White. “I’ll take that,” she says in a socially
distanced conversation on her back patio that overlooks the Cumberland River. “I love animals like she does. I hope I can live as long as she has.”

She’s certainly living well. Seely hosts a regular Sunday show on SiriusXM’s country oldies channel, Willie’s Roadhouse —a role she was offered after participating in a roast of fellow personality Charlie Monk — she’s an ambassador for the Grand Ole Opry, and she’s still making new music, issuing the appropriately titled album An American Classic through Curb on Aug. 14. The cover art treats the golden girl like a bit of a glamour girl, but the contents mine foundational sounds and ideals
in popular music. Produced by music veteran Don Cusic, Classic includes remakes of her two biggest solo singles, “Don’t Touch Me” (No. 2, 1966) and “Can I Sleep in Your Arms” (No. 6, 1973), plus versions of songs associated with Dolly Parton and Roger Miller, Paul McCartney’s “Dance
Tonight” and a somewhat forgotten pop standard, “Teach Me Tonight,” associated with 1950s MOR acts Jo Stafford and The DeCastro Sisters. The project pairs her with a series of collaborators (mostly fellow Opry members), including The Whites, Steve Wariner, Lorrie Morgan, Bill Anderson, Rhonda Vincent, Ray Stevens, Vince Gill, Waylon Payne and Willie Nelson, who has been intertwined with Seely’s story throughout much of her career.

The Pennsylvania native first met Nelson in 1963 when she worked as a secretary for a Los Angeles record label. When she suffered multiple injuries in a 1977 car accident, Nelson aided her rebound by making her an opening act on his fair dates for several years and including her on-screen and in the
soundtrack of his 1980 movie Honeysuckle Rose. And when the flood of 2010 swamped the Cumberland River bank and covered her patio, house and front lawn, Nelson came to the rescue again. “Willie called me,” she remembers. “We chatted for a little bit, and he said, ‘Well, I see that you no longer have a mailbox. Where do I send a check?’ It just makes me cry now to think of it. So he was one of the first ones to step up, offer help. And then again with the [show on] Willie’s Roadhouse, and now again with this album.”

Like others who have reached their golden years with grace, Seely remains active in the present instead of dwelling on the past. She doesn’t deny her experiences, for they inform how she handles the current moment and enabled her appreciate the leadership position she occupies, both as an icon for country acts now following in her footsteps and as someone who has lived in the business role of the women she has helped to honor through the SOURCE Awards. “[Hosting] means a lot to me because of my years of being a secretary and working at that desk, and knowing how you had to be good at that position,” she says. “You had to know a lot of what your boss knew. There’s a lot of responsibility sitting there, and a lot of crap comes across that desk that you kind of have to sort out yourself. It’s a very important position, it’s hard work, and you’ve got to be able to use every bit of diplomacy.”

That said, Seely has figured out how to diplomatically flirt with blue humor and still maintain her shining aura. She demonstrated that when she performed “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is” recently on the Opry. As she introduced the song, she casually recounted how she had written it in the early 1960s. “Some guy hollered, ‘Holy shit!,’ and I mean the entire auditorium fell down laughing,” she says with a chuckle. “I said, ‘Yeah, that’s kind of what I was thinking.’ Everybody was turning around trying to see who said it. This guy, I think he was drunk, but [even] with SiriusXM delayed, they didn’t get it stopped. So it went out on SiriusXM for the world.”

Seely is, in her eighth decade, getting the last laugh — honing her chops in a late-blooming radio show, calling on scads of famous friends as she releases a new album and continuing an evolution from the old-school role of quiet girl singer into one of country’s respected golden girls.
“I was never given a chance to say anything in the early years,” she says.“Once I was given a chance, I ran with it.”
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And no, Jeannie Seely will not be on the Grand Ole Opry this Saturday night, but two of the bigger names at the Opry will be as Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood will be appearing. For Brad, this will be his 3rd visit to the Opry House since the shutdown took place, while Carrie will be making her first Opry visit this year.
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Now, looking back to 25 years ago, the 1st Saturday in September 1995:

Saturday September 2
1st show
6:30: Grandpa Jones (host); Jean Shepard
6:45: Bill Monroe (host); Bill Carlisle
7:00: The Whites (host); Brother Oswald; Wilma Lee Cooper; Darrell McCall
7:30: Jimmy C Newman (host); Stu Phillips; Jeanne Pruett; Clinton Gregory
8:00: Porter Wagoner (host); Skeeter Davis; Roy Drusky; Jan Howard; Opry Square Dance Band; The Melvin Sloan Dancers
8:30: Hank Snow (host); Justin Tubb; Charlie Walker; Del Reeves

2nd show
9:30: Porter Wagoner (host); Jean Shepard; Charlie Walker; Ray Pillow
10:00: Grandpa Jones (host); Clinton Gregory
10:15: Bill Monroe (host); Jan Howard
10:30: Jimmy C Newman (host); Stonewall Jackson
10:45: Jeanne Pruett (host); Roy Drusky; Opry Square Dance Band; The Melvin Sloan Dancers
11:00: The Whites (host); Del Reeves; Wilma Lee Cooper; Darrell McCall
11:30: Mike Snider (host); Skeeter Davis; Gene Watson

Jack Greene was schedule for both shows but cancelled, while Hank Snow cancelled for the 2nd show that night.
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50 years ago, Saturday September 5, 1970:

1st show
6:30: Stu Phillips (host); Lorene Mann; David Rogers
6:45: George Morgan (host); Jerry Smith; James Allen
7:00: Hank Locklin (host); Earl Scruggs Revue; Joe and Rose Lee Maphis; Jay Lee Webb
7:30: Charlie Walker (host); Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper; Jimmy Martin; Crook Brothers
8:00: Porter Wagoner (host); Dolly Parton; Bill Carlisle; Johnny Carver
8:30: Glaser Brothers (host); Ray Pillow; Stan Hitchcock; Fruit Jar Drinkers

2nd show
9:30: George Morgan (host); Earl Scruggs Revue; Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper; Lorene Mann
10:00: Ray Pillow (host); Johnny Carver; James Allen
10:15: Charlie Walker (host); Joe and Rose Lee Maphis; Jerry Smith
10:30: Hank Locklin (host); Jay Lee Webb; Karen Wheeler
10:45: Stu Phillips (host); Jimmy Martin; Crook Brothers
11:00: Porter Wagoner (host); Dolly Parton; Fruit Jar Drinkers; Sam McGee
11:30: Glaser Brothers (host); Bill Carlisle; Stan Hitchcock

Looks like a lot of the Opry's heavy hitters were on the fair circuit that Labor Day weekend.
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Now going back 61 years to Saturday September 5, 1959:

7:30: Pet Milk
Theme: Fire In The Mountain
Jim Reeves (host); Home
Louvin Brothers: My Curly Headed Baby
Carl Butler: Grief In My Heart
Margie Bowes: Sweet Night Of Love
Jim Reeves: I'm Beginning To Forget You
Del Wood: New Pony Boy
Jordanaires: Sugaree
Louvin Brothers: While You're Cheating On Me
Carl Butler: I Know What It Means To Be Lonesome
Jim Reeves: Partners

8:00: Martha White
Porter Wagoner: Theme
Porter Wagoner (host): Tell Her Lies And Feed Her Candy
Ferlin Husky: Draggin' The River
Hawkshaw Hawkins: Soldiers Joy
Rusty and Doug: You'll See
Porter Wagoner: Satisfied Mind
Jean Shepard: I'll Take The Blame
Ferlin Husky: Simon
Crook Brothers: Arkansas Traveler
Rusty and Doug: I Like You
Porter Wagoner: Uncle Pen

8:30: Prince Albert
Marty Robbins (host): Hanging Tree
Archie Campbell: Comedy
Stonewall Jackson: Waterloo
Tommy Jackson: Black Berry Blossom
Marty Robbins: Tell Mother I'll Be There
Chet Atkins: Twelfth Street Rag
June Carter: Comedy
Stonewall Jackson: Smoke Along The Track
String Beans: That's What I Like About The South
Marty Robbins: Last Night About This Time
Tommy Jackson: Stony Point
Stonewall Jackson: Life To Go

9:00: Jefferson Island Salt
Jordanaires: Theme
Roy Acuff (host): So Many Times
Don Gibson: Don't Tell Me Your Troubles
Wilburn Brothers: Somebody's Back In Town
June Webb: What Price To Pay
Bill Monroe: Gotta Travel On
Oswald: Southern Moon
Justin Tubb: I Know You Do
Fruit Jars: Take Me Back To Tulsa
Don Gibson: Heartbreak Avenue
Roy Acuff: I'll Fly Away
Howdy Forrester: Money Music

9:30: Stephens
Lonzo and Oscar: Theme
Faron Young (host): Country Girl
Billy Grammer: Willie Quit Your Playing
George Morgan: The Little Dutch Girl
Lonzo and Oscar: I'm My Own Grandpa
Faron Young: I Hear You Talking
Carlisles: Union Suit
Roy Drusky: Wait And See
Billy Grammer: It Likes You
George Morgan: The Last Thing I Want
Faron Young: Alone With You

10:00: Standard Brands
Ferlin Husky (host): Alabama Jubilee
Porter Wagoner: Our Song Of Love
Margie Bowes: I Loved You So Much
Louvin Brothers: Don't Laugh
Ferlin Husky: Simon
Carl Butler: Oh How I Miss You
Del Wood: Raggin The Keys
Crook Brothers: Lost Indian
Ferlin Husky: My Reason For Living

10:30: Delited
Glaser Brothers: Theme
Marty Robbins (host): I Can't Quit
Stonewall Jackson: Life To Go
String Beans: Roving Gamblers
Marty Robbins: In The Valley
Fiddle Tune: Sally Goodin

10:45: De Con
Jim Reeves (host): Billy Bayou
Hawkshaw Hawkins: Big Red Benson
Jean Shepard: Have Heart Will Love
Jim Reeves: Four Walls
Fiddle Tune: Ragtime Annie

11:00: Coca-Cola
Jordanaires: Theme
Roy Acuff (host): Ida Red
Wilburn Brothers: I Love Everybody
Bill Monroe: Blue Moon Of Kentucky
Lonzo and Oscar: Get Up Julie
Roy Acuff: The One I Love Is Gone
June Webb: Conscience
Oswald: Good Old Mountain
Sam and Kirk: When The Wagon Was New
Fruit Jars: Katy Hill
Roy Acuff: Father Alone

11:30: Jamison Bedding
Jordanaires: Theme
Faron Young (host): Go Steady
George Morgan: I'm In Love Again
Roy Drusky: Such A Fool
Faron Young: That's The Way It's Gonna Be
Fiddle Tune: Old Joe Clark

11:45: Warren Paint
Carlisles: Theme
Don Gibson (host): Who Cares
Billy Grammer: Willie Quit Your Playing
Carlisles: Down Boy
Don Gibson: I Couldn't Care Less
Fiddle Tune: Bill Cheatham

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