Grand Ole Opry September 19

So who else received this email from the Opry this morning?

Opry Fans and Family,

Thank you for planning to be part of the Opry’s 95th Birthday weekend! We were so looking forward to celebrating this milestone with you and so many other fans. Obviously, the pandemic has forced us to dramatically change our plans for the occasion. Updating you on those plans is the purpose of this email.

As you may know, we have not been able to have shows with live audiences in the Opry House since March. However, we have not missed a Saturday night show throughout the last six months – doing a show every Saturday that is live-streamed and broadcast on both television and radio – without a ticketed audience.

We are hopeful that we will soon be able to welcome limited, physically distanced audiences to the Opry House on Saturday nights. But while we are optimistic, the timing is still uncertain. Thus, we are cancelling your tickets. If we are given the go-ahead to have a limited audience on October 3, we will immediately contact you with a pre-sale opportunity to purchase tickets to the filming of the live-streamed/televised show before it goes on sale to the public. If you have interest in potentially being part of our first audience back, please watch your email for another message from us.
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And from the Opry website today:

We continue to work to resume Grand Ole Opry shows with live audiences as soon as we can do so aligning with the COVID-19 guidelines of Nashville. When shows with in-house audiences do return, we plan to start slowly, having shows one night per week – Saturday. Assuming all goes well, we would expand to additional nights.

Thus, Grand Ole Opry shows on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday nights during the month of October have been cancelled, as have Opry Country Classics shows at the Ryman. If you purchased tickets to one of these shows, your ticket order is in the process of being cancelled and refunded to the credit card used to place the order. It may take 7- 14 days for the refund to reflect on your credit card account. If you purchased a post-show or VIP tour, parking, or the Circle Room VIP Party to accompany your show experience, those are also being cancelled and refunded to you.

We have also taken the Saturday night shows in October off sale and are refunding all ticket purchasers. We are hopeful that we will soon be able to welcome limited, physically distanced audiences to the Opry House on Saturday nights. But while we are optimistic, the timing is still uncertain and thus, Saturday ticket orders have also been cancelled. If we are given the go-ahead to have a limited audience on Saturday nights, we will give individuals who had purchased tickets to those shows the first opportunity to buy new tickets and then make any remaining tickets available to the general public.

At this time, November and December shows are still on sale though we are unsure if these shows will take place as planned.

(From what I have seen, if there is a live show on Saturday October 3rd,  those who originally bought tickets for the show that night will be called based on the order date of the previously cancelled order. In other words, those of us who are on the birthday list and get called yearly, will get the first call on tickets).

There you have it.
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There have been two live Friday night shows at the Ryman in recent weeks, with the first show featuring Scotty McCreery being limited to 125 in attendance, while last week's show with Brett Young was limited to 250. I am going to assume that when the Opry shows resume, there will be a limited on the attendance. Perhaps 500?

I know there are many of us anxious for the news on when live shows will start back up, probably no one more anxious then Rhonda Vincent, who is still waiting for her formal induction as an Opry member. And I would assume that once Rhonda is inducted, I am sure there are several more on the way, waiting in the wings.

So, while we continue in a holding pattern, the Opry will have it's 28th Circle show on Saturday night, this week featuring Grand Ole Opry member Ricky Skaggs. Joining Ricky will be Wendy Moten and Brothers Osborne (no, not the Osborne Brothers!!!). No word on whether it will be just Ricky alone, or if he will have Kentucky Thunder with him. Of all the types of music that has been presented on these past Saturday nights, bluegrass music has been the missing link. Would love to see it back.
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And now, from 50 years ago, Saturday September 19, 1970:

1st show
6:30: Jim and Jesse (host); Peggy Sue; Jay Lee Webb
6:45: Jim and Jesse (host); Barbara Fairchild; Cousin Jody
7:00: Stu Phillips (host); Liz Anderson; Jerry Smith; Claude Gray
7:30: Jim Ed Brown (host); Wilma Burgess; Johnny Carver; Crook Brothers
8:00: Roy Acuff (host); Hugh X Lewis; Peggy Little Jack Barlow
8:30: Porter Wagoner (host); Dolly Parton; Earl Scruggs Revue; Fruit Jar Drinkers

2nd show
9:30: Jim and Jesse (host); Jack Barlow; Peggy Sue; Jay Lee Webb; Claude Gray
10:00: Stu Phillips (host); Liz Anderson; Cousin Jody
10:15: Stu Phillips (host); Earl Scruggs Revue; Barbara Fairchild
10:30: Roy Acuff (host); Wilma Burgess; Norro Wilson
10:45: Jim Ed Brown (host); Hugh X Lewis; Crook Brothers
11:00: Porter Wagoner (host); Dolly Parton; Johnny Carver; Fruit Jar Drinkers;
11:30: Marty Robbins (host); Peggy Little; Ronnie Robbins

Another thin night as far as Opry members with Jim and Jesse hosting two segments on the first show and Stu Phillips doing back to back segments on the 2nd show. If folks have been following these 1970 shows, you will notice a lot of appearances by Peggy Sue, Jay Lee Webb, Wilma Burgess and Norro Wilson during this period.

Looking back, it was on Saturday September 18, 1965 that Connie Smith made her first appearance as a member on the Grand Ole Opry.
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As a shy 5-year-old, the sixth child in a family of 14, Constance June Meador once made the prophetic proclamation, “Someday I’m gonna sing on the Grand Ole Opry!” A member of the Opry since 1965, Connie Smith quickly made that dream a reality. Decades later, she continues to astonish audiences with a powerhouse voice that is one of the most respected and recognizable in country music.

Born in Indiana but raised in West Virginia and Ohio, Connie was a young housewife and mother with a 4-month-old son in Warner, Ohio, in 1963, when she and her husband traveled to see Opry star Bill Anderson perform at the Frontier Ranch Park in Columbus. Talked into entering a talent contest, Connie won five silver dollars and the chance to meet Bill. When the two met again on New Year’s Day, 1964, Bill invited her to appear on the Ernest Tubb Record Shop radio show that March. He also invited her back to Nashville in May to record some demos. In June, Chet Atkins signed her to RCA Records. One month later she recorded Bill’s song “Once a Day.”

Released in August, it reached the top of the charts by November and became the first-ever debut single by a female country act to reach No. 1. The song spent eight weeks at the top and also was nominated for a Grammy. Her debut album was also a chart-topper, and she followed with several Top 10 hits, including “I Can’t Remember,” “Nobody but a Fool,” “Ain’t Had No Lovin’,” and “Cincinnati, Ohio.”

By 1968, Connie escaped the pressures of constantly touring, recording, and making movie and TV appearances by concentrating on raising her five children and becoming more involved in her church. In 1971, she scored a hit with Don Gibson’s “Just One Time.”

In July 1970, an 11-year-old fan approached Connie at one of her concerts. That fan was young aspiring musician Marty Stuart, who proclaimed to his mother that one day he was going to marry Connie Smith. In July 1997, that’s just what he did. The following year Marty produced Connie’s self-titled, critically lauded album. “I think Marty and I match so well,” Connie says today. “I love him with all my heart.” The couple continues to collaborate on music, writing and recording songs together for future projects. In 2003, Connie and fellow Opry member Sharon White Skaggs, along with Barbara Fairchild, recorded a Christian album, Love Never Fails. Produced by fellow Opry member Ricky Skaggs, the project earned a Dove Award nomination from the Gospel Music Association.

Years ago, the King of Country Music himself, Mr. Roy Acuff, christened Connie the “Sweetheart of the Grand Ole Opry.” Country music’s love affair with her continues to this day.

While the Opry recognizes August 21, 1965 as Connie's official induction date, it wasn't until September that Connie made her first Grand Ole Opry appearance as a member. Here is the running order from 55 years ago, Saturday September 18, 1965:

7:30: Luzianne
Leroy Van Dyke (host): Auctioneer
Bill Carlisle: Business Man
Connie Smith: Then & Only Then
Auctioneers: Remington Ride
Leroy Van Dyke: Just a State of Mind
Bill Carlisle: Same Ol' Tale that the Crow told Me
Connie Smith: The Hinges on the Door
Auctioneers: Old Joe Clark
Leroy Van Dyke: It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

8:00: Martha White
Roy Drusky (host): Strangers
Jim and Jesse: Memphis
Merle Kilgore: Tiger Woman
Alan Shelton: Bending the Strings
Roy Drusky: Peel Me a Nanner
Crook Brothers: Instrumental
Jim and Jesse: I Wish You Knew
Merle Kilgore: Ring of Fire
Jerry Whitehurst: Java
Roy Drusky: White Lightening Express

8:30: Stephens
Roy Acuff (host): Gathering Flowers From the Hillside
Howdy Forrester: Instrumental
Archie Campbell: Comedy
Onie Wheeler: Hang My Britches Up
Brother Oswald: Worry, Worry Blues
Roy Acuff: The Great Judgement Morning
Jimmy Riddle and Howdy Forrester: Jessup Polka

9:00: Pet Milk
Ernest Tubb (host): Lots of Luck
Wilburn Brothers: It's Another World
Teddy Wilburn and Loretta Lynn: The Race is On
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Fire on the Mountain
Ernest Tubb: A Memory (That's All You Ever Be to Me)
Wilburn Brothers: I'm Gonna Tie One on Tonight
Jack Greene: Ever Since My Baby Went Away
Loretta Lynn: The Home You're Tearing Down
Ernest Tubb and Loretta Lynn: Our Hearts are Holding Hands

9:30: Kellogg's
Hank Snow (host): I'm Moving On
Willis Brothers: Pinball Anonymous
Hank Locklin: Wild Side of Life
Marion Worth: (?)
Hank Snow: Tears in the Trade Winds
The Blue Boys: I Hear Little Rock Calling
Willis Brothers: A Satisfied Mind
Hank Snow: My Memories of You

10:00: Schick
Leroy Van Dyke (host): Walk on By
Bill Carlisle: No Help Wanted
Auctioneers: Sweet Georgia Brown
Bill Carlisle: Too Old to Cut the Mustard
Leroy Van Dyke: It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

10:15: Mary Carter
Roy Acuff (host): Tennessee Central No. 9
Roy Drusky: Second Hand Rose
Harold Weakly: Where No One Stands Alone
Jimmy Riddle and Onie Wheeler: Fox Chase

10:30: Harvey's
Jim and Jesse (host): I Like the Old Time Working of the Lord
Connie Smith: If I Talk to Him
Jim and Jesse: Swing Lo, Sweet Chariot
Alan Shelton: Cripple Creek

10:45: Newport
Ernest Tubb (host): Filipino Baby
Crook Brothers: Chicken Reel
Cal Smith: Oklahoma Hills
Ernest Tubb: Waltz Across Texas

11:00: Coca Cola
Hank Snow (host): I Don't Hurt Anymore
Wilburn Brothers: Making Plans
Harold Morrison: I'm A Bluebird
Loretta Lynn: Blue Kentucky Girl
Hank Snow: The Queen of Draw Poker Town
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Soldier's Joy
Wilburn Brothers: It's Another World
Loretta Lynn: When Lonely Hits Your Heart
Chubby Wise: Lee Highway Blues

11:30: Lava
Hank Locklin (host): Send Me the Pillow You Dream On
Willis Brothers: A 6 ft 2 by 4
Marion Worth: I'm Picking Up the Pieces of Your Heart
Archie Campbell: Most Richly Blessed
Hank Locklin: Flying South
Merle Kilgore: Wolverton Mountain
Willis Brothers: I Still So
Marion Worth: Silver Threads & Golden Needles
Hank Locklin: Danny Boy

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