Updated with the lineups:
Welcome to December and the final month of 2020, and another weekend at the Grand Ole Opry. Once again a show on Friday and Saturday night.
I know there were a few comments regarding the shows last week, especially the short show on Friday night, along with what seems to be a difficult time filling out the Opry line-ups. I thought I would share what Bill Anderson wrote on his monthly newsletter that he sends out each month, which might help explain why some artists have not been appearing on the Opry:
I had some good days and nights going back to the Grand Ole Opry in October and November, but it looks as though those will be my last trips out there for awhile. For safety's sake, the Opry has had to cut back on the number of people they allow backstage, and none of us will be permitted to bring our band members to the show for a while. It wasn't an easy decision for the Opry management, but it's for the best with the COVID numbers continuing to rise in Tennessee and elsewhere. Hopefully things will reverse themselves soon and we can all go safely back to our Opry Home again. Meantime, I'll sit by the fire and listen to the show just like you.
Just my opinion, but with the Covid numbers increasing I would think the Opry management is doing everything humanly possible to keep these shows going and continuing to have a live audience. I think it is safe to say that if there is one positive test that is anyway associated with the Opry, it could potentially shut it down.
Now, let's take a look at who is on the schedule for this weekend.
The Friday Night Opry has Grand Ole Opry members Connie Smith and Dailey & Vincent on the schedule. Joining them will be Dom Flemons, Maggie Rose, Travis Denning and Erin Enderlin.
Saturday nights show is being promoted as the 75th anniversary of bluegrass, according to this press release from the Opry:
Ricky Skaggs and Del McCoury will help the Grand Ole Opry celebrate the 75th anniversary of Bluegrass music in a special show on Saturday, Dec. 5. Opry member McCoury is also a member of the Bluegrass Hall of Fame, and Skaggs is a member of both the Country Music and Bluegrass Halls of Fame. The two will be joined by group Sister Sadie, the first female group to ever be named as the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year.
After years in its development, bluegrass as we know it today was born on the Opry stage at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on Dec. 8, 1945. On that night that Earl Scruggs made his Opry debut with Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys that included Lester Flatt, and just three months later, the historic lineup that would serve as the prototype for the bluegrass sound was complete: Monroe on mandolin, Scruggs on banjo, Flatt on guitar, Chubby Wise on fiddle, and Howard Watts on bass.
Unfortunately, since that initial release, Ricky Skaggs has been taken off the schedule. For those who might be aware, Ricky had recent heart surgery. This from Ricky:
After speaking about how grateful he was to spend so much time with his wife this year, Ricky shared a piece of news. He said earlier this year, he underwent quadruple bypass surgery. “I came through quadruple bypass heart surgery perfectly, (thank you Jesus)…” he said.
In addition to Del McCoury and Sister Sadie, also scheduled to appear on Saturday night is Opry member Jeannie Seely, along with Opry members Jeannie Seely along with guest artists Carly Pearce, Chonda Pierce and Darin & Brooke Aldridge.
As a final reminder, the Circle televised portion and livestream will take place an hour earlier as Circle will have special programming in the normal Opry timeslot. The televised portion will feature Del McCoury, Sister Sadie and Darin & Brooke Aldridge.
Friday December 4
7:00: Connie Smith; Travis Denning
7:30: Erin Enderlin; Maggie Rose
8:00: Dom Flemons; Dailey & Vincent
Saturday December 5
7:00: Travelin' McCourys; Darin & Brooke Aldridge; Sister Sadie; Del McCoury Band
8:00: Opry Square Dancers; Jeannie Seely; Chonda Pierce; Carly Pearce
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Now from 50 years ago, Saturday December 5, 1970:
7:30: Hank Locklin (host); Skeeter Davis; Charlie Walker; The 4 Guys; Ernie Ashworth
8:00: Lester Flatt (host): Mel Tillis; Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper; Crook Brothers
8:30: Stephens: Charlie Louvin (host); Diane McCall; Earl Scruggs Revue; Bob Luman; Jean Shepard; Stringbean
9:00: Glaser Brothers (host); Lonzo and Oscar; Osborne Brothers; Fruit Jar Drinkers
9:30: Hank Snow (host); Willis Brothers; Dottie West; Jimmy C Newman
10:00: Charlie Louvin (host); Earl Scruggs Revue; Jean Shepard; Ernie Ashworth
10:15: Hank Locklin (host); Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper; Bob Luman; Stringbean
10:30: Lester Flatt (host); Charlie Walker; Jimmy C Newman
10:45: Glaser Brothers (host); Mel Tillis; Crook Brothers
11:00: Hank Snow (host); Willis Brothers; Fruit Jar Drinkers; Sam McGee
11:30: Osborne Brothers (host); Dottie West; Lonzo and Oscar; The 4 Guys
Looking back, it was on Saturday December 4, 1993 that Herman Harper made his final appearance on the Grand Ole Opry.
Herman Harper was born in Fountain Head, Tennessee, 1938. He was a pioneering gospel vocalist known for his deep bass voice. From the late 1950s through the 1960s, he was bass singer for the Oak Ridge Quartet and was instrumental in getting live coverage of gospel music on the Grand Ole Opry and other cable television broadcasts. He is the founder of the Gospel Music Trust Fund and he created the Harper and Associates-a leading Southern Gospel talent agency in 1985. In 1997, he was posthumously inducted into the Southern Gospel Singers Hall of Fame.
After leaving the Oak Ridge Boys, he became a member of the Carol Lee Singers, of which he was a member of at the time of his death. It was his low voice that was heard on the Opry, many times backing up Roy Acuff on one his gospel numbers.
Herman passed away on December 17, 1993 at the age of 54.
Here is the running order from Saturday December 4, 1993:
1st show
6:30: GHS Strings
Ricky Skaggs (host): Heartbroke
Jeanne Pruett: Satin Sheets
Ricky Skaggs: Honey, Won't 'Cha Open that Door
6:45: Country Music Hall of Fame
Jimmy Dickens (host): Take An Old Cold Tater
Bill Carlisle: Elvira
Jean Shepard: Second Fiddle
Jimmy Dickens: We Could
7:00: Shoney's
Bill Monroe (host): Will You Be Loving Another Man
Wilma Lee Cooper: No One Now
Charlie Walker: Smoke, Smoke, Smoke
Jimmy C Newman: Jambalaya
Connie Smith: The Key's In the Mailbox
Bill Monroe: Tombstone Junction
7:30: Standard Candy
Grandpa Jones (host): Going Down the Country
J.D. Sumner and The Stamps Quartet: American Trilogy
Roger Francis: He Stopped Loving Her Today/Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain/He'll Have to Go/Today I Started Loving You Again/El Paso
Shotgun Red: Comedy
Stonewall Jackson: Life to Go
J.D. Sumner and The Stamps Quartet: You'll Never Walk Alone
Grandpa Jones: Eight More Miles to Louisville
8:00: Martha White
Porter Wagoner (host): Big Wind
John Conlee: The Old School/Common Man
Jeannie Seely: When He Leaves You
Opry Square Dance Band and The Melvin Sloan Dancers: Ragtime Annie
Porter Wagoner: An Old Log Cabin for Sale
8:30: Kraft
Hank Snow (host): On the Sea Shores of Old Mexico
Jan Howard: Oh, Lonesome Me
Jim Ed Brown: Fools
The Whites: Pins and Needles
The 4 Guys: In the Middle of the Night
Hank Snow: That's When He Dropped the World in My Hand
2nd show
9:30: Dollar General
Porter Wagoner (host): Ol' Slewfoot
Jeanne Pruett: Temporarily Yours
Ray Pillow: Someone Had to Teach You
The Whites: It's Not What You Know, It's Who You Know
The 4 Guys: I Know; I Know
J.D. Sumner and The Stamps Quartet: I'm A Poor, Poor Rich Man/Will the Circle Be Unbroken/I'll Fly Away/I Saw the Light/Let Us Have a Little Talk With Jesus
10:00: Little Debbie
Ricky Skaggs (host): I Wouldn't Change You If I Could
Jean Shepard: I'll Sail My Ship Alone
Ricky Skaggs: You're Runnin' Wild
10:15: Tennessee Pride/Sunbeam
Grandpa Jones (host): Ol' Rattler
Skeeter Davis: Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Roger Francis: He Stopped Loving Her Today/Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain/Hello Darling/But Love Me
Shotgun Red: Comedy
Grandpa Jones: Come & Dine
10:30: Piccadilly
Jim Ed Brown (host): Everyday People
Connie Smith: You've Got Me Right Where You Want Me
Jim Ed and Maxine Brown: Looking Back to See
10:45: Opry Book
Bill Monroe (host): Get Up, John
Jimmy C Newman: Big Mamou
Opry Square Dance Band and The Melvin Sloan Dancers: Dance All Night
Bill Monroe: Christmas Time's 'A Comin'
11:00: Coca Cola
Hank Snow (host): Snowbird
John Conlee: Domestic Life/Lifetime Guarantee
Jan Howard: You Don't Know Me
Clinton Gregory: An Old Hard Time Blues
Hank Snow: Old Shep
11:30: General Jackson
Jimmy Dickens (host): Me & My Big Loud Mouth
Jeannie Seely: When He Leaves You
Charlie Walker: Silver Dew on the Bluegrass Tonight
Johnny Russell: Why Me Lord
Jimmy Dickens: There's No Place Like Home on Christmas
There you have it for this week. As always, thanks for reading and commenting and I hope everyone enjoys the Opry this weekend.
Byron, Do you have the lineup for that show from 75 years ago? Also, have they acknowledged other "milestone" anniversaries such as 25 (1970) or 50 (1995)?
ReplyDeleteThe 1970 line-up is printed above and I notice that Lester and Earl were on that night but not Bill. Nothing special for 1995 either although Bill Monroe and Ricky Skaggs were on the schedule for that night.
DeleteSorry but I checked and I do not have the line-up from 75 years ago.
The Opry wouldn't have celebrated a milestone anniversary for Blue Grass music in 1970 or 1995, because until after the death of Bill Monroe, the Opry correctly recognized that Blue Grass music originated and was brought to the Opry in 1939. Regardless of your view of history, setting the anniversary dating from the hiring of Earl Scruggs in 1945 (and thereby making Monroe's band before that date - which already included Flatt, Chubby Wise, Cedric Rainwater - as not Blue Grass) is a direct slight to Bill Monroe to say the least (or at least to his memory), as Monroe always very vocally disputed the 1945 claimants. I found it curious that the Opry would choose the side of Scruggs, who left the Opry long before his career ended, above Monroe, one of its all-time most loyal members.
ReplyDeleteI confess that I understand why Scruggs's arrival is considered so important because, to that point, that kind of driving banjo hadn't been heard on bluegrass (Stringbean, a very different player, worked for Monroe first, and Flatt wasn't a big fan of his playing, so he originally didn't want Scruggs; of course, 25 years later, he again didn't want him, but for different reasons!). But if Monroe is the Father of Bluegrass--and he is--then it's when he started performing his music, and that would be 1939.
DeleteAnother thing is, not every bluegrass group features a banjo, or features it that prominently. I think of Jim & Jesse, who sometimes used one but often used a dobro instead, and the lead instrument clearly was Jesse's mandolin.
One reason I understand the argument, if I may be very trivial, is from a far distant field. July 27, 1940, Warner Bros. released "A Wild Hare." It features a rabbit popping out of a hole, chewing on a carrot, and asking, "What's up, Doc?" That's considered Bugs Bunny's birthday. But there were what we Warner loves call "proto-Bugs" cartoons for a couple of years where they were developing the rabbit but he wasn't quite there yet. With that cartoon, while there would be refinements, we see Bugs Bunny.
WOW!!!! I didn't know Ricky Skaggs had heart surgery. I will be praying that hw has a quick recovery. Bob
ReplyDeleteI especially appreciate Byron sharing Ol' Whisper's comments because I had said recently that I thought the Opry could try to get some more acts on there. I should have realized that they are still trying to limit the number of people. It also occurs to me that some acts have their own band, as Bill Anderson does, and that would mean more musicians when they probably want to limit it to the staff band as much as possible.
ReplyDeleteDom Flemons bragging on Minnie Pearl, channeling his inner DeFord Bailey, playing expert banjo, harmonica, and guitar.
ReplyDeleteThis guy is great, and the crowd is loving 'it.
Erin Enderlin impressed me and what a great songwriter she is. Bob
ReplyDeleteRhonda Vincent's Opry induction is taking place on February 6.
ReplyDeleteI thought overall, it was a pretty weekend at the Opry. Really enjoyed the Saturday livestream of bluegrass. Thinking back, it has been a long time since we have seen or heard that much on any Opry show.
ReplyDelete