Nashville Banner April 18, 1985

Readers of the afternoon edition of the April 18, 1985 Nashville Banner, found this headline at the top of Page 1: 

Some longtime Opry members may get boot

The complete article as written by Clarke Canfield: 

About 20 percent of the performers on the world famous Grand Ole Opry will be phased out of the show under a new two-year contract agreed upon Tuesday night. Sources close to the contract negotiations said the move will affect at least 12 acts, all of them longtime show regulars, who will be placed on "Senior Status."

Under the plan agreed upon by Grand Ole Opry management and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), the performers will be cut to only 14 out of the Opry's 187 shows a year. "They (Opry management) say they have too many artists for the shows now," said David Maddox, the AFTRA's executive secretary who negotiated the pact. "They say they have more acts than slots."

"I don't know who it will affect," Maddox Said. "What that means is those people who are to be terminated from the Opry will be given enough employment to be covered by all the benefits (when they retire)."

Among those artists Opry management wants to phase out are, according to knowledgeable sources, Justin Tubb, Ernie Ashworth, Jean Shepard, Vic Wills, Charlie Louvin, Lonzo and Oscar, Teddy Wilburn, Del Wood, Stu Phillips and Billy Walker. 

Opryland President E.W. "Bud" Wendell and Grand Ole Opry Manager Hal Durham were both out of town and could not be reached for comment. Opry Information Director Jerry Strobel said he was unaware of the contract details. 

"Why were we promised we'd be there for life and now we're kicked in the teeth," said one performer who asked not to be identified. "We were the glue that held that place together," declared another. "We built the Opry up and bypassed show dates on the road to keep the Opry going. Who are they to judge who is salable and who isn't." "This is nothing but age discrimination," said another. 

Maddox would neither confirm nor deny report that only eight Opry members attended the Tuesday meeting and that seven voted in favor of the contract. The other voter reportedly abstained, sources told the Nashville Banner.

Along with the possibility of being phased out, several Opry veterans voiced displeasure with the new contract that will give Opry performers a 5 percent pay raise over the next two years. The contract was approved Tuesday between the union members and Gaylord Broadcasting Co., owners of Opryland USA, WSM-AM, WSM-FM, the Opryland Hotel and The Nashville Network (TNN), and approved by the AFTRA board today. Contract negotiations had been in the works for about a month, with performers initially seeking 20 percent pay hikes, increased job security and compensation for performances on TNN, which began televising some Opry shows nationwide last week. 

Maddox said that any mention of who would be phased out would be pure speculation on his part, but that under terms of the contract, those who are being kicked off the show will be compensated in the end. Once those performers who are targeted to be phased out of the Opry shows become eligible for the AFTRA pension fund, they will be taken off the show, Maddox said. "A minimum pension is probably not that significant in money, but with the pension they receive the same benefits as if they were actively employed," Maddox said, explaining that those on pension receive major medical and hospital insurance. 

He said that Opry management could have kicked anybody they wanted off the show but instead gave some performers more security by slowing phasing them out. "I was surprised we were able to negotiate that (the phase-out plan)," he said. "This is experimental. What that means is that we want to try this for two years and see how it works out." 

Maddox said everybody he had talked to was pleased with the contract. "The reaction I've gotten from those who've heard the contract results is that they're very pleased with it. We had different priorities than just a  20 percent pay raise. You have to look at the package as a whole."

But some embittered Opry performers claimed that Maddox had "sold us down the river" and did not look out for their best interests.

An Opry solo performer is paid about $156 per radio show and will be paid $150 for a TNN TV show performance. There are 62 acts in the show with more than 100 performers. 

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When all was said and done, the only Opry members who actually retired were Lonzo and Oscar, and that was several years later. The majority of the others did see their appearances cut but not nearly down to what was intended. Most still were at the Opry for at least one show the majority of the weekends. 

It is also interesting how they came up with the list of names. Looking back at the Opry's cast in 1985, there easily could have been a few more that could have been named, artists who were past their prime. 

At the time there were 62 members and cutting the 12 would have taken the Opry down to 50. But if you remember, just several years later, in the late 80s and into the 90s, the Opry started to add members, and at one time were up to over 70. The difference was that the members they were adding were no longer held to any performance requirements while those who were being cut back were performing just about on every show. 

Finally, in the early 2000s, after Pete Fisher became the General Manager of the Opry, he wanted to cut many of the veterans. Some of those, such as Charlie Louvin, Stu Phillips, Ernie Ashworth and Billy Walker, were repeats from the 1985 list. 15 years later, they were still hanging on.