Grand Ole Opry 6/18 & 6/19

I wanted to start out by thanking everyone who contributed to the previous discussion regarding the Country Music Hall of Fame. So nice to have intelligent and well thought out view points. I think we have come to the conclusion that the voting process and categories need some change and hopefully the CMA and the CMHOF will listen and take a look at it. For those expecting a 2021 announcement of inductees, I am thinking sometime this summer, from what I have read. 

Now to the Grand Ole Opry and another week as we continue to roll through June. As with past weekends, we see a return of one of the Opry's members as Josh Turner will be making his first Opry appearance of 2021 on Saturday night. Not only is Josh returning, but in looking at the line-ups this weekend, there are some acts that will be appearing that we haven't seen in a while. 

First, checking out Opry members appearing this weekend, John Conlee and Connie Smith are scheduled for the Friday Night Opry, while Jeannie Seely and Riders In The Sky will be joining Josh Turner on Saturday night. By the way, Saturday will mark the 39th anniversary of membership for Riders In The Sky. 

Looking at those who will be making guest appearances on Friday night, it is nice to see Kathy Mattea on the schedule. I know there has always been interest in Kathy becoming an Opry member and there are many of us who believe she would be a perfect fit for the show. 

Joining Kathy on Friday will be comedian Gary Mule Deer, guitarist Tommy Emmanual and Chris Bandi. Also listed are two couples: Americana artists Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis, along with Rachel & Terry Bradshaw. Now for those wondering, Bruce and Kelly are married while Rachel is Terry's daughter. She has been featured on the TV show "The Bradshaw Bunch," and no, I have never watched the show so someone will have to fill me in. 

Gary Mule Deer is also on the schedule for Saturday night, fulfilling the role of designated comedian before the Circle televised portion of the Opry, which in addition to Josh Turner, will feature retired NASCAR driver Kyle Petty, a return appearance by Elvie Shane, and veteran artists Sawyer Brown. Also appearing during the first hour will be Erin Enderlin, who won Entertainer of the Year and Songwriter of the Year at the recent Arkansas Country Music Awards. She is one on Nashville's bright young artists. 

Friday June 18
7:00: John Conlee; Chris Bandi; Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis; Gary Mule Deer
Intermission
8:00: Connie Smith; Rachel & Terry Bradshaw; Tommy Emmanual; Kathy Mattea

Saturday June 19
7:00: Opry Square Dancers; Jeannie Seely; Erin Enderlin; Riders In The Sky; Gary Mule Deer
8:00: Sawyer Brown; Elvie Shane; Kyle Petty; Josh Turner

Just five Opry members appearing this weekend, with two on Friday and three on Saturday. 

With NASCAR returning this weekend to the Nashville Speedway, that would explain why Kyle Petty is on the televised portion of the Opry this weekend. 
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Now from 50 years ago, here is the 2nd show from Saturday June 19, 1971: 

9:30: Ray Pillow (host): Willis Brothers: Penny DeHaven; Murry Kellum
10:00: Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper (host): Jerry Clower; Barbara Mandrell
10:15: The 4 Guys (host): Connie Eaton; Tommy Jones
10:30: Grandpa Jones (host): Peggy Little; Jerry Smith
10:45: Tom T. Hall (host): Dave Dudley; Crook Brothers
11:00: Bobby Lord (host): Connie Smith; Bobby Harden; Fruit Jar Drinkers; Kirk McGee
11:30: Marty Robbins (host); Marion Worth; Bobby Sykes
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Looking back to June 19, 1982 as this was the date that Riders In The Sky became members of the Grand Ole Opry. 

Though they carry on a comedic tradition that harkens back to Grand Ole Opry humorists of the 1930s including the Duke of Paducah, Riders In The Sky’s four members are also masterful musicians who became the first Opry cast members to fully represent the cowboy stylings that helped to put the “Western” in “Country & Western.”

The group got their start in late 1977, when guitarist Doug “Ranger Doug” Green, a one-time member of Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys and country music journalist and historian, invited bassist Fred “Too Slim” Labour to join him for a gig at a Nashville nightclub. With Paul “Woody Paul” Chrisman on fiddle, the trio dubbed themselves Riders In The Sky. Their recorded debut, Three on the Trail (1979), showcased impeccable vocal and instrumental work in the mold of such Western music heroes — and Country Music Hall of Fame members — as Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers, while their live shows added a strong dose of broad, quick-witted humor that had them poking gentle fun at one another and at aspects of the movie cowboy image. This combination led to their induction into the Opry’s cast in 1982.

“Zeke Clements had a cowboy routine, the Willis Brothers sang some cowboy songs, and, of course, Marty Robbins sang some cowboy songs, too, but we’re the group that deliberately set about to preserve the Western tradition on this show,” notes Ranger Doug. “It’s a piece of country music history that we think is just as exciting and interesting as modern country, classic country, or bluegrass, and we’re the guys keeping it alive.”

For the Riders, who became a quartet when they “promoted” longtime accordionist Joey “The Cowpolka King” Miskulin to full membership, the mission of keeping the cowboy style alive has led to exhaustive touring, a long-running radio show (Riders Radio Theatre), and a long string of popular recordings, including two soundtrack companion CDs (Woody’s Roundup featuring Riders In The Sky, for Toy Story 2, and Monsters Inc.: Scream Factory Favorites) that earned the group Grammy awards in 2001 and 2003.

Along the way, Riders In The Sky have earned multiple awards, including six Western Music Association Entertainer of the Year trophies and membership in the organization’s Hall of Fame, the Academy of Western Artists’ Western Music Group of the Year award (five times), and a presence on both the Country Music Foundation’s Walkway of Stars and the Walk of Western Stars in Newhall, California. On the scholarly front, Ranger Doug — who regularly sits in with the award-winning Time Jumpers Western swing band — earned renown of his own with the 2002 publication of Singing in the Saddle, the first full-length study of the Hollywood “singing cowboy” phenomenon.

Today, the Riders continue to delight audiences at the Opry House and elsewhere, more than justifying Billboard journalist Jim Bessman’s characterization of them as one of “the most historically significant acts in the history of American music.”

Here is the running order from Saturday June 19, 1982, the night Riders In The Sky became members of the Grand Ole Opry: 

1st show
6:30: Mrs. Grissoms
Stonewall Jackson (host): Me & You & A Dog Named Boo
Ernie Ashworth: There's No Place I'd Rather Be Tonight
Stonewall Jackson: Don't Be Angry

6:45: Rudy's
Jack Greene (host): Walking on New Grass
Jeanne Pruett: Satin Sheets
Jack Greene: There Goes My Everything

7:00: Shoney's
Ernest Tubb (host): Letters Have No Arms
Del Wood: Are You From Dixie
Bobby Lord: Fall Away
Riders In The Sky: How the Yodel was Born/Tumbling Tumbleweeds
Jack Leonard: Break My Mind Again
Ernest Tubb: Rainbow at Midnight

7:30: Standard Candy
Grandpa Jones (host): Apple Jack
Jean Shepard: Cryin' My Heart Out Over you/Slipping Away
Wilburn Brothers: Making Plans
Crook Brothers and The Stoney Mountain Cloggers: Rachel
Grandpa Jones: Four Stoned Walls & A Ceiling/What'll I Do with the Baby-O

8:00: Martha White
Roy Acuff (host): Wabash Cannonball
Lonzo and Oscar: All the Gold in California
Justin Tubb: Lonesome 7-7203
Bill Carlisle: Elvira
Connie Smith: I Just Had You on My Mind/Once A Day
Roy Acuff: Stream Line Cannonball

8:30: Acme
Hank Snow (host): Storms Never Last
The 4 Guys: I Think About Your Loving All the Time
Ray Pillow: She's Doing it to Me Again
Roy Drusky: Have I Stayed Away Too Long
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Saturday Night Hop
Hank Snow: I Have You & That's Enough for Me

2nd show
9:30: Kellogg's
Ernest Tubb (host): Have You Ever Been Lonely
Ernie Ashworth: Memphis Memory
Del Wood: Just Because/Bill Bailey/Beer Barrel Polka
Stonewall Jackson: Why I'm Walkin'/Ol' Chunk of Coal
Jack Leonard: Lone Star Beer & Bob Wills Music
Ernest Tubb: Waltz Across Texas

10:00: Little Debbie
Grandpa Jones (host): The Banjo is the Instrument for Me
Jeanne Pruett: It's Too Late/Temporarily Yours
Grandpa Jones: There's a Grave in the Wave of the Ocean

10:15: Sunbeam
Jack Greene (host): Try a Little Kindness
Justin Tubb: Take a Letter Miss Gray
Jack Greene: Yours for the Taking/There Goes My Everything

10:30: Martha White
Roy Acuff (host): Down in Union County
Riders In The Sky: (?)/Turkey in the Straw/Chicken Reel/Devil's Dream
Roy Acuff: In the Center of the Grand Ole Stage/I Saw the Light

10:45: Beechnut
Roy Drusky (host): Second Hand Rose
Connie Smith: Lovin' You Baby
Crook Brothers and The Stoney Mountain Cloggers: Mississippi Sawyer
Roy Drusky: Blues in My Heart

11:00: Coca Cola
Hank Snow (host): Right or Wrong
Jean Shepard: Alabama Jubilee
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Saturday Night Hop
Wilburn Brothers: Release Me
Lonzo and Oscar w/The Eldridge Brothers: Little Cabin Home on the Hill
Kirk McGee: While I'm Away
Hank Snow: It Kinda Reminds Me of Me

11:30: Bama
The 4 Guys (host): I Think About Your Loving All the Time
Bill Carlisle: Have a Drink on Me
Sheila and Bill Carlisle, Jr: In the Pines
Ray Pillow: All You Have to Do is Come Back Home/Remember Me
The 4 Guys: Swing Down Chariot

Congratulations to Riders In The Sky upon their 39th year as Grand Ole Opry members. 

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