As we close out the month of July, the line-ups have been posted for the two Opry shows this weekend, the Friday Night Opry and Saturday's Grand Ole Opry.
In looking at the shows, it is nice to see that each show has a nice group of Grand Ole Opry members, with five appearing on Friday night and three on Saturday.
The Friday Night Opry has members Jeannie Seely, Riders In The Sky, Rhonda Vincent, Craig Morgan and Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press on the schedule. For Bobby, this will be his third weekend in a row at the Opry, and it is always nice to see Rhonda Vincent and Craig Morgan continuing to support the show as members. The Saturday night schedule has members Bill Anderson, Connie Smith and Dailey & Vincent listed.
The designated comedian this weekend is John Crist, who will be appearing both nights. He will be joined on Friday night by Kristian Bush and making her Opry debut, Callista Clark. In addition to John, Saturday's guests include Lucas Hoge, former "Nashville" star Charles Esten, Exile and the wonderful Mandy Barnett. Of course, there are many of us who believe that Mandy should be a member of the Opry's cast.
Friday July 30
7:00: Jeannie Seely; Kristian Bush; Riders In The Sky; Rhonda Vincent
Intermission
8:15: Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press; John Crist; Callista Clark; Craig Morgan
Saturday July 31
7:00: Opry Square Dancers; Bill Anderson; Lucas Hoge; Mandy Barnett; Dailey & Vincent
Intermission
8:18: Connie Smith; John Crist; Charles Esten; Exile
No Circle TV this week as the network will be showing the Tuesday Night Opry from June 22 that featured Reba McEntire, Lukas Nelson & The Promise Real and the surprise Opry invitation to Carly Pearce. I think as time goes on, more of the Tuesday night shows will be shown in place of the live Saturday show, especially in the coming weeks.
As mentioned, this will be the Opry debut for Callista Clark.
Every song has a story and at just 17 years old Callista Clark has a lot to say. Like Maren Morris, Jennifer Nettles, Tori Kelly, Ingrid Andress and so many talented singer/ songwriters that paved the way before her, Callista wields as both a defense and an instrument of peace as she puts her heart on display with her forthcoming debut collection Real To Me via Big Machine Records. Blending her love for authentic, timeless classics with the sounds of her Country roots which sprouted from her hometown of Zebulon, Georgia, Clark “puts a fresh spin on soul phrasing” Her inspiring videos with which Scooter Braun (SB Projects) and Scott Borchetta (Big Machine Label Group) took notice, have amassed over 65 million views on Facebook and over 6 million views on YouTube.
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Now from 50 years ago, Saturday July 31, 1971:
1st show
6:30: Charlie Walker (host); Minnie Pearl
6:45: Jim Ed Brown (host); Bill Carlisle
7:00: Osborne Brothers (host); Stu Phillips; Peggy Little; Glen Barber
7:30: Roy Acuff (host); Billy Grammer; Ernie Ashworth; Crook Brothers
8:00: Jack Greene (host); Jeannie Seely; Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper; Del Wood
8:30: Del Reeves (host); The 4 Guys; Jeanne Pruett; Johnny Carver
2nd show
9:30: Charlie Walker (host); Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper; Bill Carlisle; Glen Barber;
10:00: Jim Ed Brown (host); Del Wood; Peggy Little
10:15: Osborne Brothers (host); Stu Phillips; The 4 Guys
10:30: Roy Acuff (host); Bobby G Rice; Beasley Sisters
10:45: Del Reeves (host); Penny DeHaven; Crook Brothers
11:00: Billy Grammer (host); Jeanne Pruett; Fruit Jar Drinkers; Sam McGee
11:30: Jack Greene (host); Jeannie Seely; Johnny Carver; Bluegrass 45
It was an interesting night at the Opry as at 10:00, there was a bomb scare that delayed the show
37 minutes. Obviously nothing was found.
Some may ask: The Beasley sisters consisted of Alcyone Bate Beasley, Dottie Dillard and Anita Kerr.
Also of note, Minnie Pearl appeared on the first segment that night, which was a rarity. It would appear that she had another engagement that night and needed to get on and out. _______________________________________________________________________
Looking back at a couple of past Grand Ole Opry line-ups, it was on Saturday July 31, 1965, that Waylon Jennings made his first guest appearance on the Opry. While never becoming an Opry member, Waylon would appear on the Opry several times over his career.
Here is the running order from that night 56 years ago:
7:30: Luzianne
Billy Walker (host); I'm So Miserable Without You
Skeeter Davis: Sunglasses
Stan Hitchcock: I'm Back in Baby's Arms
Cousin Jody: Steel Guitar Rag
Billy Walker: If It Pleases You
Pete Drake: I'm Just a Guitar
Skeeter Davis: A Dear John Letter
Cousin Jody: Farewell to Thee
Billy Walker: Charlie's Shoes
8:00 Martha White
Jim and Jesse (host): Cotton Mill Man
Margie Bowes: Lost
Del Wood: Tiger Rag
Claude King: Tiger Woman
Jim and Jesse: Better Time's A Comin'
Crook Brothers: Cacklin' Hen
Margie Bowes: (?)
Jim and Jesse: The Violet & A Rose
Alan Shelton: Lady of Spain
8:30: Stephens
Sonny James (host): I'll Keep Holding On
Bill Carlisle: Knothole
Southern Gentlemen: This Little Light of Mine
Archie Campbell: Comedy
Sonny James: Behind the Tear
Brother Oswald: Worry, Worry Blues
Bill Carlisle: Hand Me Down My Walking Cane
Sonny James: You're the Only World I Know
9:00: Pet Milk
Leroy Van Dyke (host): If a Woman Answers (Hang Up the Phone)
Dottie West: No Sign of Living
Jack Barlow: I'd Rather Fight then Switch
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Greenback Dollar
Leroy Van Dyke: Just a State of Mind
Wade Ray: (?)
Waylon Jennings: Stop the World & Let Me Off
Dottie West: Touch Me
Leroy Van Dyke: Black Cloud
9:30: Kellogg's
Hank Locklin (host): Jambalaya
Jean Shepard: A Tear Dropped By
Ernie Ashworth: The D.J. Cried
Jim and Jesse: (?)
Hank Locklin: Send Me the Pillow You Dream On
Buddy Durham: Sally Goodin
Jean Shepard: Don't Take Advantage of Me
Ernie Ashworth: Because I Cared
10:00: Schick
Bill Carlisle (host): The Great Snowman
Stan Hitchcock: I Really Don't Want to Know
Cousin Jody: Wabash Cannonball
Bill Carlisle: No Help Wanted
10:15: Mary Carter
Archie Campbell (host): Comedy
Del Wood: Alabama Jubilee
Margie Bowes: Lost
Archie Campbell: The 12th Rose
10:30: Harvey's
Billy Walker (host): Cross the Brazos at Waco
Dottie West: Here Comes My Baby
Billy Walker: Come a Little Bit Closer/Cattle Call
10:45: Newport
Ernie Ashworth (host): Love Has Come My Way
Crook Brothers: (?)
Wade Ray: (?)
Ernie Ashworth: Pushed in a Corner
11:00: Coca Cola
Leroy Van Dyke (host): Nine Pound Hammer
Jean Shepard: Second Fiddle
Claude King: Wolverton Mountain
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Old Joe Clark
Leroy Van Dyke: Just a State of Mind
Jimmy Johnson: Home in Indiana
Sam and Kirk McGee: Gotta Travel On
Leroy Van Dyke: Walk on By
Jean Shepard: Sweet Temptation
Leroy Van Dyke: Auctioneer
11:30: Lava
Hank Locklin (host): Anytime
Dottie West: All the World is Lonely Now
Jack Barlow: I'd Rather Fight then Switch
Hank Locklin: Please Help Me I'm Falling
Jimmy Riddle and Howdy Forrester: (?)
Dottie West: No Sign of Living
Jim and Jesse: Mockin' Banjo
Hank Locklin: I'll Hold You in My Heart
Waylon only got one spot on his Opry debut.
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To finish it up for this week, on Saturday July 30, 1983, Tompall and The Glaser Brothers returned to the Grand Ole Opry. Tompall, Jim and Chuck had originally joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1960. They left the Opry and broke up as a trio with their final show as members taking place on July 14, 1973. The brothers got back together in the early-80s, with some success as they charted with "Lovin' Her Was Easier" in 1981. In 1982, "After All These Years' hit the charts and then they broke up again, this time for good except for one last appearance on the Opry, which took place on January 20, 1990, the night of Hank Snow's 40th Opry anniversary. Hank specifically asked for Tompall and the brothers to appear, and they did on the 1st show that night.
Here is the line-up from Saturday July 30, 1983:
1st show
6:30: Ray Pillow (host); Wilma Lee Cooper
6:45: Billy Walker (host); Skeeter Davis
7:00: Jack Greene (host); Jeanne Pruett; Billy Grammer; Teddy Wilburn
7:30: Bill Anderson (host); Justin Tubb; Charlie Louvin; Stonewall Jackson; Crook Brothers; Stoney Mountain Cloggers
8:00: Roy Acuff (host); Vic Willis Trio; Bill Carlisle; George Hamilton IV; Connie Smith
8:30: Hank Snow (host); The 4 Guys; David Houston; Tompall and The Glaser Brothers; Fruit Jar Drinkers
2nd show
9:30: Bill Anderson (host); The 4 Guys; Skeeter Davis; Ray Pillow; Wilma Lee Cooper
10:00: Billy Walker (host); Jeanne Pruett
10:15: Jack Greene (host); Billy Grammer
10:30: Roy Acuff (host); Charlie Louvin; Teddy Wilburn
10:45: Stonewall Jackson (host); Connie Smith; Crook Brothers; Stoney Mountain Cloggers
11:00: Hank Snow (host); David Houston; Fruit Jar Drinkers; Justin Tubb; Kirk McGee
11:30: George Hamilton IV (host); Vic Willis Trio; Bill Carlisle; Tompall and The Glaser Brothers
There you have it for this week. As always, thanks for reading and commenting and I hope everyone enjoys the Grand Ole Opry this weekend.
Help me here. I thought Carly's invitation took place at a promotion for Dollywood and caught Carly by surprise?
ReplyDeleteDid they show a tape of it at the Tuesday night 'Opry that will be shown on Saturday night?
So Saturday Night we get to watch a tape of a tape?
I am so confused! :)
Nat, you pretty much said it. The original tape, if I remember right, was posted by the Opry on Facebook/Twitter and other social media sites. It was then shared thousands of times. So yes, now we get to see it again. I am going to assume that on Saturday night we will see the entire Tuesday Night Opry from June 22, or at least an edited version of that night.
DeleteGarth Brooks is performing at Nissan Stadium in Nashville on Saturday night. Garth posted the following this morning:
ReplyDeleteI’m proud to be the closer for the heartbeat of Country Music. Honored to announce that the Grand Ole Opry will be opening for #GARTHinNASHVILLE! We saved some seats at Nissan Stadium for those of you that want to enjoy the GREATEST experience Music City has to offer as the Opry opens the show!!!!!! love, g
Not sure what this all means. From what I can gather, there will be some type of Opry performance, or segment, at the stadium in addition to the show at the Opry House. It also would appear that the Opry show will be shown on the video screens at the stadium.
More details to come.
I was thinking, why no Mr. Acuff when Os is there, and then I remembered that this was right after that awful automobile accident.
ReplyDeleteIf Circle wants to show the Tuesday Night Opry, fine. Maybe then the second hour will be closer to normal on Saturday night.
Interesting that Garth has the big concert Saturday night and I wonder if he might get over to the Opry Friday night? That occurred to me as I thought of Minnie Pearl doing that opening segment before going wherever she went!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIf "Maren Morris, Jennifer Nettles, Tori Kelly, Ingrid Andress and so many talented singer/ songwriters that paved the way before her", then that is a pretty short road, what about Kitty Wells, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, etc? While not all of these were songwriters, Loretta and Dolly have been prolific songwriters and any road that was paved for any one trying to break into the business today should be attributed to them.
ReplyDeletePatrick,
ReplyDeleteI hate to admit it, but Callista Clark is 17 and probably hasn't heard of any of the women you mentioned on country radio except perhaps Dolly or Reba. I'm not certain they have charted a single for a long time.
Agree the women you mentioned deserve a ton of credit for opening doors for the women of today's country music.
Good Friday night lineup. I think I'm far more likely in the future to go to a Friday night show than a Saturday night show.
ReplyDeleteFewer new acts on Friday.
So, the Opry segment that will be opening for Garth at Nissan Stadium on Saturday night will run at the same time as the Opry show at the Opry House. The Nissan line-up is not being announced in advance, so it will be a surprise for those attending. Also, it will not be broadcast on WSM or shown live on any of the Opry's social media sites.
ReplyDeleteI am still confused about Saturday night and Garth.
ReplyDeleteByron, where do you find the actual time schedule for the Grand Ole Opry shows (as you post each week) ? I went to the webpage and it was not obvious what option to view. Thx
ReplyDeleteHopefully I can explain this correctly. On the Opry's website, along the top of the main page one of the tabs is "shows and tickets." Click that link, and one of the options is "show calendar." Click that and the most current show will be the first one displayed, with an arrow on the right side to go to future shows. For the current weekend, under the pictures of the artists scheduled to appear, click the link for more information. When you scroll down on the next page, you will see the line-up under the listen section with the times. The past couple of months they have been posting the line-up as early as Monday afternoon. If the line-up is not posted, that section will be blank.
DeleteI am not sure if I explained it as well as I could have but hopefully you can figure it out. Thanks for asking.
What a convoluted way they made to get the info, I doubt many people actually get it. Your instructions were spot-on. Thanks Byron for doing what you do, I will just keep checking your posts !!
DeleteThe older I get, the more confused I get.
ReplyDeleteWill the 'Opry show (the night of Garth's show) take place as usual and be broadcast on WSM as usual?
Don't really care what Garth does with a part of it, although it has to help the 'Opry I would think.
OK, I'm getting closer. Garth is taking 'Opry stars and letting them open for him AT NISSAN? Right?
ReplyDeleteSeems very odd to me. How can the 'Grand Old 'Opry "open" for Garth at the same time the actual Grand Old 'Opry is performing?
Who goes where? Established stars to Garth, newcomers to the 'Opry?
Designed to confuse old farts like me.
You are not alone Nat. can't wait to hear whatever happens.
ReplyDeleteJim
Clarification for hard to reach folks like me from the Nashville Tennessean today:
ReplyDelete"Fans can expect a surprise lineup of Opry talent at the concert. It'll be an only-at-the-show moment for concert-goers; the segment runs parallel to a traditional Saturday night broadcast at the Opry House, so the Nissan Stadium performance won't air live on WSM or Opry social channels."
Grand Ole Opry member Chris Young was the opening performer on the Opry show at Nissan Stadium. Emmylou Harris followed Chris.
ReplyDeleteFrom the pictures on Twitter, there is no Opry backdrop but they are using an Opry announcers stand and the Opry mics.
ReplyDeleteTrisha Yearwood has come out to join Emmylou.
ReplyDeleteSome plans don't go as planned. A severe weather event is headed toward Nashville and the show has been stopped and the stadium is being evacuated.
ReplyDeleteDue to the severe weather in the Nashville area, the Garth Brooks concert has been postponed for tonight. They are going to try to reschedule for tomorrow night. As far as the Opry portion of the show, Bill Cody was the announcer and Chris Young, Emmylou Harris and Trisha Yearwood performed. It was a very short segment that appeared to be rushed in anticipation of the bad weather moving in. It will be interesting to see when the concert is resumed, if they start again from the beginning with the Opry portion of the show, or just go with Garth. I am sure it will depend on scheduling and logistics.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, the regular show at the Opry House went just fine.
They all get an A for effort, and it was good of Garth to promote the Opry. Shall I add the snark that it would be really nice if the people in question would do the REAL Opry?
DeleteI thought the lineup for the first half of the "real" Opry was great.
ReplyDeleteFrom the Nashville Tennessean,,,,,
https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2021/07/31/garth-brooks-concert-nissan-stadium-delayed-weather/5445572001/
Thanks for the updates Byron. Did you go or did you have a spy attending? :)
The latest from Nissan Stadium, posted earlier this morning:
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately we were unable to secure adequate safety personnel and provide our standard of fan experience in order to move forward with the concert on Sunday evening. We look forward to sharing the rescheduled date in the near future.
And no Nat, I was not there but was getting information as the event took place.
You had a good spy Byron. ��
ReplyDeleteWell done Sir. ��
Blog doesn't like emojis.
ReplyDeleteFirst one - smiley face
Second one - thumbs up
Jeannie Seely and Larry Gatlin were also scheduled to be on the Opry show at Nissan Stadium, along with Garth, Trisha, Chris Young and Emmylou Harris.
ReplyDeleteNow THAT is good news. Thanks Byron.
ReplyDeleteAugust 7th the Midnight Jamboree will be hosted by the Malpass Brothers. Taping begins at 10:00 PM or can be heard on WSM at Midnight. Bob
ReplyDeleteThanks Bob. Some GENUINE traditional country music entertainers on the Midnight Jamboree!
DeleteYour Welcome Nat. Bob
Delete