After a successful weekend of opening for Garth Brooks and an appearance by Opry member Carrie Underwood, the Opry continues to roll through Spring with another nice weekend of shows at the Opry House.
If I had to pick one night, it would be Friday as Grand Ole Opry member Keith Urban is back on the schedule. If you remember, Keith had to cancel an appearance several weeks ago due to illness. However, he was in a position to immediately reschedule his appearance, which will include a recognition of his 10th anniversary as an Opry member.
Joining Keith on the Friday Night Opry will be the Opry's newest member, Lauren Alaina. The third Opry member on the schedule is Jeannie Seely, who is set to open the show.
Circle TV will be taping the second hour of the show for a future Opry Live broadcast and joining Keith and Lauren in that final hour will be frequent Opry guest Michael Ray. Michael is another of the hot, young acts in country music who has expressed his love of the Opry and his hope to be an Opry member someday.
Also guesting on Friday will be Frank Ray, Sister Sadie, along with the designated comedian for this weekend, Gary Mule Deer.
Gary Mule Deer will be back for Saturday night's show, along with Jeannie Seely, who will be joined by fellow Opry member Bobby Osborne. Charles Esten, who has appeared on the Opry right around 150 times, is also listed on the schedule, as is Tenille Arts, Steve Earle, and making her Opry debut, Erin Kinsey.
Of special note, The Dillards are also on the Opry schedule for Saturday night.
No, these are not the original Dillards, who were featured on the Andy Griffith show and inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2009. The original Dillards included Rodney Dillard, his brother Doug, Dean Webb and Mitch Jayne. While they were on the Andy Griffith show, the group was called The Darlings and included actors Denver Pyle and Maggie Peterson. Rodney is the last surviving member of the original group.
After making a name for themselves in their hometown of Salem, Missouri, they moved to Los Angeles in 1962 and began performing in local clubs. Within two weeks of their arrival in L.A. they were signed to appear as “The Darlings” on The Andy Griffith Show, a gig that lasted until 1966 and one that through the show’s continued airing has made The Dillards the most viewed bluegrass act in the world.
The Dillards have a new album, Old Road New Again. Like most Dillard collections, this one is by turns wistful and whimsical, forward looking and nostalgic, hopeful and apprehensive. Apart from the solid underpinnings provided by the band members—Rodney Dillard, Beverly Cotten-Dillard, Gary Smith, Tony Wray and George Giddens—the album glows with guest appearances from such luminaries as Don Henley, Ricky Skaggs, Sharon and Cheryl White, Herb Pedersen, Bernie Leadon, Sam Bush and Tim Crouch. Rodney Dillard calls Old Road New Again the “bookend” to the band’s 1968 masterpiece, Wheatstraw Suite.
As mentioned, The Dillards are members of the International Bluegrass Hall of Fame. Their plaque reads, in part, “The band’s unique flair for songwriting and arrangement would have a huge impact on a broad range for future musicians in the bluegrass and pop music worlds and an important influence on the country-rock movement.”
Friday April 22
7:00: Jeannie Seely, Frank Ray, Sister Sadie, Gary Mule Deer
7:50: Lauren Alaina, Michael Ray, Keith Urban
Saturday April 23
7:00: Opry Square Dancers, Jeannie Seely, Erin Kinsey, Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press, Charles Esten
Intermission
8:15: The Dillards, Gary Mule Deer, Opry Square Dancers, Tenille Arts, Steve Earle
No live Opry Live on Circle TV this week as the network will be showing a previously recorded show.
Erin Kinsey, who is making her Opry debut on Saturday night, may be a country music newcomer, but she’s been hard at work since she was 11 years old. Now 21, she is the epitome of a 10-year overnight success who has established herself as a Nashville singer-songwriter with a bright future ahead of her. Having moved from Texas to Tennessee the morning after her high school graduation, Kinsey quickly immersed herself in country music, and in return she was embraced by music insiders who’ve helped her reach her larger-than-life goals. And so far, so good. She consistently receives close to ten million views when she posts an original song on TikTok, and her debut single, “Just Drive,” is impacting country radio now. The song has been featured on SiriusXM The Highway “On The Horizon” and has over 25 million views/streams to date and counting. Kinsey is signed to RECORDS Nashville, a joint venture with Sony Music and her debut EP, 40 East, released on March 25, 2022. Where she goes from here is just about everywhere.
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Now from 50 years ago, Saturday April 22, 1972:
1st show
6:30: Stonewall Jackson (host), Ernie Ashworth
6:45: Stonewall Jackson (host), Wilma Lee Cooper, Bobby Austin
7:00: Roy Acuff (host), Lonzo and Oscar, Wilma Burgess, Joe and Rose Lee Maphis
7:30: Billy Walker (host), Skeeter Davis, The Willis Brothers, Crook Brothers
8:00: Lester Flatt (host), Mac Wiseman, Dottie West, The Stonemans, David Rogers, Cal Smith
8:30: Ernest Tubb (host), Jean Shepard, Charlie Walker, The 4 Guys, Fruit Jar Drinkers
2nd show
9:30: Stonewall Jackson (host), Willis Brothers, Bobby Austin
10:00: Lonzo and Oscar (host), Wilma Lee Cooper, Wilma Burgess
10:15: Roy Acuff (host), Joe and Rose Lee Maphis
10:30: Lester Flatt (host), Mac Wiseman, Skeeter Davis
10:45: Ernest Tubb (host), Cal Smith, Crook Brothers
11:00: Billy Walker (host), Jean Shepard, David Rogers, Fruit Jar Drinkers, Sam McGee
11:30: Charlie Walker (host), The 4 Guys, The Stonemans
(Dottie West and Ernie Ashworth were only scheduled for the first show. Also, Stoney Cooper was ill and unable to appear, which is why Stonewall hosted the first two segments on the first show and why Lonzo and Oscar hosted on the late show).
Who remembers The 4 Guys? I know many of us do and it was 55 years ago, Saturday April 22, 1967 that they became members of the Grand Ole Opry.
Formed in the late 50s by Brent Burkett, Berl Lyons, Richard Garratt and Sam Wellington in Steubenville, Ohio, the group moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and made appearances on the Grand Ole Opry. Their reception was such that they became members of the Opry. Particularly effective in their immediate success was their rendition of ‘Shenandoah’, thereafter a staple of their repertoire. Readers of Country Song Roundup magazine named them as that year’s Most Promising Vocal Group. Signed to Mercury Records they appeared with Faron Young on 1969’s Wine Me Up and through the late 60s toured with Hank Williams, Jnr. , and also worked with Jimmy Dean and Charley Pride, touring nationwide with the latter’s show.
Through the 70s, the group performed regularly at the Four Guy’s Harmony House in Nashville, then moved to the Stagedoor Lounge at the Opryland Hotel. In the late 80s and 90s, the group performed extensively on cruise liners, mainly in the Caribbean. In the mid-90s they had a long-term engagement at the Eagle Mountain Theatre in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. In addition to extended success in the USA, the group also built a European following.
Personnel changes affected the Four Guys’ line-up over the years, with Laddie Cain and John Frost replacing Lyons and Garratt in the early 80s. Burkett and Wellington remained until 1999. The name of the group was licensed to their successors and the band (Cain, Frost, Glen Bates and Gary Robinson) continued to perform a similar repertoire in a similar style and was now known as the New Four Guys. The following year, the group’s long-lasting association with the Grand Ole Opry was abruptly terminated as the Opry's general manager, Pete Fisher, made the decision to fire the group. The reasons given - the absence of original group members and limited success with records - served only to annoy their many devoted fans.
Here is the running order from Saturday April 22, 1967, the night The 4 Guys became members of the Grand Ole Opry:
7:30: Cordite
Billy Walker (host): Ride, Ride, Ride
Ernie Ashworth: Sad Face
Stringbean: The Big 'un Got Away
Merle Kilgore: I Just Don't Care Anymore
Billy Walker: Cross the Brazos at Waco
Del Wood: Piano Roll Blues
Ernie Ashworth: Just an Empty Place
Stringbean: Wanda
Billy Walker: Anything Your Heart Desires
8:00: Martha White
Wilburn Brothers (host): Roarin' Again
Loretta Lynn: You Ain't Woman Enough
Justin Tubb: Lonesome 7-7203
Harold Weakley: Almost Persuaded
Teddy Wilburn and Loretta Lynn (w/Ernest Tubb): Sweet Thang
Crook Brothers: Chicken Reel
Wilburn Brothers: Making Plans
8:30: Stephens
Bobby Lord (host): That's All Right
Dottie West: Here Comes My Baby
Bob Luman and Bobby Lord: You Can Take the Boy from the Country
The 4 Guys: Shenandoah
Bobby Lord: Look What You're Doing to You
Dottie West: What's Come Over My Baby
Bob Luman: Memphis
Bobby Lord: Take the Bucket to the Well
9:00: Luzianne
Ernest Tubb (host): Driving Nails in My Coffin
Wilma Lee Cooper: There's a Big Wheel
Connie Smith: I'll Come Runnin'
Minnie Pearl: Columbus Stockade Blues
Ernest Tubb: Let's Say Goodbye Like We Said Hello
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Take Me Back to Tulsa
Wilma Lee Cooper: Philadelphia Lawyer
Ernest Tubb: Jealous Lovin' Heart
9:30: Kellogg's
Hank Snow (host): Caribbean
Bill Monroe: Gray Eagle
George Morgan: I Couldn't See
Marion Worth: I Can't Help It
Hank Snow: Tears in the Trade Winds
Bill Monroe: My Little Georgia Rose
Cousin Jody: On Top of Old Smokey
Hank Snow: I'm Moving On
10:00: Schick
Justin Tubb (host): Looking Back to See
Dottie West: Paper Mansions
Stringbean: Ruby
Justin Tubb and Dottie West: Love is No Excuse
10:15: Pure
Bobby Lord (host): Cash on the Barrel Head
Del Wood: Cajun Stripper
Ernie Ashworth: At Ease, Heart
Bobby Lord: Fall Away
10:30: Buckley's
Wilburn Brothers (host): Hurt Her Once for Me
Loretta Lynn: If You're Not Gone Too Long
Bob Luman: Let's Think about Living
Wilburn Brothers and Loretta Lynn: Put it Off Until Tomorrow
10:45: Kent
Ernest Tubb (host): Fortunes in Memories
Wilma Lee Cooper: Wedding Bells
Crook Brothers: Old Joe Clark
Ernest Tubb: Another Story; Another Time; Another Place
11:00: Coca Cola
Hank Snow (host): I Don't Hurt Anymore
Bill Monroe: Dusty Miller
The 4 Guys: This Land is Your Land
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Katy Hill
Hank Snow: Black Diamond
Connie Smith: Once a Day
Sam McGee: These Boots are Made for Walkin'
Bill Monroe: Mary at the Home Place
Hank Snow: Listen
11:30: Lava
Marty Robbins (host): No Tears, Milady
Roy Drusky: Strangers
Osborne Brothers: Making Plans
Marion Worth: Especially You
Don Winters: Chime Bells
Roy Drusky: Alone With You
Marion Worth: Love's Gonna Live Here
Marty Robbins: Don't Worry/Begging to You/The Shoe Goes on the Other Foot Tonight/Bouquet of Roses/I Could Never Be Ashamed of You/Lovesick Blues
Their final appearance as Opry members took place April 5, 2000. The 4 Guys would come back, with Sam Wellington, to make one final Opry appearance, which took place on June 6, 2008. Sam Wellington is still alive, and I have heard that he is doing well and enjoying retirement.
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.
Thanks for such great stuff.
ReplyDeleteDoug Dillard once had a line that introduces a collection I have, and it is perfect: "God only lays a Bill Monroe on you once in a lifetime, so pay attention."
Negative alert!
ReplyDeleteWhen I turn the Opry up and hear these long talking sessions that sound like Toby Keith doing "I Wanta Talk About Me" I get frustrated.
I can't help but remember how it felt like the veterans that were passing from the scene at the end of the Fisher regime were ask not to tell where they were performing, and I always thought, they were discouraged from doing much talking. There announcing their road shows on the Opry was there social media before social media became the IN thing. Those road show was were they connected with their fans. And most of the time when they were talking, it was about another act, a band member or a fan or group of fans. These days, it usually sounds like high school kids trying to show how cool they are and how they fit in the click!
It seems to be working so my opinion isn't worth anything but I feel better having said it.
I'm not as old as am acting but I never have been!
Thanks for indulging me once more.
Jim
If Opry management is really serious about promoting real country music, it will invite exciting young Bluegrass stars Molly Tuttle and Billy Strings and their groups to perform on the Opry, at the expense of some of the new cookie cutting Country acts it has been promoting. Bluegrass is as close as you will come to old - time country --- Dashmann from Flushing, Michigan
ReplyDeleteThere are all sorts of acts, including the ones Dashmann mentioned, who should be added to the 'Opry lineup.
ReplyDeleteI love the old timers, but they're getting older every day, and it's time to add new young bloods to the 'Opry who "get it" when it comes to traditional country music.
There are plenty of them out there.