Grand Ole Opry 4/29 & 4/30

This weekend, the Grand Ole Opry closes out the month of April with another weekend of shows at the Grand Ole Opry House. Really nothing special on the schedule for this weekend, other than a couple of pretty solid shows. 

Grand Ole Opry member John Conlee is on the schedule for both nights. He will be joined on the Friday Night Opry by fellow Opry members Jeannie Seely, Bobby Osborne and Chris Janson, while on Saturday night, Connie Smith is the only other Opry member listed. I know a few of the readers have made the comment several times about the lack of Opry members on many of the shows, and with just four members listed for Friday and two for Saturday, I can see the point. With the number of Opry members to choose from, I do find it sad that only a couple appear on the weekly schedule. 

Appearing as guest artists on Friday night are Louis York, Parmalee, comedian Brian Bates and making his Opry debut, Logan Mize. Saturday night the wonderful Wendy Moten, Country Music Hall of Fame Member Don Schlitz, the very talented Charlie Worsham and comedian John Crist are among those listed. 

Additionally, Becky Buller and her Band are back for a return appearance, and a name we have not seen on the Opry in a while, Michael Martin Murphey is scheduled to appear. 

We all know that Michael Martin Murphey has had a very nice career. Here are some number for you:  According to BMI, he has five million-performance songs – “Wildfire” (3.9 million), “Cherokee Fiddle” (1.92 million), “Carolina In The Pines” (1.65 million), “Talking To The Wrong Man” (1.21 million), “Still Takin’ Chances” (1.2 million) – and a total of 11 award-winning BMI songs (6 in Country and 5 in Pop). Also, according to BMI, repeat back-to-back performances of his award winning songs alone, with each song averaging three minutes each, would amount to 64 years of continuous airplay. In addition, he is a multiple Grammy nominee, with six gold albums, including Cowboy Songs, the first album of cowboy music to achieve gold status since Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs by Marty Robbins in 1959. He has recorded the hit singles "Wildfire", "Carolina in the Pines", "What's Forever For", "A Long Line of Love", "What She Wants", "Don't Count the Rainy Days", and "Maybe This Time". Murphey is also the author of New Mexico's state ballad, "The Land of Enchantment". Murphey has become a prominent musical voice for the Western horseman, rancher, and cowboy.

At the age of 77, Michael still is very active and tours on a regular basis. 

Friday April 29
7:00: Jeannie Seely, Logan Mize, John Conlee, Parmalee
Intermission
8:15: Louis York, Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press, Brian Bates, Chris Janson

Saturday April 30
7:00: Opry Square Dancers, John Conlee, Wendy Moten, Michael Martin Murphey, Connie Smith
Intermission
8:15: Becky Buller Band, John Crist, Opry Square Dancers, Don Schlitz, Charlie Worsham

No live TV this week of Circle. 

On the Opry website, it was noted that this will be the Opry debut for Logan Mize. I had thought he appeared on the Opry before, so I checked. He was actually scheduled for the Friday January 7th show that was cancelled due to the weather in Nashville, thus his Opry appearance was rescheduled. 

Logan Mize’s story began in Kansas. There, his family has been running Mize’s Thriftway, a local grocery, for over fifty years. From a young age, Logan worked unloading trucks and carrying groceries. But there was also music in the family – his great uncle Billy Mize was an architect of the ’60s Bakersfield Sound – and in the air, leading Logan in a different direction. After two “distracted” years in college, he dropped out and moved to Nashville. “A song plugger heard him at an open mike, invited him to play a song for Brett Jones, a songwriter who ran Wyoming Sky Music, and I had a deal by the end of the day.” While Jones championed Logan and helped shape his songwriting skills, the deal fell apart after a year. While he dug in on his craft and put his own band together, he worked a slew of jobs to support himself. In 2009, he landed a deal with publisher Big Yellow Dog, and released his first, self-titled album. Over the next decade and three more albums, he scored hit singles with “Ain’t Always Pretty” and “Better Off Gone” (which was recently certified Gold by the RIAA), logged over 350 million streams on different platforms, and toured constantly. Mize’s most recent album, Welcome to Prairieville, is his most personal work to date. As he looks forward, he reflects on what he hopes listeners will take away. “I hope listeners have a really good listening experience, and it makes them want to come see my show. I hope it inspires them in some way.” 
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Now from 50 years ago, Saturday April 29:

1st show
6:30: Stonewall Jackson (host), Jack Greene, Jeannie Seely
6:45: Billy Walker (host), Bill Carlisle, Wilma Burgess
7:00: Roy Acuff (host), Charlie Louvin and Diane McCall, Wilma Lee Cooper, Barbara Mandrell, Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper
7:30: Porter Wagoner (host), Dolly Parton, Cal Smith, Crook Brothers
8:00: Lester Flatt (host), Mac Wiseman, Del Wood, Ray Pillow
8:30: Hank Snow (host), Earl Scruggs Revue, George Morgan, Justin Tubb, Fruit Jar Drinkers

2nd show
9:30: Billy Walker (host), Stonewall Jackson, Wilma Burgess, Cal Smith
10:00: Charlie Louvin (host), Bill Carlisle, Ray Pillow
10:15: Porter Wagoner (host), Dolly Parton
10:30: Lester Flatt (host), George Morgan, Del Wood
10:45: Roy Acuff (host), Wilma Lee Cooper, Crook Brothers
11:00: Hank Snow (host), Earl Scruggs Revue, Barbara Mandrell, Fruit Jar Drinkers, Sam McGee
11:30: Jack Greene (host), Jeannie Seely, Justin Tubb, Merle Kilgore

(A much better show than the previous weeks in April. Nice to see Wilma Burgess make another Opry appearance. She was on quite a few shows during the early 70s, Barbara Mandrell made another guest appearance that night. In July she would become an Opry member and will be celebrating 50 years of membership this summer). 
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So, moving ahead, April 30, 1966 was a special night at the Grand Ole Opry as 56 years ago Ray Pillow became an Opry member. 

A lot of country music, and Opry fans think of Ray Pillow as just a singer and songwriter, however behind the scenes he is best known as a prominent publisher renowned for his rare gift of matching performers with high-quality songs right for their style. 

Ray Pillow was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, and first learned to play the guitar while bedridden as a teen. He graduated from high school in 1954 and then joined the Navy. Following his discharge, he earned a bachelor's degree in business and made his professional and personal singing debut playing with his uncle's band, the Stardusters.  

In 1961, Ray won second place at the regional National Pet Milk talent contest in Nashville, which resulted in a guest appearance on the Grand Ole Opry. Later, Ray would meet up with Joe Taylor, the head of promotion with the Martha White Company, who had promised to help Ray after hearing him perform, resulting in Ray signing a personal management contract with the company. 

In 1963 he released his first two singles, but didn't really have chart success until 1965, with the Top 50 "Take Your Hands Off My Heart" and his first Top 20 hit, "Thank You Ma'am." In 1966, he had two Top 40 hits and a Top Ten duet with Jean Shepherd, "I'll Take the Dog." He continued with a steady stream of hits through 1970 but fell off the charts until 1972 with the minor hits "Since Then" and "She's Doing It to Me Again." 

Pillow's involvement in the administratve end of the business began the mid-'60s, when he paired up with Taylor in Joe Taylor Artist Management, Shoji Music Publications and Ming Music, Inc. In the early '80s, Pillow teamed with Larry McFaden and they began Sycamore. In the late '80s, he began working with the A&R team at Capitol Records and later became an independent record consultant.

Here is the running order from Saturday April 30, 1966, the night Ray Pillow became a member of the Grand Ole Opry:

7:30: Luzianne
Billy Walker (host): How Do You Ask Someone to Love You
George Hamilton IV: Big Steel Railroad
The Homesteaders: Flowers on the Wall
Cousin Jody: Steel Guitar Rag
Billy Walker: Funny How Time Slips Away
Curly Fox: Won't 'Cha Come Home, Bill Bailey
George Hamilton IV: Write Me a Picture
The Homesteaders: Going Down the Mountain
Billy Walker: Charlie's Shoes

8:00: Martha White
Flatt and Scruggs (host): Nine Pound Hammer
Bobby Bare: Four Strong Winds
Grandpa Jones: Log Cabin by the 
Del Wood: Piano Roll Blues
Flatt and Scruggs: I Know What it Means to be Lonesome
Crook Brothers: Black Mountain Rag
Bobby Bare: Detroit City
Grandpa Jones: Old Rattler
Flatt and Scruggs: Foggy Mountain Breakdown

8:30: Stephens
Roy Acuff (host): Tennessee Central No. 9
Wilburn Brothers: It's Another World
Marion Worth: One Has My Name; The Other My Heart
Archie Campbell: Comedy
Roy Acuff: Wreck on the Highway
Wilburn Brothers: Trouble's Back in Town
Oswald: Roll on Buddy, Roll on

9:00: Pet Milk
Ernest Tubb (host): Jealous Lovin' Heart
Tompall and The Glaser Brothers: A Girl Like You
Ray Pillow: Common Cold & Broken Hearts
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Hickory Leaf
Ernest Tubb: Waltz Across Texas
Margie Bowes: That Completely Destroys My Plans
Tompall and The Glaser Brothers: Teardrops 'Til Dawn
Ray Pillow: Even the Bad Times are Good
Leon Rhodes: Leon's Guitar Boogie

9:30: Kellogg's
Willis Brothers (host): Give Me 40 Acres
The Carter Family: It Ain't Me, Babe
Waylon Jennings: Time to Bum Again
June Carter: Tall Loverman
Willis Brothers: Love Thy Neighbor
Harold Weakley: To Mommy, In Care of God
The Carter Family: Wildwood Flower
Skeeter Willis: A Maiden's Prayer

10:00: Schick
Billy Walker (host): Cross the Brazos at Waco
Curly Fox: The Old Gray Mule
Cousin Jody: Wabash Blues
Billy Walker: Cattle Call

10:15: Pure
Wilburn Brothers (host): I'm Gonna Tie One on Tonight
Del Wood: Night Train to Memphis
Wilburn Brothers: Someone Before Me
Don Helms: The World is Waiting for the Sunrise

10:30: Harvey's
Bobby Bare (host): A Man of Constant Sorrow
Grandpa Jones: I Don't Love Nobody
Bobby Bare: 500 Miles
Grandpa Jones: 8 More Miles to Louisville
Bobby Bare: It Ain't Me, Babe/Blowing in the Wind/Worried Man Blues

10:45: Newport
Ernest Tubb (host): 'Til My Getup Has Got Up & Gone
Jack Greene: Born to Lose
Crook Brothers: Ida Red
Ernest Tubb: Half a Mind

11:00: Coca Cola
Roy Acuff (host): The Great Speckled Bird
Tompall and The Glaser Brothers: Same Old Memories
Margie Bowes: Big City
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Bill Cheatham
Sam McGee: Wheels
Ray Pillow: Thank You Ma'am
Onie Wheeler: Too Hot to Handle

11:30: Lava
Willis Brothers (host): Gonna Swing 'Til My Rope Breaks
George Hamilton IV: Abilene
Waylon Jennings: Anita, You're Dreaming
Archie Campbell: The Men in My Little Girl's Life
Willis Brothers: A 6ft 2 by 4
Marion Worth: Cryin' Time
George Hamilton IV: Truck Driving Man
Willis Brothers: God Walks These Hills With Me

It has been a few years since Ray has appeared on the Opry and the assumption is that he is now retired. I always thought Ray was a very good ballad and western swing singer. And while he never had many big hits, he was popular and well received when appearing on the Opry and did a nice job when hosting segments. 

Congratulations to Ray Pillow upon his 56th anniversary as a member of the Grand Ole Opry. 

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.