I am sure many of you saw the posting by the Opry today that they are going to honor Barbara Mandrell on Saturday July 30th, to celebrate her 50th anniversary as a member of the Grand Ole Opry. There are going to be two shows that night with Carrie Underwood listed as the headliner for both shows, with more to be added.
I am under the impression that Barbara, who is retired and has been for several decades, will the there that night in a non-performing role. This is one of those deals that some will have a hard time buying into. As a member, Barbara last appeared on the Opry in 1997, prior to her retirement. That's 25 years ago. Early in her career, before she hit it big, Barbara was pretty good at making appearances on the Opry, however, like others, once she hit it big, she was seldom seen at the Opry. In my mind, it's not like honoring a Bill Anderson on his 60th, for example, as he is someone still performing on the Opry and has made the Opry a major part of his life. They are recognizing someone who hasn't been around the Opry for decades.
I know there were reasons why Barbara retired from performing and that I understand. Actually, I admire her for retiring when she was still on top and in good form, unlike some artists who hang on well past their prime. I should also note that when Barbara did retire, she specifically asked Opry management if she could continue her Opry membership as the custom at the time was if you retired from performing, you have up your Opry membership. She basically started the trend that continues to this day.
This is not meant to criticize Barbara in any way. She had a wonderful career, is a superstar, and is a well-deserved member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. She has stated many times that she is proud to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry and considers that honor one of the highlights of her career. And from a personal standpoint, I like her and enjoy much of her music.
I know it will be a wonderful night for her and for the Opry, and I know it will be a great show. I congratulate Barbara for being an Opry member for 50 years and I probably will be there that night to take it all in.
Now, looking ahead to this weekend at the Grand Ole Opry, it is going to be pretty hard to top what took place last Saturday night as Vince Gill invited Charlie McCoy and Don Schlitz to become members of the Grand Ole Opry.
Looking at the Opry shows for this weekend, Grand Ole Opry members Riders In The Sky are on the schedule for both nights. They will be joined on the Friday Night Opry by The Isaacs, and after being absent from the Opry for the past several weeks, Bobby Osborne. On Saturday night, the Riders will be joined by Dailey & Vincent, Jeannie Seely and Mark Wills.
Richie Furay will be making his Opry debut on Friday night. Also scheduled to appear is comedian Killer Beaz, Eric Paslay, Jillian Jacqueline, Filmore, and in what is an annual tradition, the ACM Lifting Lives Campers. Saturday night, Wendy Moten is back, along with Smithfield, Sam Williams and making her Opry debut, Katy Nichole.
Friday June 17
7:00: Riders In The Sky, Eric Paslay, Jillian Jacqueline, Richie Furay
Intermission
8:15: Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press, Filmore, ACM Lifting Lives Campers, Killer Beaz, The Isaacs
Saturday June 18
7:00: Opry Square Dancers, Dailey & Vincent, Jeannie Seely, Smithfield, Wendy Moten
Intermission
8:15: Sam Williams, Katy Nichole, Opry Square Dancers, Mark Wills, Riders In The Sky
As mentioned, both Richie Furay and Katy Nichole will be making their Opry debuts this weekend.
Richie Furay is a legend whose career has lasted over 60 years and has included being a member of Buffalo Springfield, Poco, and the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band. He is a member of both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Colorado Music Hall of Fame. Richie has also released several solo albums in his career, including his newest album, In The Country, where he focuses on his love of country music. His new album includes songs originally done by artists like Keith Urban, John Denver, Alabama, Rick Nelson, Marc Cohn, George Strait and John Berry, among others.
Katy Nichole began early, singing in her church choir. By 14, she was writing songs and leading worship. Having served as both an ambassador for the Shriners Hospitals for Children® and as a volunteer for Musicians On Call, Nichole, at the invitation of Josh Havens, lead singer for The Afters, began leading worship at The Grove in Phoenix, AZ. Havens saw something in Nichole she couldn’t even see in herself at the time. She began writing, recording and posting her music online, which eventually led to her making a move to Nashville and landing a label home with Centricity Music.
Good luck to both on their Opry debuts.
Looking back 55 years ago, the Grand Ole Opry welcomed a new member as Stu Phillips joined the cast of the Grand Ole Opry.
Stu Phillips was born on January 19, 1933 in St. Eustace, near Montreal, Quebec, In his early teens, his father moved the family to Calgary. He learned to play guitar and worked on various jobs until eventually being hired by CFRN Edmonton as a newsreader, general handyman and engineer. When a disc jockey failed to show Phillips, without authority, deputised singing some of his own songs. Although reprimanded, it led to Stu For Breakfast, an early morning show which launched his career. Realizing there were not many Canadian songs, he began to write and gained his inspiration from books on Canadian folklore.
In 1956, after spells at CJIB Vernon, British Columbia and CHED Edmonton, he began presenting live television shows on the newly opened CHCT-TV in Calgary. Soon after Don Cameron, the regional director of CBC, offered him a CBC radio show singing folk and children’s songs as the Travelling Balladeer. This proved so successful it also led to him presenting The Outrider, a network weekly television show. He also became involved with the Calgary Stampede and presented the prime-time CBC television Red River Jamboree.
Stu made his first recordings for Rodeo Records in Halifax and later recorded for London Records and Columbia Records (Canada) gaining some success with ‘Squaws Along The Yukon’. In spite of Canadian stardom, he wished to emulate his fellow Canadian Hank Snow and join Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry. After visiting Nashville, in the early 60s, where Chet Atkins signed him to RCA Records, he finally relocated there in 1965.
He worked his own morning show on WSIX-TV with his band comprising Jimmy Capps, Jerry Reed and Henri Strzelecki. He gained his first Billboard hits in 1966 with ‘Bracero’ and ‘The Great El Tigre’. He toured to England in 1967 and on his return, and after making over 20 guest appearances, he became a member of the Opry. Between 1967 and 1968, he registered six further hits the biggest being ‘Juanita Jones’ (number 13) and ‘Vin Rose’ (number 21). After ‘Bring Love Back Into Our World’ (number 68), he left RCA and recorded for Capitol Records but had no single releases or further chart entries.
In the 70s, he toured and presented his own television series Music Place from WAVE-TV Kentucky. In the early 80s, he began to study to become a minister of the Episcopalian church, which saw him cut back drastically on his personal appearances but he still performed at the some major venues including the Calgary Stampede and London’s Wembley Festival. In the 90s, he continued to live in Nashville and maintained his popularity with the Opry audiences while also fulfilling his church duties. He made further recordings for Broadland and, in 1994, Bear Family Records issued a 35-track CD, which represented a reissue (minus one track) of three Rodeo albums, which contained some of the songs he wrote of Canadian folklore early in his career.
A little more than 31 years after joining the Grand Ole Opry, Stu Phillips became an American citizen. Having lived in the U.S. longer than in his native Canada, Stu celebrated American citizenship with his wife, Aldona, on the Opry stage on the Fourth of July weekend in 1998.
While the Opry lists June 1st as Stu's induction date, his first appearance as a member took place on Saturday June 17. Here is the running order of late-night portion of the Opry from that night:
9:30: Kellogg's
Charlie Louvin (host): See The Big Man Cry
Willis Brothers: Somebody Knows My Dog
Bob Luman: Why Don't You Leave Me Alone
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Katy Hill
Charlie Louvin: How Great Thou Art
Bobby Lord: Life Can Have Meaning
Charlie Louvin: Off & On
10:00: Schick
Billy Grammer (host): Wabash Cannonball
Del Wood: Under The Double Eagle
Stringbean: The Big 'Um Got Away
Billy Grammer: Detroit City
10:15: Pure
Justin Tubb (host): You Nearly Lose Your Mind
Osborne Brothers: Roll, Muddy River
Cousin Jody: On Top Of Old Smokey
Justin Tubb: As Long As There's A Sunday
10:30: Buckley's
Jim Ed Brown (host) w/The Browns: Where Does The Good Times Go
Stu Phillips: (?)
Jim Ed Brown w/The Browns: All Of Me Belongs To You/The Fugitive
10:45: Newport
Roy Acuff (host): Wabash Cannonball
Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper: The Birds Are Back To Sing
Crook Brothers: Black Mountain Rag
Roy Acuff: The Great Speckled Bird
11:00: Coca Cola
Bob Luman (host): Let's Think About Living
Marion Worth: Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Fire On The Mountain
Duke of Paducah: Four-Leaf Clover
Bob Luman: Memphis
Sam McGee: Amos Johnson Rag
Marion Worth: He Thinks I Still Care
Bob Luman: You Can Take The Boy From The Country
11:30: Lava
Marty Robbins (host): No Tears Milady
Ernie Ashworth: At Ease, Heart
Wilma Burgess: There Goes My Everything
Don Winters: Chime Bells
Marty Robbins: Tonight Carmen
Ernie Ashworth: Talk Back Trembling Lips
Marty Robbins: Don't Worry/Begging To You/Bouquet of Roses/I Could Never Be Ashamed Of You/You Know How Talk Gets Around/Lovesick Blues/El Paso
Stu Phillips, who is now 89, last appeared on the Opry five years ago, upon his 50th anniversary as an Opry member. In my opinion, Stu was one of the great, underrated ballad singers of all time, and upon last word, is doing well in retirement.
Finally, a look back to Saturday June 17, 1995, the night in which the Opry welcomed Eddie Stubbs as their newest announcer. Here is the running order from that night, 27 years ago:
1st show
6:30: GHS Strings
Grandpa Jones (host): Little Pink
Bill Carlisle: Leave That Liar Alone
Grandpa Jones: Four Stoned Walls & A Ceiling
6:45: Country Music Hall of Fame
Jeanne Pruett (host): Temporarily Yours
Oswald: Dobro Chimes
Jeanne Pruett: Satin Sheets
7:00: Shoney's
The 4 Guys (host): It's All Right To Have A Good Time
Wilma Lee Cooper: On The Evening Train
Charlie Louvin: In The Pines
Jean Shepard: Wabash Cannonball
The 4 Guys: Amazing Grace/How Married Are You Mary Ann/May You Always
7:30: Standard Candy
Opry Square Dance Band: Durango's Hornpipe
Mike Snider (host): Cotton Eyed Joe/Sourwood Mountain/Mississippi Sawyer
Billy Dean: Tennessee Stud
The Whites: It's Not What You Know; It's Who You Know
Mike Snider: Snuff Dipper
8:00: Martha White
Porter Wagoner (host): Freight Train Boogie
Hank Locklin: Send Me The Pillow You Dream On
Carol Lee Singers: Give Me One More Chance
Charlie Walker: That Silver Haired Daddy Of Mine
Colleen Walters: Ain't You Even Gonna Cry
Porter Wagoner: Misery Loves Company
8:30: Kraft
Hank Snow (host): Miller's Cave
Stu Phillips: You Win Again/Release Me
Tim Watson and Black Creek: Alabama Fire Breathing Fiddle Man
Jeannie Seely: Burning That Old Memory/When He Leaves You
Hank Snow: These Hands
2nd show
9:30: Dollar General
Porter Wagoner (host): Y'all Come
Hank Locklin: Country Hall Of Fame
Jeanne Pruett: Temporarily Yours
The Whites: Blue Letters
Porter Wagoner: A Satisfied Mind/Big Wind/On A Highway Headed South
10:00: Goody's
Grandpa Jones (host): How Many Biscuits Can You Eat
Wilma Lee Cooper: West Virginia Polka
Grandpa Jones: T For Texas
10:15: Kerns' Bakery/Tennessee Pride
Jean Shepard (host): Are You Teasing Me
Roy Drusky: Have I Stayed Away Too Long
Jean Shepard: I'll Sail My Ship Alone
10:30: Gruhn Guitars
Mike Snider (host): Lonesome Road Blues
Charlie Louvin: A Candle In The Wind
Bob Clark: Rawhide
10:45: Fairfield
The 4 Guys (host): Swing Down Chariot
Oswald: The End Of The World
Opry Square Dance Band: Acorn Hill
The 4 Guys: Thank You For Being A Friend
11:00: Coca Cola
Hank Snow (host): Ramblin' Rose
Stu Phillips: A Castle; A Cabin
Charlie Walker: That Silver Haired Daddy Of Mine
Billy Dean: That's What I Like About Love/Yesterday
Hank Snow: That Lucky Old Sun
11:30: Loreal Hair Care
Jeannie Seely (host): Bubbles In My Beer
Carol Lee Singers: Ashes of Love
Charlie Nagatani: Bouquet Of Roses
Tim Watson and Black Creek: Alabama Fire Breathing Fiddling Man/Louisiana Saturday Night/Diggy Liggy Lo/Jambalaya/Big Mamou
Jeannie Seely: Go Down Swinging/Don't Touch Me
Eddie remained an Opry announcer until he left WSM in July 2020.
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.
I had pretty much forgotten the sad tale of Barbara's car accident (that wasn't her fault) and her subsequent retirement until I looked up her life story.
ReplyDeleteI think it is entirely appropriate that the 'Opry honors her, and I consider it kind of nice that she cared enough about the 'Opry to want to remain part of it, even though she retired from the business.
Should be an interesting night!
Thanks Byron for the heads up.
I hope Eddie Stubbs is doing well. I remember reading his account of auditioning for the job. Charlie Douglas was retiring and Kyle Cantrell saw Eddie, who was doing relief work at WSM and playing fiddle for Kitty Wells and Johnnie Wright, at the Opry and asked him to announce a segment. Eddie said fine and when he got ready, he realized that he, a longtime bluegrass fiddler, was about to introduce Bill Monroe. Which he did. Mr. Monroe said, "Thank you, thank you, Eddie Stubbs, and howdy folks." Eddie said he was shocked because that was the first time Mr. Monroe had used his name. He had always called him "Boy."
ReplyDeleteCharlie Nagatani.... Any news on him?? Always made a yearly appearance on the Opry. Always sang Bouquet of Roses.
ReplyDeleteI always thoroughly enjoyed Charlie and the folks he brought to the 'Opry. He LOVES country music.
DeleteThe Swon Brothers have replaced Eric Paslay tonight on the Friday Night Opry.
ReplyDeleteI do find it odd how the Opry has handled anniversaries over the years under different management. Here we are honoring someone who is retired and has not performed on the Opry for years. Others who did not reach that milestone but performed throughout their membership were honored but with little fanfare at 30 or 40 years. I'm fine with it but still find it strange how these things are decided. As an added note, I remember how Ms. Minnie and Mr. Roy just seemed to adore Barbara.
ReplyDeleteI would much rather have them filling stage time to honor Barbara than parading another old rocker in front of us and "making their ?? year dream come true. How many rock venues over the years welcomed old country acts to their stage when they were past their prime.....or anytime for that matter. I'll wait for a list because I know it happened but surely not with the frequency we are seeing at the Opry these days. We had another tonight. On top of them being there, it seems there is no limit on their stage time. How many times did Ray Price and others appear and get a huge applause or standing ovation but were limited to two songs unless someone like Porter was brave enough to give him more time often making his own sacrifice of his closing song. Mr. Acuff did that a lot too.
Thanks Byron for remembering Eddie Stubbs. Makes me feel old to think it has been that long since he came to the Opry. I know he left to spend time with his new wife and that is great. I hope they doing well a living happy. I do have to wonder if he saw the writing on the wall. It sure seems like the Opry has really gone wide open in the past 3-5 years or so welcoming pretty much anyone to the stage.
Jim
Knightsville, IN
Jim, I wonder how much of Eddie's decision had to do with WSM more than the Opry.
DeleteMichael, could be. Just interesting that it feels like the number of non country acts appearing has increased over the time since he left.
DeleteGreat opry last night but kinda sad to see Bobby Osborne struggling to remember the words to Rocky Top, a song he has done hundreds of times. Even struggled to remember the names of his band. His voice did sound better than a couple of weeks ago when he sounded flat on Rocky top. Robert A Bevington. Indianapolis Indiana
ReplyDeleteI'm reminded of the night Mr. Acuff introduced a young songwriter as "Tom P. Hay." Some nights are better than others.
DeleteRobert, I agree. Some nights he is better than others. I just hope I have the drive to stay active when I'm 90.......if I make it that far.
ReplyDeleteJim
Sadly, I forgot to mention that Riders In The Sky are celebrating their 40th anniversary as Opry members. It kind of slipped under the wire with all that has happened lately at the Opry.
ReplyDeleteByron
Goes along with what I said about Barbara. I understand as has been noted here recently that they make a big deal back stage, make a cake and have a party. That's not the same as making presentation on stage and stating their contributions to Opry to the audience. With the age they are targeting for the Opry audience these days most of them should not have been born when Riders joined the show. Shouldn't they at least play a video of some of the things that happened to them over that 40 years. Every Opry member should be treated equal even if they are not a household name. If they deserve membership then they should receive something that resembles equal treatment. Riders have been very loyal members.
ReplyDeleteDid I here something about Pete Fisher last night? I just can't leave the volume turned up all the time, I can't take some of it. I pay for that by missing little things!
Jim