Grand Ole Opry 7/1 & 7/2

Welcome to the month of July. Who else finds it hard to believe that 2022 is already half over? 

As far as the Grand Ole Opry for this weekend, there are two solid shows on the schedule with a nice assortment of artists. A lot of variety for sure this weekend. 

Grand Ole Opry members Riders In The Sky and John Conlee are on the schedule for Friday night, while Jeannie Seely, Bill Anderson and Mike Snider are listed for Saturday night. Here is my only beef with this: just two members on Friday and three on Saturday, and each night all of the members are scheduled during the first half of the show, before the intermission. I know it is July 4th weekend and I am sure a lot of the artists are out on the road, but you would hope that there would have been more members scheduled and spread out throughout the shows. 

Comedian Gary Mule Deer is scheduled for both nights. I am sure it is no surprise to anyone that Gary has guested on the Opry more than any other non-member over the past couple of years. This weekend will mark is 18th and 19th appearances in 2022. 

Also scheduled on Friday night is Brett Eldredge, Austin Burke, Callista Clark, Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley, Lainey Wilson and making her Opry debut, Tasha Layton. Brett is a late addition to the lineup and will be opening the show. 

The non-member list for Saturday night is headed by Charles Esten, who has made over 150 guest appearances on the Opry. Cajun legend Jo-EL Sonnier, and Frank Ray are also on the schedule, as is Chris Jones & The Night Drivers, who will be making their long-awaited Opry debut. It will be very nice hearing some Cajun music on the Opry this weekend. We all know that Jimmy C Newman has been missed and not really replaced. 

Friday July 1
7:00 Brett Eldredge, Riders In The Sky, Austin Burke, John Conlee, Callista Clark
Intermission
8:15: Tasha Layton, Gary Mule Deer, Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley, Lainey Wilson

Saturday July 2
7:00: Opry Square Dancers, Jeannie Seely, Frank Ray, Mike Snider, Bill Anderson
Intermission
8:15: Jo-EL Sonnier, Gary Mule Deer, Opry Square Dancers, Chris Jones & The Night Drivers, Charles Esten

(Ashley McBryde was on the original schedule for Saturday night but has canceled all of her appearances over the next month due to personal reasons. That included her scheduled Opry appearance). 

As mentioned, Tasha Layton and Chris Jones will be making their Opry debuts this weekend. 

Tasha Layton appeared on Season 9 of American Idol. Her background includes serving as an instructor at the National Praise and Worship Institute at Trevecca Nazarene University. In 2020, she was named one of Billboard's Top 5 female Christian artists of the year after achieving success with her breakthrough single "Into The Sea (It's Gonna Be Ok)." 

In 2021, her hit “Look What You’ve Done" was featured on her released debut album, How Far. Tasha has been featured on ABC’s GMA3: What You Need To Know, discussing how past struggles have shaped her life and inspired her music; and she served as co-host of the 52nd GMA Dove Awards Pre-Telecast last year. 

If you listen to Sirius/XM Radio, then Chris Jones is no stranger as he has been featured on the Bluegrass channel and recently, he temporarily took over as the morning host on Willie's Roadhouse. 

Chris formed his group, The Night Drivers, in the mid-1990s, and they have become popular repeat performers at major festivals like MerleFest in North Carolina, California’s Huck Finn Jubilee, and the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas. They have filled a wide variety of venues around the world, touring across the U.S. and Canada, and all over Europe, including Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and Ireland. Together with the band and as a solo artist, Chris has released 14 albums and racked up 19 #1 songs. In addition, the group has won 16 IBMA Awards. 

Currently, his group, The Night Drivers, consists of Matt Stoffel, Marshall Wilburn and Grace Van't Hof. They recently performed at the Ralph Stanley Hills of Home Festival which I attended, and they were outstanding. I am looking forward to hearing them on the Opry on Saturday night. 

Now from 50 years ago, Saturday July 1, 1972: 

1st show
6:30: Willis Brothers (host), Bill Carlisle
6:45: Lonzo and Oscar (host), Karen Wheeler
7:00: The 4 Guys (host), Stringbean, Del Wood, Dickey Lee
7:30: Roy Acuff (host), Loretta Lynn, Anthony Armstrong Jones, Crook Brothers
8:00: Grandpa Jones (host), Penny DeHaven, Jerry Clower, Johnny Russell, Stu Phillips
8:30: Hank Snow (host), Marion Worth, Harry Rusk, Fruit Jar Drinkers

2nd show
9:30: Stu Phillips (host), Willis Brothers, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Russell
10:00: Lonzo and Oscar (host), Stringbean, Del Wood
10:15: Bill Carlisle (host), Jerry Clower
10:30: Grandpa Jones (host), Karen Wheeler, Dickey Lee, Ramona Jones
10:45: Roy Acuff (host), Anthony Armstrong Jones, Crook Brothers
11:00: Hank Snow (host), Penny DeHaven, Harry Rusk, Fruit Jar Drinkers, Sam McGee
11:30: Marty Robbins (host), Marion Worth, The 4 Guys

(Charlie Louvin and Jimmy C Newman were both scheduled but canceled. 

One name that stood out from that night was Anthony Armstrong Jones, whose real name was Ronnie Jones. He took the stage name of the British photographer who married Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon. A former professional golfer, Jones recorded four albums for Chart Records and charted six times in the Top 40 on the Billboard country singles charts. His debut single was a No. 22-peaking cover of "Proud Mary," originally by Creedence Clearwater Revival, which served as the title track of his first album. Its second single was "New Orleans," originally recorded by Gary U. S. Bonds.

His second album, Take a Letter Maria, produced his biggest hit in its No. 8 title track, a cover of the pop hit for R. B. Greaves. Later that year, he released Sugar in the Flowers, which produced singles in "Lead Me Not into Temptation" and its title track. Finishing off his single releases that year was a rendition of Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline," which Jones recorded on Take a Letter Maria.

He later recorded for Epic Records, where he charted three singles in 1973, including a No. 33 cover of Jim Croce's "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown". He recorded for Homa Records in the 1970s but did not have any chart success and charted for the last time in 1986 with the No. 74 "Those Eyes" on the Air label, after which he retired from the music business. Ronnie Jones passed away in 1996. 

Going back a little further, Saturday July 2, 1955, was the first Saturday night that Patsy Cline appeared on the Grand Ole Opry. There are some who believe that she appeared the night before on the Friday Night Frolics, however I cannot substantiate that fact. 

Here is the running order as listed in the program from that night 67 years ago: 

7:30: Federal Fertilizer
Carl Smith: There She Goes
Fiddle Tune: Ragtime Annie
Minnie Pearl: Comedy
Cowboy Copas: Gone and Left Me Blues
Fiddle Tune: Wake Up Susan

7:45: American Ace
Carl Smith: Back Up Buddy
Ray Price: If You Don't Somebody Else Will
Wilburn Brothers: I Wanna-Wanna-Wanna
Carl Smith: Old Lonesome Times
Fiddle Tune: Fisher's Horn Pipe

8:00: Martha White
Ernest Tubb: Kansas City Blues
Ferlin Husky: I'll Baby Sit with You
Flatt and Scruggs: Salty Dog Blues
Patsy Kline: A Church, A Courtroom and Then Goodbye
Possum Hunters: Fire In The Mountain
Ernest Tubb: The Lonely World
Carlisles: Bargain Day
Flatt and Scruggs: Flint Hill Special
Ferlin Husky: Cuz You're So Sweet
Ernest Tubb: Daisy May
Fiddle Tune: Turkey In The Straw

8:30: Prince Albert
Faron Young: Live Fast, Love Hard, and Die Young
Rod Brasfield: Comedy
Hawkshaw Hawkins: Why Don't You Leave This Town
Fiddle Tune: Grey Eagle
Faron Young: Gold Bless God
Moon Mullican: When Love Dies, Where Does It Go
Minnie Pearl: Comedy
Hawkshaw Hawkins: How Can Anything So Pretty Be So Doggone Mean
Grandpa Jones: Good Old Mountain Dew
Faron Young: All Right
Fiddle Tune: Old Joe Clark

9:00: Royal Crown Cola
Roy Acuff: Wabash Cannonball
Fruit Jar Drinkers: Love Somebody
Johnny and Jack: I Get So Lonely
George Morgan: The Best Mistake I Ever Made
Kitty Wells: As Long As I Live
Jug Band: Shot Gun Boogie
Bill Monroe: Blue Moon of Kentucky
Roy Acuff: Glory Bound Train
Oswald: Curly Headed Baby
Roy Acuff: Green Back Dollar

9:30: Jefferson Island Salt
Carl Smith: Love Talk
Jimmy Dickens: When I Play The Fiddle
Eddie Hill: Same Old Dreams
Lew Childre: Southern Hospitality
Goldie Hill: Please Don't Betray Me
Crook Brothers: Black Mountain Rag
Carl Smith: Kisses Don't Lie
Jordanaires: Will You Be Ready
Chet Atkins: Bye, Bye Blues
Jimmy Dickens: Conscience Set Me Free
Fiddle Tune: 8th of January

10:00: Wall-Rite
George Morgan: I'd Like To Know
Bill Monroe: My Rose of Old Kentucky
Carlisles: It's Bed Time Bill
George Morgan: I Think I'm Gonna Cry
Fiddle Tune: Sleepy Lou

10:15: Dr. Le Gear
Ray Price: Let Me Talk To You
Grandpa Jones: Herd of Turtles
Patsy Kline: Goodbye and So Long To You
Ray Price: One Broken Heart
Fiddle Tune: Wake Up Susan

10:30: Hester Battery
Ernest Tubb: You Don't Have To Be A Baby To Cry
Jimmy Dickens: Black-Eyed Joe
Goldie Hill: Cry, Cry Darling
Ernest Tubb: I Know My Baby Loves Me
Fiddle Tune: Ricketts Horn Pipe

10:45: D Con
Ferlin Husky: She's Always There
Moon Mullican: Pipeliner
Bennie Martin: Ice Cold Love
Gully Jumpers: Bully of The Town
Ferlin Husky: I Feel Better All Over

11:00: W. E. Stephens
Carl Smith: I Just Don't Care Anymore
Hawkshaw Hawkins: One White Rose
Eddie Hill: Smack Dab In The Middle
Kitty Wells: Making Believe
Carl Smith: More Than Anything Else In The World
Crook Brothers: Pretty Little Polly
Johnny and Jack: No One Dear but You
Annie Lou and Danny: Satisfied Mind
Hawkshaw Hawkins: I'll Take The Chance
Carl Smith: No, I Don't Believe I Will
Fiddle Tune: Mississippi Sawyer

11:30: Delited
Faron Young: If That's The Fashion
Cowboy Copas: Gone and Left Me Blues
Lew Childre: Snow White Horse
Sam and Kirk: Freight Train Blues
Faron Young: Forgive Me Dear
Fruit Jar Drinkers: I Don't Love Nobody
Grandpa Jones: Kitty Clyde
Wilburn Brothers: Let Me Be The One
Cowboy Copas: Man Upstairs
Faron Young: If You Ain't Loving, You Ain't Living
Fiddle Tune: Sally Goodin

So, before anyone jumps on me for misspelling Patsy's last name, that is the way it was printed in the program that night. 

It would take a few more years and many more guest appearances, but Patsy would eventually become an Opry member, just by asking. 

That covers it for this week. As always, thanks for reading and commenting and I hope everyone enjoys the Grand Ole Opry this weekend. 

(And yes, the mid-year recap is coming)