It is always a special night at the Grand Ole Opry when a new member is inducted, and Tuesday will be one of those nights as Don Schlitz will finally be welcomed as the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry.
Donald Alan Schlitz, Jr. on Aug. 29, 1952, and raised in Durham, N.C. He briefly attended Duke University before coming to Nashville at the age of twenty. His talent was recognized and fostered early on by greats including Bob McDill and Bobby Bare, and he emerged as an empathetic and intelligent chronicler of the human spirit.
Don was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2017 and is considered one of the most influential and beloved songwriters in the history of country music. His fifty Top Ten singles include twenty-four Number One country hits. He has won three CMA Song of the Year awards, two Academy of Country Music Song of the Year prizes, two Grammy Awards, and four consecutive (1988-91) ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year trophies.
His chart-topping songs -- among them “The Gambler,” “On the Other Hand,” “Forever and Ever, Amen,” “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her”, “The Greatest,” and “When You Say Nothing At All” -- are touchstones and inspirations. His works have been recorded by Kenny Rogers, Randy Travis, The Judds, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Tanya Tucker, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Keith Whitley, Alison Krauss, and many others.
He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Association Hall of Fame in 1993, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame (with Bob Seger and Gordon Lightfoot) in 2012.
When performing at the Opry on Saturday June 11, Vince Gill asked both Charlie McCoy and Don to become members of the Opry. While Charlie has already been inducted, it took a bit to get Don's scheduled. Thankfully, it is set for Tuesday night with Vince Gill scheduled to do the honors.
Tuesday August 30
7:00: Riders In The Sky, Aaron Tippin, 49 Winchester, The War and Treaty
Intermission
8:15: Gary Mule Deer, Charlie Worsham, Don Schlitz, Vince Gill
While the night will belong to Don Schlitz, I did want to mention that it will be the Opry debut for 49 Winchester
Opry Country Classics will lead off the month of September with another show from the Grand Ole Opry House, hosted by Larry Gatlin with Opry member Crystal Gayle the Spotlight Artist.
Thursday September 1
Host: Larry Gatlin
Spotlight Artist: Crystal Gayle
Also Appearing: Gatlin Brothers, The Isaacs, Erin Kinsey, Zach Top
Again, congratulations to Don Schlitz upon his induction as the Opry's newest member.
So, who will be next?
I read a profile of Don Schlitz where he said Vince Gill, who is very funny, told him always to say he wrote the song he's singing, or else people would think he was a bad karaoke singer!
ReplyDeleteWho's next? I would love to get some more stars of the 1990's, including Tracy Lawrence, Kathy Mattea and Suzy Boggus. I cannot help but believe Scotty McCreery will not be made a member at some point, and I would LOVE to see Ray Stevens, but his Caba Ray club is a direct competitor with the Opry on Saturday night.
ReplyDeleteWho know who is still touring hard and heavy? Leroy Van Dyke. While not a Hall of Famer like Bobby Bare, I always thought a reinstatement should be extended to Leroy.
And with the old mold of having a "hit" record seems to have been lifted, it would not surprise me if artists such as Elizabeth Cook, Dom Flemons and Sunny Sweeney are not extended membership in the future. And I would not be opposed to any of those.
Elizabeth Cook is interesting as I do believe, now that Mandy Barnett, is a member, that she has appeared on the Opry more often than any other guest artist.
DeleteBefore the Covid changes at the Opry, Tracy Lawrence had been pretty much a regular guest artist on the show, as for a couple of years he was making up to 20 appearances a year. However, in the last couple of years, he seems to have fallen away from the Opry. Suzy Bogguss would make an excellent addition to the cast, as would Kathy Mattea. Could a comedian be in the mix? Gary Mule Deer is over 80, but then again, so is Charlie McCoy. Henry Cho? Those are the two who seem to be making the most appearances.
I would think Scotty McCreery or T. Graham Brown could be next in line. If they go with a current and younger artist, Scotty would be the one. Great country voice and popular. I think if they go the veteran route, T. Graham would be the favorite. Also, of the younger artists, I would think Jon Pardi might be in the mix.
Regardless, following the pattern of the past couple of years, I would expect a new Opry member soon, and several more before the year is out.
When the Opry starting having Don Schlitz appear, I was iffy on him. He is not a major recording artist, but I soon learned that he was one that made some recording artists very well known with the songs he wrote and they recorded and I heard tons of time on Chicago country radio. The more he appeared in the Opry line-up, the more I looked forward to his performances. He truly entertains by his songs along with his banter with the audience completely winning me over. I am very happy the folks at the Grand Ole Opry live-streamed Don Schlitz's Induction, Vince's short & sweet just handing Don his new Opry award made me smile. What more was there to say that Don himself hasn't already said? I am very happy he is part of the Opry family. When he says that he along with other songwriters sit in the parenthesis of a record, many in the audience have no clue what that means, but they are about to find out who he is and they really do know who he is when he starts out with The Gambler and Forever and Ever Amen. I was very happy that Randy Travis was there to help welcome Don to the Opry family and to help celebrate the songwriter who wrote his career. So thank you Grand Ole Opry for inviting Don Schlitz to be a member.
DeleteWatched a brand new CMT Campfire Sessions with Jon Pardi. He is the real deal when it comes to country music of which I enjoy and every song he and his band mates performed, his terrific fiddle player was right in the middle of every single one of them and prominently featured which is just music to my ears. He is considered a neo-traditionalist, his songs do lean more traditional which probably is hard to compete against with half the crap coming out of Music City. Jon is very personable, said he is happy with all the music he has put out so far, which I agree. He's been around for a while and he mentioned they recently filmed a video at the Nashville Palace and he also mentioned "late nights" at the Opry. I am enjoying the CMT Campfire sessions show, they literally sit around a campfire and sing their hits tell stories and banter with their band mates. I hope the Opry is able to get him back more and maybe at some point an invitation. In the meantime he and his terrific band and music are worth listening to.
I am also in total agreement with all who suggest T. Graham Brown, Kathy Mattea, Suzy Bogguss, Tracy Lawrence and Scotty McCreery becoming Opry members. I think Opry management has done a wonderful job of adding new members in the last 18 months. If there is any consideration of adding a comedian, Gary Mule Deer is my choice, not a fan of Henry Cho or many of the others that have appeared but that's just my taste. I still think Mike Snider is the best comedian around and I am very happy he has returned to the Opry on a more frequent basis, missed him. There was a time Elizabeth Cook appeared at the Opry much more often. When she yells out "hey ya'll" to the audience it always makes me smile. I really do like her and all I mentioned so Opry members? As the judges say on American Idol "it's a yes from me." In the meantime, I am happy that Don Schlitz will be back at the Opry again this weekend and the fact he is now an Opry member.
Have a good Labor Day weekend everyone ~
(Jeanene)
Oh...and also T. Graham Brown
ReplyDeleteLet's not even kid ourselves! Induction night or not, when Don came out, 99% of that crowd had no idea on earth who he was! However, when it was made clear that he wrote the songs he sang, giant ovation! They need to always explain that he wrote these songs or folks really will think he's a terrible cover artist!
ReplyDelete"bad karaoke singer :)" Vince Gill
ReplyDeleteAnd he actually did decent job on "I saw it all on my radio!"
ReplyDelete