It's always an exciting time at the Grand Ole Opry when a new member is inducted. Saturday night will be one of those nights as Henry Cho becomes the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry. He will be the first comedian to become a member of the Opry since Jerry Clower was induced in October 1973. He will also be the first Asian-American to join the Opry.
Henry Cho, who has been a frequent Opry guest, is from Knoxville, Tennessee. Henry, who is noted for his clean humor, has appeared on numerous television shows that include appearances on NBC’s The Tonight Show, CBS’s The Late, Late, Show, and NBC’s Young Comedians Special. He served two years as host of NBC’s Friday Night Videos and had many guest roles on various network sitcoms. Henry was co-creator, co-producer and co-writer of The Henry Cho Show on GAC.
Henry Cho made is Opry debut on April 2, 2011, and has appeared on the Opry over 100 times. Henry, along with Gary Mule Deer, were invited on January 7 by Marty Stuart to become the Opry's newest members. Gary Mule's induction will take place next month.
Looking at the Opry schedule for this weekend, Grand Ole Opry members Dailey & Vincent and Vince Gill are scheduled for both nights. Speaking of Vince, it appears that he will be the one to do the formal induction of Henry Cho.
On the Friday Night Opry, they will be joined by Opry members Connie Smith, and, making a rare Opry appearance, Lady A. Saturday night has Jeannie Seely, Don Schlitz, Riders In The Sky and John Conlee on the schedule.
Fiddle Mark O'Connor will be guesting on Friday, along with Ernest and making his Opry debut, Charles Wesley Godwin. Saturday night will feature another Opry debut as Megan Moroney is scheduled.
Friday February 10
7:00: Dailey & Vincent, Charles Wesley Godwin, Mark O'Connor, Vince Gill
Intermission
8:15: Connie Smith, Ernest, Lady A
Saturday February 11
7:00: Opry Square Dancers, Dailey & Vincent, Jeannie Seely, Megan Moroney, Don Schlitz
Intermission
8:15: John Conlee, Opry Square Dancers, Riders In The Sky, Henry Cho, Vince Gill
Latest news on a potential Jimmy & Mona Dickens movie:
Pete Fisher has spent most of his career taking country music to bigger audiences. For nearly two decades, he led the Grand Ole Opry as Vice President and General Manager, showcasing younger talent alongside the legends to make the iconic show appeal to a broader audience. He left in 2017 to serve as head of the Academy of Country Music in Los Angeles (which produces the ACM Awards).
He returned to Nashville four years ago and has been hard at work on several projects centered around music. Fisher helped Worldwide Stages secure the property for its state-of-the-art production complex outside Nashville – designed to attract music, film, and TV projects on a global scale.
And now he’s making a movie on the real-life love story of Little Jimmy Dickens and Dickens’ wife, Mona.
“During my 18-year tenure at the Opry, I developed a really close relationship, almost a grandfather/grandson relationship with Little Jimmy Dickens,” Fisher says. “And to this day, my wife and I have an extra special relationship with his wife. Hollywood couldn’t script a better story than Jimmy and Mona’s.”
“I look back and am so blessed and grateful for the incredible career I’ve had whether with was with ACM or the Grand Ole Opry or even early in my career in music publishing in a joint venture at Warner Brothers Records,” he says. “And this seemed like the natural time to take inventory of what I was deeply passionate about. I love making dreams come true and I love being involved in broad aspects of the music and entertainment industry.”
During Fisher’s tenure at the Opry and Academy of Music, he focused on music as it related to the needs of each organization. Today, he enjoys channeling his experience and interests toward things that have special meaning to him. One of his current projects involves making a film about his friend, Little Jimmy Dickens.
“A lot of people know the first-class side of Jimmy and just the wonderful, big hearted human being he was inside that 4-foot-11 body. But what they don’t know is there were sides of Jimmy’s career that were a little rowdier. Mona discovered that right after she married him, but they had an amazing love story. We like to refer to it as “rowdy and romantic.”
It’s the story of a 9-year-old girl from Indiana who, after hearing him sing on the radio, began telling people, ‘I’m going to marry Little Jimmy Dickens.’ And less than two decades later, she did.
“Mona thought she was marrying Prince Charming,” Fisher says, “and she realized that…oh, wait, I don’t want to spoil the story. It IS an incredible story. And she’s a beautiful lady with a beautiful heart, and absolutely hilarious to talk to, as well.”
He bought the rights, the screenplay’s finished, and he is currently working with producer, Ken Carpenter, with the hopes of getting the film into production this year.
Now from 45 years ago, Saturday February 11, 1978:
1st show
6:30: Bill Monroe (host); Skeeter Davis
6:45: Roy Drusky (host); Charlie Louvin; Billy Grammer
7:00: Porter Wagoner (host); Stonewall Jackson; Wilma Lee Cooper; Willis Brothers
7:30: Roy Acuff (host); Charlie Walker; Osborne Brothers; Crook Brothers and The Tennessee Travelers
8:00: Jimmy C Newman (host); Lonzo and Oscar; Stu Phillips; Ray Pillow; Del Wood
8:30: Hank Snow (host); David Houston; Bill Carlisle; Ernie Ashworth; Fruit Jar Drinkers
2nd show
9:30: Bill Monroe (host); Skeeter Davis; Stonewall Jackson; Wilma Lee Cooper; Willis Brothers
10:00: Porter Wagoner (host); Billy Grammer; Del Wood
10:15: Roy Acuff (host); Charlie Walker
10:30: Jimmy C Newman (host); Roy Drusky
10:45: Osborne Brothers (host); Stu Phillips; Crook Brothers and The Tennessee Travelers
11:00: Hank Snow (host); Ray Pillow; Fruit Jar Drinkers; Bill Carlisle; Kirk McGee
11:30: David Houston (host); Ernie Ashworth; Lonzo and Oscar
(As he did the previous week, Lester Flatt cancelled, while Charlie Louvin appeared only on the first show).
February 11, 1967, marked the first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry by The 4 Guys. Sam Wellington was the leader of the group, and while the members would change over the years, Sam would be the one constant. Their first appearance was a huge success, and the group received a long-standing ovation after singing Shenandoah. They were invited back and were made members of the Opry just a few months later, on April 22, 1967.
Here is the running order from Saturday February 11, 1967:
7:30: Luzianne
Jim Ed Brown (host) and Maxine Brown: I Heard the Bluebird Sing
Bob Luman: Hardly Anymore
Dottie West: What's Come Over My Baby
Justin Tubb: But Wait; There's More
Pete Drake: I'm Just a Guitar (Everybody Picks on Me)
Jim Ed Brown: You Can Have Her
Bob Luman: Come On & Sing
Jim Ed and Maxine Brown: Looking Back to See
8:00: Martha White
Wilburn Brothers (host): Hurt Her Once for Me
Hank Locklin: Send Me the Pillow You Dream On
Ray Pillow: I Like That Sorta Thing
Del Wood: Down Yonder
Wilburn Brothers: Just to Be Where You Are
Crook Brothers: Old Hen Cackle
Billy "Crash" Craddock: There Oughta Be a Law
Hank Locklin: Hasta Luego
Wilburn Brothers: All We Have for You Mom
8:30: Stephens
Billy Walker (host): Things
Bill Carlisle: What Kinda Deal is This
Bobby Bare: Shame on Me
Archie Campbell: The Cockfight
Billy Walker: Anything Your Heart Desires
Curly Fox: The Old Gray Mule
Bill Carlisle: The Great Snowman
Billy Walker: Cross the Brazos at Waco
9:00: Pet Milk
Charlie Louvin: I Don't Love You Anymore
Ernie Ashworth: At Ease, Heart
Margie Bowes: There Goes My Everything
Bluegrass Country Kin: Black Mountain Rag
Charlie Louvin: I Don't Want It
Fruit Jar Drinkers: (?)
Harold Weakley: Almost Persuaded
Ernie Ashworth: Pass Me Not
Charlie Louvin: Off & On
9:30: Kellogg's
Hank Snow (host): Golden Rocket
Cousin Jody: I Miss Him So
Jimmy Dickens: A Country Music Lover
The Carter Family: Bye; Bye
Hank Snow: A Legend in My Time
The 4 Guys: Shenandoah
The Carter Family: Once Around the Briar Patch
Hank Snow: Hula Love
10:00: Schick
Jim Ed Brown (host): and Maxine Brown: Where Does the Good Times Go
Dottie West: It's My Way to Survive
Jim Ed Brown: You Can Have Her
Dottie West: All the World is Lonely Now
10:15: Pure
Bob Luman (host): Let's Think About Living
Wilburn Brothers: I'm Gonna Tie One on Tonight
Hank Locklin: Hasta Luego
Bob Luman: Hardly Anymore
10:30: Buckley's
Bobby Bare (host): I Saw the Light
Del Wood: Cajun Stripper
Ray Pillow: Two Minus One Leaves Blue
Bobby Bare: Streets of Baltimore
10:45: Kent
Bill Carlisle (host): Shanghai Rooster
Justin Tubb: But Wait; There's More
Crook Brothers: Black Mountain Rag
Bill Carlisle: Doctor R.D.
11:00: Coca Cola
Hank Snow (host): I'm Movin' On
Billy Walker: Bear with Me a Little Longer
Margie Bowes: Enough to Make a Woman Lose Her Mind
Fruit Jar Drinkers: (?)
Hank Snow: Confused with the Blues
Sam McGee: Under the Double Eagle
Jimmy Dickens: You Destroyed Me
Billy Walker: A Million & One
Hank Snow: Man Behind the Gun
11:30: Lava
Marty Robbins (host): Running Gun
Charlie Louvin: See the Big Man Cry
Ernie Ashworth: Sad Face
Curly Fox: Won't You Come Home, Bill Bailey
Don Winters: Annie Lou
Cousin Jody: Run, Please Run
Bluegrass Country Kin: Ol' Slewfoot
Marty Robbins: Devil Woman/The Shoe Goes on the Other Foot Tonight/Begging to You/El Paso
The 4 Guys would remain members of the Opry until the group was fired by Pete Fisher on April 5, 2000. The reason given was that there were no longer any original members of the group as Sam Wellington, the last original, retired in June 1999. Ironically, he retired the same weekend that Pete took over as the Opry's general manager. A few years later, The 4 Guys returned, with Sam, for an Opry appearance. As an FYI, Sam Wellington is still alive and has written several fine books.
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 and congratulations to Henry Cho.
It's trivial, perhaps, but Brent Burkett, the other original "Four Guy" was actually the last to retire - in October 1999, about 3 1/2 months after Sam Wellington.
ReplyDeleteRobert, thanks. I had thought I had read in Sam's book that the reason they were fired from the Opry was because he was retiring and there were no more of the original members left. I must have been mistaken and need to take another look at the book.
DeleteIt is strange to see Vince not closing the show. It is true that Lady A is one of the biggest acts in country music today, but they'll never have the career that man has had. On the other hand, he's so humble, he probably doesn't care. This movie if it happens has me very interested. I know from a friend who knows him well, that Pete is a very kind man who has a huge heart for this music even if we didn't agree with all he did.
ReplyDeleteWho do you guys see going into the Hall of Fame this year?.
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of 'bolding' the 'Opry members on the schedule Byron. Good idea!
ReplyDeleteI have heard Jimmie tell how he and Mona got together, and it's an absolutely amazing story. I would LOVE to see the movie. Finding somebody to play Jimmie won't be an easy job! Good for Pete Fisher !!
Connie Smith is out Friday night replaced by Mandy Barnett
ReplyDeleteI hope Connie is all right, and Mandy is great. But that begs the question: If Mandy was available in the first place, why wasn't she on the program? I do think it's about time they started adding to the number of performers.
DeleteMr. Mike, I totally agree. I used to go spend the weekend at the Opry and saw so, so many legends and great Opry members. It's too bad the Opry has been "whittled down" to so few performers per show.
DeleteGreat point, Michael.
DeleteJ in OK
I try to stay positive, but I thought Friday Night's second hour was painful to listen to.
ReplyDeleteApparently it was one of those "put in the can" for later Circle TV hours, with crazy stalling around during the radio show by some random announcer in order to make time for the TV ads. I don't understand why they have to do that? Isn't it going to be edited for TV later? Color me confused.
I agree. I don’t ever remember it being like that in the past , when the Opry was on tv. I guess that’s the new way of doing things. Curry
ReplyDeleteNat, you're stealing my thunder. I thought I was king of negative!
ReplyDeleteThe Opry is not a stand alone venture. It's one of many pieces in this money machine and will be bent for that propose when needed. Too bad for the ticket holder to have drawn such a night. That's the sacrifice you might have to make to partake in a particular night that the show has an additional purpose other than your entertainment and satisfaction.
I still think we are headed for less acts instead of more.
Mandy Barnett has been a great addition and thanks to Dan and team for making her a member. She's as good as anyone to help keep the music of the veterans we all liked alive. I agree she should have been on the lineup and not a substitute.
Jim
The first hour was pretty amazing other than that one guy with 3 names. Vince and Mark alone worth the price of admission. The second hour was terrible though Ernest is really really popular. As to Mandy, I say this in total respect because she's one of the best voices in Nashville, but I'd guess she's available most show nights. The public for the most part sad to say has never heard of her, she'll never be on mainstream radio she's to good, but I think she needs the opry career wise more than it needs her.
ReplyDeleteSaturday night was a pretty amazing night at the Opry. No superstars on the show, but a very solid lineup that featured everything that is good with the Opry. Of the eight acts, seven were Opry members and the non-member, Megan Moroney, sang a couple of wonderful songs.
ReplyDeleteThe highlight, of course, was the formal induction of Henry Cho as a member of the Opry. Joining Henry and Vince Gill on stage were Don Schlitz, John Conlee, Ben Isaacs and Steve Wariner. Vince had a lot of fun with Henry, and they gave Henry plenty of time to relish in the moment.
Let me offer this comment regarding Charles Wesley Godwin and Mandy Barnett. Charles is from West Virginia and the Appalachian region of the country. That is what a lot of his music is about. He has started to make a solid name for himself and is getting ready to do a major tour. He is thought of very highly. Not a big name nationally right now, but he is well respected and thought of in the industry. And anyone who mentions Wilma Lee Cooper on the Opry, is ok with me.
Mandy is past the point of being a mainstream artist. However, she makes beautiful music and has recorded a number of classic albums. Her voice fits all styles. No, she doesn't need the Opry, but it is nice that she is a member. She keeps busy touring smaller venues and also appearing with a number of symphony orchestras. She also appears at several venues in Nashville. Yes, the Opry is lucky to have Mandy as a member, but Mandy has earned it. She has supported the Opry for several decades and continues to do so.
I'll add this to Byron's comments. Throughout the history of the Opry it has consisted of what you might call A, B and C team artist. It takes all kind at different levels and popularity status to make the show. Several of the artist that many of us have held dear over the past 40 years were not the type to pack the house. They were solid performers who did good music and helped provide the glue to hold the show together. On those famous package shows of the 40's through the 60's, someone had to have top and bottom billing.
ReplyDeleteIf we say that Mandy Barnett is not filling seats so not really worthy of being used often then we need to be consistent and say the same about all the debut artist that have never been heard of.
The Opry has gone through some trying times in the past. Rock and Roll and Elvis in the mid 50's might have been the low point. I also recall an artist telling us about how few people were in the crowd early in his membership in the early 60's probably still because of the Elvis trend. The early 90's as recall were tough with low attendance too.
Now, more than ever, in this quickly changing world we live in, the Opry is trying to find it's identity. Is it a radio show with a history that it try's to promote and preserve while seeking approval of an audience mostly interested in the here and now or do they go full pop culture venue with any thing that draws a crowd and makes big money. That is really a hard row to hoe and as much as I complain, I don't envy Dan Rogers and those on the ground level trying to walk that line and find that identity.
As long as they continue to bring in new names that the masses have not heard there should be a place for Many Barnett and others that the masses are not familiar with. How many people today know who Mike Snider is? If or when they make the transition to a superstar concert venue then maybe they will limit the number of unknowns and you can make an argument that someone like Many does not fit or used very sparingly.
Jim
Knightsville, IN
If or when they make the transition to a superstar concert venue then maybe they will limit the number of unknowns and you can make an argument that someone like Mandy does not fit or used very sparingly.
ReplyDeleteI get in a hurry and skip letters sometimes. Mandym not Many!
Jim
Did it again. You get my point.
ReplyDeleteJim
Byron
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear the Saturday night show was great.
I'm assuming it was NOT taped for CircleTV ?
Too bad if it wasn't ! :(
And I 100% agree on Mandy. She was faithful for what, something like 250 times, before the 'Opry finally had the decency to offer her a membership?
She can sing ANYTIME on the 'Opry as far as I'm concerned. Maybe not pouring out hits, but still one of the best singing voices ever to grace the 'Opry stage. Don't think I've ever heard her miss a note.
Byron I'm glad to see I was wrong. The size of the crowd doesn't matter if she's getting out there and she is certainly one of the best voices in Nashville. I'd totally say though that Vince is a superstar. The argument could be made that his radio days are over, but that little band he's with is selling out every major arena in the country! haha
ReplyDeleteMandy Barnett has longevity. Longevity is what the business use to look for. Greats like Bill Phillips, Stu Phillips, Ray Pillow, Jeanne Pruett, Leona Williams, Marion Worth, etc. They didn’t put out radio hits every time the record label released something, but they had careers that lasted 40 plus years ( Leona is still out there on the road) .Curry
ReplyDelete