Grand Ole Opry 5/30 & 5/31

The final weekend of May is upon us with two more Grand Ole Opry shows this weekend. This is the time of year when many of the country music artists, which includes Opry members, are out on the road getting ready for a busy concert season. Music festivals are taking place, outdoor venues have opened up, and soon to follow will be state and county fairs. While many acts will be out on the road, Nashville will continue to be a vacation destination and for many of those visitors, and a stop at the Grand Ole Opry will be at the top of their list of shows to see while in town. 

Taking a look at the Friday Night Opry, Opry members John Conlee, Mandy Barnett and Riders In The Sky are on the schedule, while on Saturday night, T. Graham Brown, Connie Smith and Charlie McCoy are listed. 

Don Flemons is scheduled for the Friday Night Opry and if you have never seen or heard Don, you are missing out. He is a fantastic singer/songwriter and instrumentalist, who was a founding member of the Grammy award winning Carolina Chocolate Drops. Bluegrass artist Dale Ann Bradley is also scheduled, along with Tierra Kennedy, Graham Barham and Frank Ray. 

Taking a look at Saturday night, Kathy Mattea is listed. I have said it before, and many have agreed with me, that Kathy would make a great Grand Ole Opry member. I believe she had an opportunity in the late 80s but for whatever reason it did not work out. Charles Esten, with over 150 Opry appearances will also be appearing, as will Ashland Craft, Tanner Usrey and making his Opry debut, Noah Thompson. 

Friday May 30
7:00: John Conlee, Tiera Kennedy, Graham Barham, Dale Ann Bradley
Intermission
8:20: Frank Ray, Don Flemons, Mandy Barnett, Riders In The Sky

Saturday May 31
7:00: Opry Square Dancers, T. Graham Brown, Ashland Craft, Tanner Usrey, Charles Esten
Intermission
8:20: Connie Smith, Noah Thompson, Opry Square Dancers, Kathy Mattea, Charlie McCoy

(3 Opry members each night)

Noah Thompson was the winner of American Idol Season 20. On May 18 during the final episode of Season 23, Noah returned to make an appearance and during that appearance, Opry member Carrie Underwood surprised Noah with the invitation to appear on the Grand Ole Opry. Since winning American Idol, Noah has been working on his songwriting in addition to furthering his recording career. He has released several independent singles. 

Continuing the look back at former Grand Ole Opry members during this, the Opry's 100th anniversary, the Grand Ole Opry spotlight this week shines on Johnny Paycheck, who was born on May 31, 1938. 

Donald Eugene Lytle was born in Greenfield, Ohio. He took the name Johnny Paycheck in the mid-1960s after moving to Nashville. In the mid 1990s, he began to capitalize the "C" in PayCheck. 

Johnny was playing the guitar by age 6 and singing professionally by age 15. After a stint in the Navy in the mid-1950s, he moved to Nashville and found work as a bass player for Porter Wagoner, Ray Price, Faron Young and George Jones. He recorded for Decca and Mercury records as Donny Young until he renamed himself and built success first as a songwriter and then as a singer. One of his early compositions was “Apartment 9,” recorded in 1966 by Tammy Wynette.

Specializing in earthy, plainspoken songs, he recorded 70 albums and had more than two dozen hit singles. His biggest hit was “Take This Job and Shove It,” which inspired a movie by that name, and a title album that sold 2 million copies. His other hits included “Don't Take Her, She's All I Got,” (which was revived 25 years later in 1996 by Tracy Byrd), “I'm the Only Hell Mama Ever Raised,” “Slide Off Your Satin Sheets,” “Old Violin” and “You Can Have Her.” In 1977 he said, "My Music's always been about life. And situations. Situation comedies, situation life." 

His career was interrupted from 1989 to 1991 when he served two years in prison for shooting a man in the head in an Ohio bar in 1985. He and another ex-convict, country star Merle Haggard, performed at the Chillicothe Correctional Institute in Ohio while PayCheck was imprisoned there. “I heard from fans constantly throughout the entire two years,” PayCheck said after his release. “The letters never stopped from throughout the world. I looked forward to mail call every day.” Ohio Gov. Richard Celeste commuted PayCheck's seven-to-nine-year sentence for aggravated assault, and the singer returned to his career.

After his prison release, he seemed to put his life in order. He gave anti-drug talks to young people and became a regular member of the Grand Ole Opry cast in 1997, which at the time was a controversial move. “They still remember me as that crazy, good-time-Charlie honky-tonker, and I don't tell 'em any different,” he said after his Opry induction. 

In 2002, a PayCheck compilation album, “The Soul & the Edge: The Best of Johnny PayCheck,” was released.

Sadly, after joining the Opry, Johnny's health declined. At the time of his death, he had been bedridden in a nursing home with emphysema and asthma. He passed away on February 19, 2003, at the age of 64. At the time of his death, Johnny was in such poor financial shape that George Jones paid for his burial plot. 

Johnny joined the Grand Ole Opry on November 8, 1997. From the Tennessean: 

Johnny Paycheck will play the Grand Ole Opry both nights this weekend, and on Saturday, he'll officially become the Opry's newest member. 

Over the past two years, Paycheck has become a semi-regular on the program, even without membership. Tracy Byrd recently remade his classic "She's All I Got," which brought Paycheck a Grammy nomination after he recorded it in 1971. Among the outlaw's other Top 10 hits are "I'm the Only Hell) Mama Ever Raised)" "Someone To Give My Love To," and his signature song, "Take This Job and Shove It," which debuted on the Billboard country chart 20 years ago this week. 

As mentioned, Johnny appeared on the Opry both nights that weekend. Here is the lineup from Friday November 7: 

6:30: Porter Wagoner, Oswald & Charlie, Jean Shepard, Jeannie Pruett, Billy Walker
7:00: Grandpa Jones, Jack Greene, Bill Carlisle, Riders In The Sky
7:30: Jimmy Dickens, Skeeter Davis, Del Reeves, The Whites
8:00: Bill Anderson, Jan Howard, Johnny Russell, Osborne Brothers, The 4 Guys
8:30: John Conlee, Billy Grammer, Jim & Jesse, Johnny Paycheck

Now the running order from the first show the next night, Saturday November 8, 1997, when Johnny Paycheck officially became a member of the Grand Ole Opry: 

1st show
6:30: GHS Strings
Grandpa Jones (host): Going Down The Country
Bill Carlisle: No Help Wanted

6:45: Joggin' In A Jug
Steve Wariner (host): Domino Theory Of Love
Johnny Russell: Act Naturally
Steve Wariner: Like A River To The Sea

7:00: Shoney's
Porter Wagoner (host): Company's Comin'
Skeeter Davis: I'll Fly Away
George Hamilton IV: Abilene
Charlie Louvin: Will You Visit Me On Sundays
Osborne Brothers: Rocky Top/Rank Strangers
Porter Wagoner: Misery Loves Company

7:30: Standard Candy
John Conlee (host): The Old School
Byran White: One Small Miracle
Terri Clark: Poor, Poor Pitiful Me
Johnny Paycheck: Take This Job & Shove It/The Old Violin

8:00: Martha White
Bill Anderson (host): Po' Folks
Jean Shepard: Slippin' Away
Ray Pillow: Someone Had To Teach You
Billy Grammer: I Dreamed Of An Old Love Affair
Opry Square Dance Band & The Melvin Sloan Dancers: Cherokee Shuffle
Bill Anderson: I Love You Drops

8:30: Clifty Farms
Ricky Skaggs (host): Dim Lights; Thick Smoke
Jimmy C Newman: Good Deal Lucille
Charlie Walker: Smoke; Smoke; Smoke
The Whites: It Should've Been Easy
Jeannie Seely: When He Leaves You
Ricky Skaggs: Let Me Walk Lord, By Your Side

One final note regarding Johnny Paycheck and his invitation to join the cast of the Grand Ole Opry: When Bob Whittaker invited Johnny Paycheck to join the Opry, he surprised Johnny onstage with the invitation rather than having a private conversation in advance, as previously it had been done. Since that time, it has become standard for artists to be surprised on stage at the Opry, or at other venues, with their invitation to join the Opry. As to the actual induction, those are scheduled for a future date.

There you have it for this week as we close out the month of May. As always, thanks for reading and commenting and I hope everyone enjoys the Grand Ole Opry this weekend.