July Opry Notes

As we enter the month of July, let's take a look at historical and important events that took place in Opry history during the month:

Several Opry stars became Opry members in July. Those members are:

>Alison Krauss-July 3, 1993(16 years)

>Bill Anderson-July 12, 1961(48 years)

>Jeanne Pruett-July 21, 1973(36 years)

>Barbara Mandrell-July 29, 1972(37 years)

A couple of notes:
>When Alison Krauss became a member she was only 21 years old, and at the time, she was the youngest member of the Grand Ole Opry. When she joined, she was the first new bluegrass member in 19 years to join the cast. She was inducted by Garth Brooks.

>Jeanne Pruett was the last singing member to become an Opry member while the Opry was at the Ryman Auditorium.

In Opry history, these events took place in July:

>In July 1939, the Opry moved to the War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville from the Dixie Tabernacle. For the first time, the show started charging admission-25 cents. The show would only remain here for a short amount of time due to the crowds and the condition that they left the Auditorium and surrounding area after the shows.

>On July 28, 1940, the movie "Grand Ole Opry" premiered in Nashville. It starred Roy Acuff and Uncle Dave Macon, among others. Long out of circulation, it is still requested at the Country Music Hall of Fame.

>On July 15, 1944, Rod Brasfield became an Opry member. He would later die from a heart attack and through the urging of Minnie Pearl, be later elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

>On July 7, 1956, Johnny Cash joined the Opry. He was a member until 1965, when he was fired for damaging the stage lights in a famous incident that has been well documented. After he damaged the lights, he borrowed June Carter's cadillac and crashed it. To make matters worst, the police officer who responded to the accident was June Carter's husband, who was a Nashville officer. June later said that it was an unpleasant evening at their house afterwards. Johnny Cash was welcomed back to the Opry later in his career and appeared many times. He would later be asked if he was interested in becoming a member, but he said he was too busy with concerts to devote the time necessary to the Opry.

>On July 8, 1964, Dottie West became an Opry member. She would later die while on her way to an Opry performance.

>On July 7, 1975, George Morgan died following a heart attack. He joined the Opry in 1948, and among Opry members, he was one of the more popular and well liked performers. When the Opry left the Ryman Auditorium, he hosted the final segment of the show, on Friday March 15, 1974. The final song he sang was his great #1 song, Candy Kisses. His daughter, Lorrie Morgan, later became an Opry member and George was later elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

> On July 2, 1982, former Opry member DeFord Bailey died at the age of 82. He would later be elected a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, and his firing by George D. Hay from the Opry is still one of the unfortunate events in Opry history.

>In July 1982, The National Life & Accident Insurance Company was bought by American General Corporation. At the time, American General was only interested in the insurance business from National Life and made it immediately known that the Opry was for sale.

>In July 1983, The Gaylord Broadcasting Company purchased the Grand Ole Opry, Opryland, The Opryland Hotel, WSM Radio, and TNN for a reported $270 million. As Gaylord has changed management over the years, it as sold TNN and closed Opryland.

>In July 1991, Vince Gill was asked to become a member of the Opry. His induction took place on August 10th. Since joining the Opry, Vince has been one of the more vocal members in urging his fellow artists from his generation to perform on and to support the show. When at the Opry, he is generally assigned to dressing room #1, which was Roy Acuff's former dressing room.

There you have it. A few of the interesting events that took place in Opry history during the month of July. Enjoy the 4th. Happy Independence Day to all.

Tuesday Night Opry 6/30

Here is the line-up for the Tuesday Night Opry-June 30th:
7:00: Jeannie Seely; Aaron Tippin
7:30: The Whites; Justin Moore
8:00: Jack Greene; Cherryholmes
8:30: Jimmy Dickens

Grand Ole Opry Line-Up 6/26 & 6/27

Here is this week's Grand Ole Opry line-up:
Friday June 26th:
8:00: Mike Snider(host); Connie Smith; Mark Wills
8:30: Jimmy Dickens(host); Ray Pillow; John Anderson
9:00: Jeannie Seely(host); Jim Ed Brown; Tracy Byrd
9:30: Ricky Skaggs(host); Jimmy C. Newman; The Whites

Saturday June 27th:
First Show
7:00: Jimmy Dickens(host); The Whites; Jamie O'Neal
7:30: Mike Snider(host); Connie Smith; David Nail
8:00: Steve Wariner(host); Jimmy C. Newman; Jim Ed Brown; Opry Square Dancers
8:30: Jeannie Seely(host); Billy Yates; Wynonna

Second Show
9:30: Jimmy Dickens(host); The Whites; Jamie O'Neal
10:00: Mike Snider(host); Connie Smith; Steve Wariner
10:30: Jim Ed Brown(host); Jimmy C. Newman; David Nail; Opry Square Dancers
11:00: Jeannie Seely(host); Billy Yates; Wynonna

What is interesting is that both Saturday shows have the same artists. Usually there is a variation of at least several. Also, Steve Wariner will be hosting the Ernest Tubb Record Shop Midnight Jamboree after the Opry. It will be a CD release party for his new tribute CD honoring Chet Atkins.

Gaylord's Chief Operating Officer Resigns

I send along this post courtesy of the Tennessean, as anything that involves the parent company of the Grand Ole Opry is important news to be aware of, as at some point, it does have an impact on the Opry.

Nashville-based Gaylord Entertainment Co. announced Wednesday its chief operating officer is leaving his role as part of the company's efforts to reduce costs. John Caparella, chief operating officer, was instrumental to building the company's culture and developing the Gaylord Hotel brand into a destination for convention and leisure guests, Gaylord said.

"John's departure has given us the opportunity to move forward with our ongoing effort to streamline our management structure while taking advantage of the strength of our existing executives," said Gaylord's chairman and CEO Colin V. Reed in a statement.

David Kloeppel, the company's president and chief financial officer, will now oversee Gaylord's operations, sales, marketing, development and information technology. Mark Fioravanti, the company's treasurer is being promoted to chief financial officer, the company said.

Gaylord, which reported a $3.4 million profit in the first quarter, has taken a cautious stance toward the future, delaying its expansions at Gaylord Opryland, Gaylord Texas and Gaylord Palms.

A couple of comments: You can start to see the effects of the expanded board of directors as one of the missions of the new directors was to cut costs and to improve stockholder value. Also, Gaylord is concerned about their Nashville convention business. They would like to expand the convention facilities at the Opryland hotel and to add more rooms and exhibition space. But, at the same time, Nashville is building a new state of the art convention center, to be located South of the Country Music Hall of Fame in downtown Nashville. A number of hotels are being added in this area also. This will be a direct competitor to Gaylord and also effect their plans on the additional property that they own on the other side of Briley Parkway. On a final note, it is good to see that Gaylord turned a profit to start the year.

Montgomery Gentry Officially Inducted Into The Grand Ole Opry

During last night's Tuesday Night Opry, Montgomery Gentry were officially welcomed as the newest members of the Grand Ole Opry. Little Jimmy Dickens and Marty Stuart handled the honors with the help of Opry Vice President and General Manager Pete Fisher. They were also presented their member award.

In my opinion, they will be worthy members of the Opry and will be committed to the show. I know that some of the older, classic country music fans are against this move, but if the Opry is going to continue and to move forward, acts such as these sometimes need to be added. While many would like nothing but veteran country music acts to be added as members, the show can not sustain itself with such a limited roster of acts. Adding folks such as Montgomery Gentry, Charlie Daniels and Carrie Underwood, along with people like Mel Tillis and Del McCoury will help to insure the long term success of the Opry.

Opry Country Classics-Opinion and Views

Now that the first series of shows in the Opry Country Classics series is done, I wanted to review the Thursday night shows and offer some opinion on how the show has turned out. First, I wanted to go back to the press release from the Opry that announced the show:

"Beginning March 26, Nashville will have a new entertainment option on Thursday nights when the Grand Ole Opry adds Opry Country Classics to its current line-up of Tuesday, Friday and Saturday performances. The all-new addition to the Opry's schedule will shine a spotlight on the classic country songs that have defined country music for generations of fans. Opry Country Classics will share country music's colorful story through a live performance featuring country favorites performed by legends of the genre as well as talented new artists, a rousing live band, square dancing, and more. Like current Opry broadcasts, the show will be heard on 650 WSM-AM."

To review, there were 13 shows in the current series, that will return on September 10th. Larry Gatlin hosted 8 shows; Marty Stuart and Jeannie Seely 2 each and John Conlee once. Of the hosts, I would say that Larry Gatlin was by far the strongest and best suited for the role. With his former television and stage experience, he was a natural at introducing the acts and in sharing the spotlight with those artists. He is scheduled to host several shows in the next series. Beginning with the 2nd show, a "spotlight artist" was featured, who was considered the featured performer on the show, and sang up to a 30 minutes. Of the 13 shows, 9 had these featured artists. These artists were Vince Gill, Josh Turner, Bill Anderson, Charley Pride, Mel Tillis, Ricky Skaggs, Charlie Daniels, Tanya Tucker and Steve Wariner. All but Tanya Tucker are Opry members. Beginning with the 6th show, each show featured a theme and the songs sang by the artists, or the artists themselves, reflected that theme. For example, on the show that featured families in country music, the artists included people such as The Whites, Holly Williams and the Gatlin Brothers.

The number of artists per show were from 5, at the final show, up to 9. There were a total of 92 acts during these 13 shows, of which 42 were Opry members and 50 were not. Several of the shows featured only 1 Opry member. Of course, in the original press release, even though the show is called Opry Country Classics, no where does it mention that it will feature Grand Ole Opry members. Of the Opry members who performed on the show, in addition to the hosts, they included Charlie Louvin(2 times); Bobby Osborne; Riders In The Sky(2 times); Jimmy C. Newman; Jean Shepard; Jimmy Dickens; Jan Howard; Jesse McReynolds; Lorrie Morgan(2 times); George Hamilton IV(2 times); Ray Pillow; The Whites; The Gatlin Brothers(3 times); Jim Ed Brown(2 times); Mel McDaniel; Del McCoury Band; Stu Phillips; and Loretta Lynn.

The show was a work in progress. Each week, there seemed to be some tinkering with the show, and by the final show, they seemed to have the formula down. The host would be introduced and he would introduce the 1st series of artists. They would generally perform 1 song, perhaps 2. If they sang just one song, it would reflect the theme of the show. If an artist did 2 songs, 1 would be one of the artist's hit record and the 2nd song would reflect the theme of the show. There was an intermission during the show, at which time classic country music was played and videos shown, by the original artists. The show would finish up with the spotlight artist performing from 15 to 30 minutes. All of this resulted in a 2 hour show. Some of the line-ups were very strong, such as during the 1st week, and the show featuring the ladies of country music. Some shows had line-ups that were filled with a lot of opening acts. Some shows held to the theme very well. For example, during the show that honored Chet Atkins, all of the artists on the show had a connection to him. Same with the show that featured the theme of the State of Texas. However, a couple of the shows missed the target. The show that had the theme of the Country Music Hall of Fame, only had 2 Hall of Fame artists on the show(Charlie Louvin and Charlie McCoy). This would have been a great opportunity to have featured several of the Hall of Famers. What would the majority of the fans have wanted: George Jones singing one of his classic songs or Jim Lauderdale doing it? With the number of classic Hall of Fame members, this could have been one of the great shows during this series.

It was hard to get a true reading on the attendance and the paid crowd. Several of the shows, including the 1st show, were very well attended. For the final show last week, the day before the show I checked availability with the Opry ticket office, and was offered a ticket in the 4th row, and was told by the representative that plenty of tickets were available. I also know, that there were many price discount promotions offered, including a show that offered tickets for $6.50(from WSM), to package deals that basically offered you a ticket to the Opry Country Classics for as low as $10.00 if you bought a ticket to a Friday or Saturday Opry show. I also know that lots of tickets were given away on radio station and sponsor promotions.

From a fans standpoint, listening to the show on the radio, it was very entertaining. The song selection was very good, overall, and almost all of the newer artists sang songs that others had made famous.

When the show was first announced, I know from many fans on the classic country music comment boards, that the concern was many of the older artists would be pushed off the Friday and Saturday Grand Ole Opry shows and instead be placed on the Thursday night classic show. While several of the Opry legends did make an appearance on the classic show, it would appear that it did not affect their regular Opry appearances, as little as they might be. Of the veteran artists, Jimmy Dickens, Bill Anderson, Charley Pride, Mel Tillis, Loretta Lynn, Charlie Louvin, George Hamilton IV, Jeannie Seely, Jean Shepard, Ray Pillow, Stu Phillips, Jim Ed Brown, Jimmy C. Newman and Jack Greene made Thursday appearances, and most of them only appeared 1 time. I, for one, figured that when the shows were 1st announced, that someone like Jimmy Dickens would have been on all the shows, especially considering that he does almost every Opry show(much like Roy Acuff used to do).

We'll, considering everything, did Opry Country Classics do what it was advertised to do? At the beginning, they said this would be a live performance featuring country favorites performed by legends of the genre as well as talented new artists. On that first point, they did do what was advertised. There was a mix of legends and new artists. They advertised a rousing live band.The Opry staff band is a good one and performed at every show. There was square dancing at every show. As far as the "more": they did have a theme per show and a featured artist. So, all things considered, the Opry Country Classics did offer what was originally advertised.

How about for the future. The 2nd series of shows goes from September 10-October 29. I see on the Opry website, that those shows are offering appearances by George Jones and Ray Price, among others. And, Larry Gatlin is back to host. I did like the format of the show by the time they got to the last week. If the show is going to continue to have a theme with each one, I would try to book more artists that have a direct relationship to the theme. The mix of legends and new artists is fine, although just from a ticket standpoint, each show needs to have at least a couple of big names on the line-up. People are not going to pay a high dollar amount per ticket to see several new artists singing songs of others and then a headliner. Finally, I would place each of the shows at the Ryman Auditorium instead of the Opry house. The smaller capacity of the Ryman, and the legendary feel to it, would be more in line with the classic theme of the show. The one drawback is that lack of a video system in the Ryman. During the classic show at the Opry House, they make great use of the video system to offer biographies of the stars being spotlighted. But, I am sure something could be set up at the Ryman.

All in all, I think it was a good attempt and I would hope that the Opry management will continue to work on the show and bring it back next year.

Grand Ole Opry Offers Captions For Hearing Impaired

The Grand Ole Opry remains steeped in a tradition of sound, but the 83-year-old country music program will offer captions for the hearing impaired for the first time Saturday. About 450 people participating at the Hearing Loss Association of America convention in Nashville this week will attend on the the Opry's evening shows and will be able to follow along with captions on large projection screens. Vince Gill, Alison Krauss, Hal Ketchum, Little Jimmy Dickens and others are set to perform.

Vice President and General Manager of the Opry, Pete Fisher, said the show is somewhat of an experiment and captions may be used again in the future. "It is somewhat of a paradox our show that has a 80 plus-year history and presents over six decades of music each week to be on the cutting edge of technology." Fisher said. "But we've been committed to employing state of the art technology."

Nancy Macklin, director of events for the association, said the group asked the Opry about the captioning since many convention attendees wanted to see a show. Macklin said captioning at entertainment venues, including sports stadiums, is growing.

The association estimates nearly 36 million people in the U.S. have some degree of hearing loss. "The technology has been around, but more and more venues are using it as hard-of-hearing people are requesting it," said Macklin. "They(Opry) now know it exists and it's available."
(Story courtesy of Yahoo News/Associated Press)

Nice move on the part of the Opry. I am sure that the words to the various songs will be on the big video screens, or maybe on one of the screens with the hearing impaired people sitting in one section. With many of their elderly patrons in possibly this situation, it will be interesting to see if the Opry does it again.