A small piece of the legend that is the Grand Ole Opry now sits on my desk waiting to be framed.
While browsing for albums recently in a second hand store in Madison, thinking I had seen about everything, and just about to leave, I happened to glance down at some albums near the floor. I will be forever pleased I bent over to get a better look. There among albums of classical music and opera was a two-album set from RCA released in 1967, called “Stars Of The Grand Ole Opry”. As part of the promotion for the album (as has happened one other time with an Opry release) was a booklet and a plastic wrap containing a small piece of fabric that once had been the stage curtain for the Opry at the Ryman Auditorium. The fabric measures 2.5″ x3″ and is labeled as limited edition No. D 801.
In 1965 or 1966 the Ryman Opry stage changed curtains from the dark red to a yellow/gold color. The Opry allowed two companies to cut and use portions of the famed curtain that went up for the likes of Patsy Cline, Porter Wagoner, Roy Acuff, and Minnie Pearl.
In a separate such promotion in the 1970’s when the Opry left the Ryman, better known as the ‘Mother Church Of Country Music’, leftover fabric from the new curtain at the Opryland stage was used as a promotion tool. The Grand Ole Opry has also done the same things with canvas backdrops; Cracker Barrel and Stephens Work Clothes are two of the sponsors that come to mind. They sold these items through charities or promotions. To find one of those is a rare thing nowadays since these were last sold in the eighties.
The 1967 album set I bought for $2.50 was like new, and the plastic wrap was still not opened that contained the dark red fabric. Even the albums were in perfect condition. After checking with some collectors on-line it was determined that the patch of cloth was authentic, and to find this album was rare indeed.
As a long-time lover of the oldest radio show in the nation, and all that it encompasses, I am truly pleased.
There is good news to report tonight over the continuing fight to insure that the legends of the Grand Ole Opry can continue to perform on the nation’s longest running radio show. Earlier this year I wrote about how growing old at the Grand Ole Opry can be a trying experience. The blog post went national with the help of a Nashville blogger, and the comments I got were amazing and heartfelt.
A federal judge has cleared the way for country music singer Stonewall Jackson to pursue claims of age discrimination against the Grand Ole Opry.
Jackson, who joined the Opry in 1956 and had a string of hits in the ’50s and ’60s, including the No. 1 single “Waterloo,” filed a $20 million lawsuit earlier this year against Gaylord Entertainment and Opry General Manager Peter Fisher.
The singer claimed breach of contract, retaliation and age discrimination.
Gaylord, which owns the Opry, denied the allegations and in court papers accused the 75-year-old singer of filing the lawsuit to boost his career.
Neither Jackson nor his manager could be reached for comment, but the singer’s attorney said Jackson was pleased with the recent decision by U.S. District Judge William Haynes Jr.
“He feels, and has always felt, that he was an employee of the Grand Ole Opry, and he feels that he’s entitled to the protection of the federal law,” stated Jackson’s attorney.
The reason this story might draw the attention of the average person in the nation is due to the issue of people growing older, while still wanting to contribute with the talents and skills one has been given. For those of us who find the Grand Ole Opry a real slice of Americana this story is personal.
For the past 15 years I have videotaped from TV countless hours of the Grand Ole Opry, with the likes of Roy Acuff, Minnie Pearl, and other legends of the famed radio show performing to adoring audiences. This year James and I bought a machine to convert VHS to DVD, so I sat down with a tech-friend to learn how to edit tapes.The project turned out to be a labor of love while watching the old singers, and listening to their folksy humor.As a long time lover of the Opry, the homey old-fashioned way of performing was most comforting. I recalled many of the singers from days at my grandparent’s place where we all watched “Hee Haw”.Still others were memories from when as a boy I heard the Opry over WSM on the radio in my parent’s dining room.Those old singers were still relevant even in their older years.
To somehow pretend that these singers were not instrumental in the golden age of the Opry, and should not be honored, is shameful. To assume that they no longer have the right to stand on the famed round circle located center stage at the Opry based on their age is just plain wrong. And if justice is served, it will be illegal.
I hope that Stonewall fights hard for his rights. With each stand he takes he also fights for the others who wish to continue to hear the applause, and wish to continue their careers at the Opry. With each day Stonewall fights he also makes those of us who know the Opry is more than a bottom line on a ledger book most proud.
Last year James and I attended a concert featuring the legends of the Grand Ole Opry as they preformed at a local venue while on their nationwide tour. One of the traveling group was Hank Thompson. With aged hands he gently took my guitar and added his signature. Only the legends get a space on the guitar.
Today it was announced on CMT that Country Music Hall of Fame member Hank Thompson died late Tuesday (Nov. 7) at his home near Fort Worth, Texas, following a battle with lung cancer. The 82-year-old singer, songwriter and bandleader last week canceled all of his tour dates after being hospitalized. He played his last concert on Oct. 8 in his native Waco, Texas, when Hank Thompson Day was declared by Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Waco Mayor Virginia DuPuy.
Neither of his parents even dabbled at music, and Thompson told writer Rich Kienzle that growing up, country was the only music he listened to and the only music that anybody he knew listened to. Radio from Dallas and the Mexican border stations featured such diverse groups and artists as the Light Crust Doughboys, the Carter Family and Cowboy Slim Rhinehart. The records he actually preferred were by country’s more traditional early stars — Carson Robison, Vernon Dalhart and, of course, Jimmie Rodgers. Then movies brought him the thrill of a cowboy who sang like Jimmie Rodgers — the great Gene Autry. Thompson got his first guitar at age 10 and began aping all these musical favorites. Peg Moreland and Ernest Tubb became radio favorites during his years at Waco High School in the early 1940s.
And the world’s richest person is a pauper at times,
Compared to the one with a satisfied mind.
When my life is over and my time has run out,
All my friends and my loved ones I’m gonna leave them no doubt.
But there’s one thing for certain, when it comes my time,
I’m gonna leave this old world with a satisfied mind.
I hate the need to write this blog post. It is late. I am tired. But we need to think about this man tonight.
Not only is this post about the passing of a country music legend and Grand Ole Opry Star, but it is also about the continuing footsteps that lead to the end of an era. The death of Porter Wagoner, the best ambassador the Opry had, is sad in and of itself. The tall singer with flashy clothes and a strong sense of humor was an essential part of the Nashville story. But with his passing we are also witnessing the turnover of the Opry to the new faces. The old way of making it to stardom and decades of fame is nearing an end. The traditions that made the Opry what it is today are slipping away.
Porter Wagoner made it to the top the old fashioned way. One song at a time.
In the Ozarks where Porter was born in 1927 came a down to earth way of living and talking. His music never strayed far from the basic themes of how he lived life. Those same themes are common to traditional country music. While working in a meat shop in West Plains, Missouri he delivered his hopes via music over KWPM.
His small band played over the airwaves from the store! When I talk of an era passing this is part of what I mean. One can image the Ken Burns imagery of black and white pictures showcasing the way singers once found their niche in the music industry. No slick promotions or well-heeled promoters. Only real talent and ambition were needed, along with a dose of luck. With limited money, but boundless desire, Porter moved to a radio station in Springfield, Missouri where an RCA recording contract soon followed. Even then sales were sparse, and it was not until 1957 that he first stepped on the stage at the Ryman Auditorium.
The other reason the Porter Wagoner story is important is the many ways he proved his talent. From those butcher shop radio shows on the one hand, to 19 years on television with “The Porter Wagoner Show” on the other hand, he proved he had the knack for entertaining. There were nearly 700 thirty-minute shows recorded from 1960-1979. Doubtless many of my readers have seen at least one! The ease that Porter demonstrated as an entertainer is most evident in these TV shows, as it was each weekend on the Opry stage. I am sure if one could hear the old radio shows from the early 1950’s there would be the hint of assuredness and raw talent that were perfected in the following decades of his career.
Perhaps many know Porter best for his famous duets with Dolly Parton on the RCA label. At times the personal nature of their professional relationship transcended the music, but late in the 1980’s the two patched up remaining differences. In fact, it was Dolly who inducted Porter into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2002.
The style, flash, and smile that Porter brought with him to the stage was reflected back to him with warm applause and appreciation night after night on the Opry stage, and other venues around the nation. When he appeared in Wisconsin about 15 years ago he bounded on the stage wearing one of his famous Nudie suits that was his trademark. After a long performance he lingered and met the fans. One by one they shared a memory with him and took home an autograph and snapshot. I still recall that night how he seemed utterly content to stay as long as his fans kept talking. I left with an old album cover signed and a deeper appreciation for the man behind the music.
He never forgot how hard it was to make it in the business back in the early days of his career. And because of that he never took his fans for granted.
There are a dwindling number of the old style Opry members, and with each one that moves on to the biggest stage yet, we are left with only memories. So today I write not only about Porter, but also about the larger loss for the Grand Ole Opry.
As the final days approached Porter displayed the side of him that we knew existed all along. As the Washington Post reported he was thankful and satisfied with life.
Country singer and Opry member Dierks Bentley visited Wagoner in the hospice over the weekend and said Wagoner led them in prayer, thanking God for his friends, his family and the Grand Ole Opry.
We will not see one like Porter grace the Opry stage again.
A couple hours after this was posted, I learned that Porter Wagoner died.
Just weeks ago Porter Wagoner was on late night TV singing the latest single from his new album, that has received amazing reviews. On “Late Night With David Letterman” he performed music from “Wagonmaster”. This year he celebrated his 50th year at the Grand Ole Opry, and had his old singing partner Dolly Parton show up and sing for him.
When Parton ended her serenade to Wagoner, who was sitting on a stool during the song, she had to wipe away his tears and said, “You can get up now, I’m done hollering at you!”
Early last week Porter was admitted to a hospital. According to WSM DJ Eddie Stubbs, Porter’s lung cancer is moving aggressively, and on Friday was transferred from the hospital to a hospice care facility.
As the longest running radio show in America prepares to celebrate its 82nd birthday in Nashville this weekend, there are many reflecting on the many voices and musicians that make the Grand Ole Opry a true slice of Americana. At the center of the current Opry stage there is a large wooden circle that was taken from the Ryman Auditorium stage, “The Mother Church Of Country Music”, where country legends once stood and sang for many decades. When most people recall the Opry stars they talk about the folks who stood in that famous circle and made music. (Part of the circle can be seen in the photo above. Garth Brooks, Bill Anderson, Porter Wagoner, and Little Jimmy Dickens are shown.)
But just off to the side of the stage there stands a podium where the announcing staff for each broadcast adds their talent to WSM’s signature show. It was there that Grant Turner became for many a household name, as he would announce “now lets go center stage as the big red curtains rises….”
I concede that many will not have ever heard of his name, or if so, may have forgotten him. But as Nashville celebrates, along with classic country music fans everywhere, it is important to recall the name and sounds of Grant Turner.
His voice and pleasant conversational style was one of the reasons I had my radio tuned often to AM 650 as a teenager. On the weekends he would introduce the host of the half hour (or quarter hour portion) of the Grand Ole Opry. In between the music he would read the advertising scripts for the many products that were colorful and nostalgic. Today most of us hate commercials, but Grant Turner made the ads fun. In fact, the Grand Ole Opry ads were a part of the show, and still are. The products were perfect additions for Grant’s homey gentle readings for items such as Martha White Flour, or Goo Goo Clusters . This all was just another in a long list of reasons that I fell in love with radio.
He made his work sound effortless and easy. The fact that it came across that way is testimony to his professionalism. Anyone who has worked behind a broadcast microphone knows that it is not as easy as it looks…or sounds. But Grant was able to blend his down home sensibilities with broadcast know-how in such a way as to encourage us to invite him into our homes.
And millions invited him in each week.
Perhaps the reason he understood his role so well on the Opry stage was that he started in radio as a teenager on KFYO, a small station in Abilene, Texas. While still in high school he announced for the station, and also had his own show called “Ike And His Guitar.” He would work in radio for many years, and major in journalism while in college. But on D-Day 1944 he started his work at WSM, which made him famous. In just a few months he became a Saturday night announcer for the Grand Ole Opry.
He was on that world famous stage on Friday night in October 1991 doing what he loved best. When the radio show concluded he went home. The big red curtain had come down on his last announcing performance on WSM radio. The next evening every performer gave a nod to the podium and a few kind words about Grant Turner who had died at home from a heart attack.
Grant Turner proves that every star of the Grand Ole Opry did not have to stand in the famed circle on stage. As we look back on the memories from 82 years of the Opry, let us recall that for 47 of those years there was the gentle voice from just out of the spot lights that made us all a part of the larger radio family.
It is a rare talent that can make so many people feel so included for so long.
I only write about things here that interest me, but am never sure what will ’sell’ until my readers react. So when my post this week about ageism on the Grand Ole Opry generated over 400 hits, and many heartfelt comments, I knew I had connected with my readers. While current events and politics dominate my posts I also add other topics that are the spice of my life. After a major Nashville blogger recommended my Opry post not only did the readers show up, but many left comments that impressed me. I offer a sampling.
####
I have been a drummer for many years. I used to appear on the “Opry”, with many of the people named above. Now, when my name is mentioned, a lot of the current “stars” say….JIM WHO? It’s tough being a “side man”, in the present state of things. Here’s hoping things change for the better soon!
####
Wonder what Hank and Lefty would have to say about “demographics.” I don’t want to hear songs about love and loss from someone in a Guns’n Roses T-shirt who just lost their pet turtle or skinned their knee falling off their bicycle. Gaylord neither knows nor cares about the legacy of Nashville’s once-great country music community, it’s all about the money and Gaylord’s pimps don’t give a damn how they get it or who gets hurt in the process.
####
I personally have not yet been to the Grand Ole Opry…It is one of my dreams yet to be fulfilled, but let me tell you, that when I see the show on TV, it just isn’t the same when you see all the new age groups of country singers…Just like the rest of us TRUE “COUNTRY” fans, I most love to see shows with LORETTA LYNN, GEORGE JONES, DOLLY PARTON, and all of the LEGENDS…after all, isn’t that where the Grand Ole Opry began?
####
As a “Western” music performer, I primarily appear at concerts, dinner shows and Cowboy Poetry/Entertainer Gatherings all around the Northwest. I even do a few bar-gigs once in a while. And, a prevelant opinion from my audience is that shown here…REAL country Music seems to be gone. What is left is music that appeals more to the City ideas of what Country is. Most of what I hear today seems to be along the lines of what we called “soft rock” when I was a kid.
####
What’s happening to the great stars of the Grand Ole Opry is a travesty. I’m a DJ (in my 60’s) on a classic radio station in Lewiston, Idaho. In the past couple of years I have had the great pleasure to meet some these performers at the Casino in Worley, Idaho. Bill Anderson, Little Jimmy Dickens, Jean Sheppard, Stonewall Jackson, Kitty Wells, Johnny Wright, Bobby Wright, Tommy Cash, Doug Kershaw and Ralph Emery. Let me tell you, these are the friendliest, most talented and down to earth people you would ever want to meet. These people paved the way for the “so called” country entertainers of today. To be given crumbs by the Opry when they should be in the forefront until those new country entertainers earn their way on that stage is an absolute slap in the face!
Watching John McCain run for President is good for America. It shows that older Americans are vital, capable, and can even be more energetic than some of the journalists covering the Arizona Senator. You do not have to agree with McCain’s views to understand the powerful message he sends about aging in America. And for the sake of my argument let us forget his attempt at stand-up comedy during the past few days. The message that McCain sends is that growing older need not be boring, or sideline anyone.
Unfortunately not everyone has received that message. For starters consider the outlandish actions of the Grand Ole Opry, the longest continuous radio show in America that is now in its 82nd year. Every Friday and Saturday night country music stars perform one or two songs on the world famous stage in Nashville, followed by live commercials for such products as Martha White Biscuits, or Goo Goo Clusters that ushers on the next act. The radio show, about 2 and 1/2 hours long, is broadcast every weekend on WSM Radio (The Air Castle Of The South) before a couple thousand people.
The stars of country music, when the Opry was just getting established, are being forced off the stage. These are the stars with true talent at showmanship, which is far different from just being a solid singer or musician with a great manager. These are the voices and images that started during the formative days of the Opry, and are still eager to stand on that round circle at center stage. But the management of the Opry thinks they are to old, and so have removed them for younger artists.
Stonewall Jackson, Charlie Louvin and others say they joined the Opry decades ago with the understanding that if they appeared a required number of times each year at the peak of their career they could still play the Opry in the later years of their careers. Gaylord Entertainment, owners of the Opry, disputes that any performing guarantees were ever made, and insists that the older stars are not being pushed off the stage due to their age.
Last summer I had a most pleasurable conversation with 79-year-old Charlie Louvin who just released a new CD featuring one song with Elvis Costello. Charlie also did a number of shows with Elvis Presley in the 1950’s. While backstage in southern Wisconsin as he smoked a few cigarettes and signed my guitar and autographs for folks who ambled by, he kept telling me stories about the days traveling and singing with his brother, Ira. I was very interested in his stories and he seemed to get quite nostalgic as he spoke. Many a week would end for the famous brothers as they made a mad dash from far-flung places to get back to “The Mother Church of Country Music”, the Ryman Auditorium, and their set for the Opry stage. To be a member of the Opry one had to perform 26 times a year, and was paid $15.00, a far cry from what could be made on the road. Charlie estimated that an act lost on average over $50,000 per year, but he was proud to be a part of the Opry and never complained.
But now Louvin and others are losing their health insurance due to limited performances, as salaries from those performances are the basis for coverage from the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. There is something so very wrong with this action by Gaylord Entertainment and what it says about one of our most remarkable slices of Americana, The Grand Ole Opry.
As a boy on Saturday nights I would move the radio around in our living room in central Wisconsin, using the cord as an antenna for better AM reception until the music from Nashville filled the room. A couple decades later my parents would be recognized from the Opry stage by famed WSM musicologist Eddie Stubbs for their 50th wedding anniversary as we all sat watching a live Opry broadcast in Nashville.
This is not just another musical venue. This is about as real and authentic a slice of history as one can get about what early radio, and early country music were all about. As such, the closer one can get to the past and experience the living stars of yesterday, the more accurate is the understanding of the time when the likes of Minnie Pearl and Roy Acuff were taking the stage. None of those singers and musicians knew what the future held, but were sure they wanted to be there when that big red curtain went up. For 82 years that tradition has endured and it is mighty sad to think that some still want to be there to perform, but have been rejected due to the age factor.
To remove the past at the Opry in order to bring on the latest singer with tight jeans and a cowboy hat (and often these days too much red-neck) is unseemly. I admit to being a bit of a purist on the issue, but there is a huge gulf between the likes of Little Jimmy Dickens and the latest singer today with a massive PR effort. It comes down to showmanship and on-stage talent.
Last summer in Wisconsin I again had the chance to see Little Jimmy Dickens on stage, and this time he had a 30-minute set. He was energetic, had a series of snappy one-liners, and even a slight costume change on stage. And he had the crowd in his control after all these years. I think the vast majority of the current ‘15 minute wonders’ will not be anywhere near a stage when they are 82. The old performers, the solid parts of the Opry, love the applause and it has been my personal experience that everyone gets a handshake and a chance to converse when around them. They are truly national treasures.
The Opry is making a huge mistake by removing some of the performers that made that stage so mighty impressive over the decades. We are displacing a part of the past before they will leave the stage for the last time and go to the biggest Opry show to be played. It does not need to be that way. Gaylord Entertainment is greedy and as a result we all lose something.
Since this is my blog, I want to change pace today and reflect on a real showman who died this week. I know this post is not going to get much traffic, but I write it in tribute to a certain type of entertainer that is becoming a part of our past far too quickly. Worse, there are few others that have the foundation and raw talent to fill the shoes of these departing performers.
There is a real nostalgic image that comes to my mind of the early years in both radio and country music when performers would broadcast live from the studios of a small station on a regular schedule. Imagine an old pick up truck pulling into a dirt driveway of a radio station down south with a person hopping out carrying a guitar. In he goes and seats himself in a small studio with a couple microphones. There he sings and plays for the local sponsor for 15 minutes or half-an-hour a couple times a week. What dreams might he have held, and how far did he think he might go from that small station?
In 1944 at the age of 12 Franklin Delano Reeves, better known to America as Del Reeves, was playing guitar on such a station in North Carolina. In his adult years he would become a famous showman of the Grand Ole Opry, joining the Mother Church of Country Music in 1966.
Today performers require an expensive stage design, a lighting crew, and props to make a show sizzle for an audience. The only thing Del Reeves required was a small band, one spotlight, and a couple hours of your time. He was more than a songwriter and singer. He was a showman with real talent, using traditional country music with that famous fiddling, humor that was punchy but still fit for Grandma, and enough impersonations to make one think there might be several famous people on stage.
Del Reeves was authentic. In a world of entertainment where packaging and marketing are the only things that matter, Reeves stayed true to himself. Some might have called him corny, but audiences understood that he possessed multi-dimensional talent that so many other modern performers can only dream about.
I saw Del Reeves perform two times in his career and caught a few pictures and signatures along the way. There is a need for some performers to connect with fans one-on-one and stay long after the time when other bigger names would have boarded the bus and hit the road. Del Reeves shook hands until every fan had a memory. That simple act made him a showman off the stage, as much as he was on the stage.
Del Reeves died on New Years Day and the Grand Ole Opry has lost another voice. Somewhere tonight Mother Maybelle Carter has a much-loved entertainer to add to the choir.
