Talk:Grand Ole Opry

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Untitled[edit]

The Grand Ole Opry radio station, WSM, has been around since October of 1925. This stands for "We Shield Millions" and it lives up to its name. The National Life & Accident Insurance Company is the "founder" of this station. The very first group to play on WSM was none other than Roy Acuff and His Crazy Tennesseans. And eighty-seven years later it is the world's longest running live radio station.

History[edit]

After Uncle Jimmy, two bands, The Possum Hunters and the Fruit Jar Drinkers, along with the Crook brothers and the Gulley Jumpers got the Barn Dance of to its start in 1925. Uncle Dave did not come on the scene until early 1928. Judge Hay was on tour with the Fruit Jar Drinker in Pennsylvania, late 1926 when they saw Uncle Dave during one of his vaudeville tours and the Judge asked him to join the BarnDance when he finished his tour. My father was one of the Fruit Jar Drinkers. The four bands always maintained their own time slot until their demise. All of this is in Judge Hay's book. - 65.7.67.178 20:28, 10 July 2005

Here is some history for you as I have studied it for twenty two years and have the only copies of everyone that appeared in the Nashville Tennesseean from 1925 to 1940 on each show listing for the Opry each Satruday night.

Uncle Dave Macon appeared for the first time on the Opry April 12, 1926 - the Crook Brothers came on the scene in June of 1926 and the Fruit Jar Drinkers existed before they were given the name in 1928 (starting as an unorganized group of people that changed band members alot beginning in 1926). Dr. Humphrey Bates (died June 12, 1936, the night before the Opry moved into the Hillsboro Theatre) and His Possum Hunters were a very large part of the Opry's beginnings, performing for the first time on a Wednesday night as a fill in for some space they had in October, 1925 (before the WSM Barn Dance got its start in November 28, 1925). Judge George D Hay started naming the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday night December 10, 1927, and that fact is brought out in the Nashville Tennesseean radio listing for Sunday December 11, 1925, which lists the coming week's radio shows that were to be broadcasted for the next six days, clearly naming the WSM Barn Dance "Grand Ol' Opry" for the first time). The possum Huinters and The Gully Jumpers were no longer named on the Opry roster after 1964, when as lot of the band members were pared down from four to two. The Fruit Jar Drinkers lasted into 1982 (and were gone with the death of Hubert Gregory and Kirk McGee), the Crook Brothers lasted right up to the time of the loss of Herman Crook in 1989. They were with the Opry longer than any of the string bands from the beginning era.

Uncle Jimmy, the man on whom the WSM Barn dance started, died on February 17, 1931. He is buried out in LaGauirdo, TN (between Gallatin and Mt. Juliet, TN)where his home still stands to this day.

opryman65@yahoo.com Richard W May 14, 2007

Opry members[edit]

I'm planning on creating a category for Grand Ole Opry members. Thoughts? -- Dave C.talk | Esperanza 07:03, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

Well, it certainly sounds like a good idea to me. KevinJRussell 23:46, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

Elvis paragraph[edit]

Nice compromise guys. I like it. Kaldari 15:58, 29 September 2005 (UTC)

70'S-80's CONDITION OF THE GRAND OLE OPRY[edit]

Your summation of Grand Ole Opry history is grossly in error: it was not in decline during the 1970's - 1980's.

During a 5 year period in the 1970's I performed regularly on the Opry in the bands of Tom T Hall, Tex Ritter and Marty Robbins.

The Opry's 3 weekly (except Dec/Jan) performances at the Rhyman Auditorium were constantly sold out, and it's summer schedule sold out months in advance. It is impossible to label a constantly sold out weekly event as 'in decline.'

The same held true--even with inflated ticket prices that continued to rise--after the Opry moved to the Briley Parkway theme park location, and it's popularity remained constant throughout the 80's and 90's.

However, many of my fellow music industry pro's and I believe the Opry is currently in decline (check out the weekly attendance) due to greed of the parent company plus a degradation of the show's artist roster--far too many questionable 'flavor-of-the-week' artists who have little or no connection to Country Music.

By the way, use of the letters 'W-S-M' came about because WSM Radio's owner in 1925 was a large insurance company with the slogan 'We Shield Millions.'

Tom Wilkerson, Pres., InMusiCo/AcoustiWorks, Nashville TN ... 7/7/06

Mormon Tabernacle Choir[edit]

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir's "Music and the Spoken Word" is often cited as the oldest continuously broadcast network program on the air. How is that different from the Grand Ole Opry? Does anyone know? Wuapinmon 19:13, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

Those weekly Sunday-morning broadcasts, originating on KSL, started on 15 July 1929, nearly four years after the weekly broadcasts of the Grand Ole Opry, originating on WSM, started, on 28 November 1925.
However, the MTC describes its series as the "uninterrupted weekly network radio broadcasting", using a carefully crafted combination of qualifying words.
Yes, WSM began broadcasting the Opry in 1925 -- but only on WSM, not yet on the NBC network.
Yes, KSL and CBS began broadcasting the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (MTC) in 1929 -- not only on KSL but also on other stations in the CBS network.
That raises at least three other questions:
First, when did NBC start to carry the WSM broadcast of the Opry?
Second, did NBC ever interrupt its network coverage of the Opry? [And, if so, when and how long?]
Third, did WSM ever interrupt its own broadcast coverage of the Opry? [And, if so, when and how long?]
Any clues?
Doc (a native of Nashville and an avid fan of the MTC, the tabernacle organ, and Music and the Spoken Word).
DocRushing (talk) 16:49, 20 July 2013 (UTC)
One of your key questions is answered by the current version of the article: The Grand Ole Opry was on the NBC Red Network only from 1939 to 1956. Thus, as you surmise, Music & the Spoken Word is the longest-running U.S. network radio show; but the Opry is the longest-running U.S. radio show overall. (Ironically considering its radio distinction, the TV version of Music & the Spoken Word is the longest-running U.S. syndicated TV show; but Meet the Press and the CBS Evening News have each run longer on network TV.) --RBBrittain (talk) 01:24, 10 October 2017 (UTC)

Opry TV?[edit]

How about a discussion of the television series that originated from the Grand Ole Opry, including the one broadcast on TNN and CMT? B.Wind 06:14, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

And what about the history of tecnology and present technology being used to record the opry ????????? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lazairus (talk • contribs) 19:31, 10 March 2009 (UTC)

List of members[edit]

The list of members is huge. Since there is Category:Grand Ole Opry members, perhaps it would be better to make sure everyone listed in this article is actually in the category then replace the list with a link to the category? I'll probably start doing this in the next couple of days, but since there's so many I'd appreciate some help. Adam McMaster 20:58, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

Doyle Dykes[edit]

If I'm right, Doyle Dykes is a member of the Grand Ole Opry. I don't want to just add him, though, because I'm not positive and I have no idea where to verify something like that. Anyone know? KevinJRussell 23:46, 18 February 2007 (UTC)


Bobbejaan (Bobby John) at the Opry 1953[edit]

Hi, my father Bobbejaan Schoepen (81 now) gave some performances at the Opry in 1953 (presented by Roy Acuff at the time). Is there any direct contact address to the archives (which ones?) so we can verify if there are some video or audio recordings left? I contacted Opry website but no answer so far. Peeper 15:01, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit]

"In September 2004, it was announced that the Grand Ole Opry had contracted for the first time with a "presenting sponsor" and would henceforth be known as "the Grand Ole Opry presented by Cracker Barrel." Cracker Barrel, a long-time Opry sponsor headquartered in nearby Lebanon, Tennessee, is a chain of country-themed restaurants and gift shops whose market overlaps with that of the Opry to a great extent. Show Choir Nationals is held every year at the Grand Ole Opry Stage."

To me that sounds like blatant advertising. 86.135.252.102 (talk) 01:55, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

I'm not so sure, but feel free to re-word it. Adam McMaster (talk) 09:29, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

Name?[edit]

What does the actually Grand Old Opry mean? It is a Southern American phrase for something like the "Grand Old Opera"?

Any ideas? I think an explanation of the etymology of the name within this article would help.

N.B.: The above two lines were added 21 January 2010 by 86.165.104.201. At that time, a brief exposition on the background of the name was in the article, under "History". On 26 January 2010, RadioBroadcast moved that text to a new subsection, Name, under History. So, this item has been taken care of. NameIsRon (talk) 00:38, 30 September 2010 (UTC)
Actually the article text still does not explain what "Opry" means. That may be the most obvious thing in the world to English speakers, but not for everybody else. Yes, it is a dialectal variant of "opera," but I suspect there is more to it, e.g. a colloquial expression for a type of musical show in the American south at the time? --SKopp (talk) 09:19, 15 February 2014 (UTC)
As a native of Nashville and a long-time (29 years altogether, long ago) resident of Nashville, I can offer a bit of insight.
"Opry" is nothing more or less than a variant pronunciation of the word opera, in which the terminal "ah" sound transforms into a "y".
That variant is heard sometimes among relatively unschooled people in rural areas of the Volunteer State, including the Cumberland Mountains, in the area bridging East and Middle Tennessee.
For example, I once heard an elderly lady in Ozone, Tennessee, between Crossville and Rockwood, speak of "that wrecker feller over't Sparty" (that is, Sparta, near Cookeville).
Sometimes we Southerners poke a bit of fun at ourselves and our speech and other behavior.
The word ole, the second word in the name of the GOO, is another variant pronunciation, in which the terminal sound disappears from the word old.
Further, the resulting variant "ole", or, better, perhaps, "ol'", often appears in colloquial or other informal speech in the USA, not only in the South but also elsewhere, especially when preceding a name or other noun, to suggest or indicate fondness, acceptance, or tolerance toward the subject person, object, or notion, as in "ol' dog", "ol' Jack", or "good ol' boy".
Thus grand ol' opry or Grand Ole Opry is an intentionally humorous play on a combination of two colloquial variant pronunciations.
As always, best wishes to all,
Doc – DocRushing (talk) 19:04, 15 February 2014 (UTC).

Navbox?[edit]

Has a Navbox ever been worked up for the Opry? Any interest in working one up? Thanks.--Artaxerxes (talk) 22:13, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Merge opry into this article[edit]

Most of the content on opry is about the Grand Ole Opry, and the page is pretty much stub length anyways.--Prisencolinensinainciusol (talk) 21:43, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

  • I absolutely concur. The two articles should be merged together as soon as possible. Lord Laitinen (talk) 02:07, 20 April 2015 (UTC)
Per the merge-discussion template at Talk:Opry, It looks like discussion should be taking place there. Shearonink (talk) 02:15, 20 April 2015 (UTC)
I have added "discuss=Talk:Grand Ole Opry#Merge opry into this article" to the merge template to both articles, which directs the "Discuss" link directly to this discussion. North America1000 14:46, 28 April 2015 (UTC)
  • Support – The content has enough similarities, and the merge would enhance Grand Ole Opry. North America1000 14:48, 28 April 2015 (UTC)
  • Support - no brainerBillVol (talk) 23:01, 4 June 2015 (UTC)
  • Support - term has no relevance outside the context of the Grand Ole Opry anyway. 68.146.52.234 (talk) 17:51, 30 July 2015 (UTC)

Criteria for becoming a member[edit]

The section on Opry members needs to be expanded to explain exactly how one becomes a member. Is it basically like a hall of fame or is it the same as being cast in a TV show (audition, considered a good fit, etc.). The article does mention a performance quota but I think there should be more detail as to how one becomes a member other than "must be earned." Who decides? And have there ever been cases of major performers losing their membership, either due to not meeting the performance quota, changing their style or for other reasons (i.e. Johnny Cash kicking out the lights), and have any folks regained their membership (i.e. Cash)? 68.146.52.234 (talk) 17:49, 30 July 2015 (UTC)

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