Posted on 04/24/2005 4:38:53 PM PDT by SmithL
Nashville -- His Grand Ole Opry debut? Charley Pride remembers it well.
"It was 1967, January 1," Pride snaps. "Ernest Tubb brought me on, and I was more nervous than a cat on a hot tin roof."
That's how most performers feel about the Opry, the folksy live radio show that's helped define country music for four decades. The stage with the red barn backdrop is hallowed ground in Nashville, and entertainers still consider their first performance there a milestone.
The show turns 80 this year, and while the anniversary doesn't have the bang of a 75th or a 100th, the Opry is planning a big to-do, including a rare broadcast from New York's Carnegie Hall in November.
Like a classic country song, the Grand Ole Opry has endured despite changes in technology, musical tastes, ownership and location.
It's the longest continuously running radio show in the country, and though at times it's been derided as stale and antiquated, there's a certain charm when the house band begins to play and the burgundy curtain rises.
The feeling is one of seeing something authentic, down to the vintage microphone stands, live advertisements and corny jokes.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Happy Birthday to the Grand Ole Opry. I look forward to their program every Saturday.
Way back when, I took my Bride-to-be to Nashville to meet my folks. My Dad's secretary was friends with somebody at the Opry, who got us all onstage seats. We saw the backsides of Dolly Parton, Porter Wagoner, Roy Acuff, Skeeter Davis, Tom T. Hall, and a bunch of others. It was great fun and an unforgetable experience.
I also meet one dude from HeeHaw. Can't remember which one now. I'd have to dig in my "stack of stuff" and I'm too lazy for that.
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