How Grand Ole Opry Was Invented - 80 Years Ago Today First Broadcast

American Heritage ^ | 11-28-05 | Joshua Zeitz

[tallhappy]

The dawn of the Opry: George Dewey Hay and Uncle Jimmy Thompson on the air.

[Revolting cat!]

Not to be confused with Grand Ole Oprah!

[Skooz]

Very cool.

My great uncle actually played the Grand Ole Opry in the late 1940s - early 1950s.

He met all the greats of the time and played with more than a few.

[TomServo]

Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello, Joe Nichols, Josh Turner, Buddy Jewell, Keith Anderson, and the Del McCoury

Hmmmmmmm....almost exclusively - crap.

[fso301]

As a kid, I enjoyed tuning in and listening

[dsc]

Elvis Costello? Isn't he a limey?

[Revolting cat!]

Yikes, what have they done to Ryman?

[vrwinger]

As my contribution to the trivia in this thread, the Nashville radio station WSM mentioned above got its call letters from the slogan of the National Life Insurance Company - "We Shield Millions"...

The Chicago station mentioned, WLS, got its call letters from Chicago mainstay Sears - "Wolrd's Largest Store..."

[stainlessbanner]

Dixie Ping.

Drink some Pet Milk!

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

We could not pick up the Grand Old Opera but could pick up the Louisiana Hay Ride. Which was great.

[reagan_fanatic]

Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello, Joe Nichols, Josh Turner, Buddy Jewell, Keith Anderson, and the Del McCoury
Hmmmmmmm....almost exclusively - crap.

Agree wholeheartedly. Country music in its purer form is timeless and will stand the test of time long after the Rascal Flatts of the World are gone and forgotten.

[wideawake]

Carrie Underwood is nice to look at, though. And Del McCoury isn't bad to listen to.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

Thanks for the fun read!
From a pedal-steeler who started out on 5-string,
Dr. Bogus

[billhilly]

Our roots are showing.

[fat city]

Uncle Dave Macon and His Fruit Jar Drinkers, Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers- damn, that was country music.

[Tribune7]

Eighty years ago today George Dewey Hay, the new program director at Nashville’s radio station WSM, persuaded a 77-year-old amateur fiddle player from Tennessee named Uncle Jimmy Thompson to drop by and play some old-time tunes on the air.

A guy born in 1848 kicked off the Grand Old Opry.

to hear Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello . . .

Somehow don't seem right.

[mwyounce]

As my contribution to the trivia in this thread, the Nashville radio station WSM mentioned above got its call letters from the slogan of the National Life Insurance Company - "We Shield Millions"... The Chicago station mentioned, WLS, got its call letters from Chicago mainstay Sears - "Wolrd's Largest Store..."

More call sign trivia: Atlanta's WSB is "Welcome South Brother" and WMAZ in Macon, GA, started out as a project by some students in the Physics Department at Mercer University, and stands for "Watch Mercer Attain Zenith."

[retrokitten]

We were just in Nashville in early October. The photo on the right is at side of the theater and has the ticket office, gift shop, and the statue of Capt. Ryman. The photo on the left is the front of the theater.

This is the best I could do for a pre-restoration photo.

It's a neat tour. They let you go up on stage, tour the dressing rooms and everything. It's a really neat place to visit.

[PAR35]

In the late 1970s and 1980s the Opry hit a rough patch.

That's because they switched from country to urban cowboy.

[Warren_Piece]

Something tells me y'all don't know much about Del McCoury, or what kind of music he plays.