Monday, November 28, 2011

Let's Go To The Opry...!


I don't know about you, but growing up, the radio played a lot around my house. The Grand Ole Opry was one show my folks really liked!

Many stars got their beginning on the Opry. This is one of those few shows that made the transition from radio to television without much trouble at all! That didn't happen very often!

Nov 28, 1925:
The Grand Ole Opry begins broadcasting

The Grand Ole Opry, one of the longest-lived and most popular showcases for western music, begins broadcasting live from Nashville, Tennessee. The showcase was originally named the Barn Dance, after a Chicago radio program called the National Barn Dance that had begun broadcasting the previous year.

Impressed by the popularity of the Chicago-based National Barn Dance, producers at WSM radio in Nashville decided to create their own version of the show to cater to southern audiences who could not receive the Chicago signal. Both the Grand Ole Opry and the National Barn Dance aired on Saturday nights and featured folk music, fiddling, and the relatively new genre of country-western music. Both shows created a growing audience for a uniquely American style of music and were launching grounds for many of America's most-loved musicians--the singing cowboy Gene Autry got his first big break on the National Barn Dance. The WSM producers recognized that Americans were growing nostalgic for the rural past, so all live performers at the Grand Ole Opry were required to dress in hillbilly costumes and adopt old-time names.

The four-and-a-half-hour Grand Ole Opry program became one of the most popular broadcasts in the South, and like its Chicago cousin, helped make country-western an enduring part of the popular American musical landscape.

This show, and the others like it, set the standard for good family entertainment. That's one thing we are not seeing too much of in this day and age!

So many performers became household names after appearing on the Opry. It was a great place to make a start and gather all the advice available from people well known in the business.

I'm thinking that coffee in the kitchen is the way to go this morning, OK?

9 comments:

Sixbears said...

Shows like that tied people together. We don't have anything good and wholesome that does that now.

Guess I'll fire up the woodstove and warm up a cup of coffee.

Dizzy-Dick said...

Sure remember the Grand Ole Oprey!! Hey sixbears, watch RFDTV, it has nothing unwholesome on it.

linda m said...

What ever happened to the "good ole days". Sure do miss them. A lot of the entertainment today isn't worth a hill of beans. Can't even watch TV without some sex or violence. Must be why I watch mostly nature shows these days. Coffee inside sounds really good to me.

Baby Sis said...

Bubba -

Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys were the first to wear real western suits on the Opry, as well as the first to use drums in their performance. They were told that drums were not "country", and had to hide the drums behind the curtain for the first few performances - a little more history for Opry fans. I well remember how excited I was when we went, but I think you were already in the USAF...

Big Hugs and a coffee refill, please...

HermitJim said...

Hey Sixbears...
Coffee by the wood stove sounds pretty comfortable to me!

Folks just don't seem to spend as much quality time together as in the past! That's a shame!

Thanks for coming over today!


Hey Dizzy...
I figured you would remember hearing the Opry on the radio! Your kind of music!

Thanks, mu friend, for coming by today!


Hey Linda...
I watch a lot of the National Geographics Science shows for that very same reason!

Thanks for coming by this morning!


Hey Sis...
I never got to go, so I must have been in the service by then!

I know the folks must have been excited!

Thanks for coming over today, Sis!

JoJo said...

I kind of remember watching those shows as a kid. And yes there wasn't much else to watch back then. The family would all sit together and watch after supper not during! If that tv isn't on 24/7 it means no one is home. LOL

I hear you had really cold weather last night. It still is pretty chilly here this morning to. So the kitchen sounds nice for coffee.

HermitJim said...

Hey JoJo...
Back then, supper was a family time made for talking and sharing the day's events!

Television was never on during our meals! Not like today!

It did indeed get cold here last night! 32 on the patio this morning!

Thanks, sweetie, for coming over today!

TROUBLEnTX said...

Dad had that on EVERY Sat. nite. Glued to the radio. That was the only reason he later got cable tv.
My biggie back then was American Bandstand. lolol. Glued to the tv every Sat. Our one channel.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the memories HJ.My thoughts go back to the late 30'es.My first memories were Roy Acuff's - Great Speckled bird