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Grand Ole Opry

J

joeybabe25

I read that last weeks (Friday night) broadcast was dedicated to George Jones. The podcast isn't up on the Opry site yet, and I was wondering if anyone knew where I might find it now?

Thanks!

Joe
 
Have you tried the WSM site?

It's: Www.wsmonline.com

They used to archive a lot of special programs there.
 
Instead of starting a new "Grand Ole Opry" topic I thought I'd ask this question I've had on my mind here.

WSM now carries an Opry show on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday nights. But of course the Saturday show is the classic and I think it was the only opry broadcast for most of it's tenure.

The show is now almost 90 years old. I was wondering if they have ever missed a Saturday night broadcast in those years? The one time I would maybe think they did would be the day after JFK's murder.

I've heard Opry shows from the 40's and 50's. Is there outstanding recordings of the Opry from the 60's, and does anyone know if they broadcast that Saturday 11/23/63 and if so is there tape.

Thanks,

Joe
 
joeybabe25 said:
WSM now carries an Opry show on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday nights. But of course the Saturday show is the classic and I think it was the only opry broadcast for most of it's tenure.

The show is now almost 90 years old. I was wondering if they have ever missed a Saturday night broadcast in those years? The one time I would maybe think they did would be the day after JFK's murder.

I've heard Opry shows from the 40's and 50's. Is there outstanding recordings of the Opry from the 60's, and does anyone know if they broadcast that Saturday 11/23/63 and if so is there tape.
Click to expand...
...I've been under the impression that the Friday Opry started in the late '60s, in which case it would have existed for just over half of the 87 years that the show has been operating. It won't celebrate its 90th Anniversary until 28 November 2015 (and yes, that is a Saturday), unless they've taken to incorporating George Hay's stretch as host of The National Barn Dance, of which The WSM Barn Dance/The Grand Ole Opry is an offshoot, over WLS Chicago; while Hay was indeed the WLS show's main announcer for most of 1924 and 1925, he falsely claimed he'd founded the program in order to get a managerial job at WSM (the actual first host of the National Barn Dance on 19 April 1924 was square dance caller Tom Owen, and Hay hadn't taken over as host until May). As for missing a broadcast, I would imagine that 23 November 1963 would indeed have been scrapped due to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, with WSM carrying NBC's wall-to-wall coverage of the event, but wouldn't 14 April 1945 (two days after the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt; his White House funeral was on the 14th and burial at Hyde Park, New York, on the 15th) also be a prime candidate for having been scrapped as well?...
 
April 6, 1968 A curfew imposed by the city of Nashville
following Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.'s
assassination in Memphis two days earlier forces
the Opry to cancel its live performance. For the first
time in its history, the Opry broadcast is a
previously taped show.
http://www.opry.com/pressroom/OpryTimeline.pdf, page 3.

But the ambiguity of the phrasing doesn't specifically exclude a cancellation, though it sounds pretty much as though in both questioned instances the program went on but with an obviously subdued and respectful demeanor.
 
It is ambiguous. If the show (two days after the murder of Dr. King) was pre-taped because of the curfew, it obviously was a repeat (unless they had a show in the can for such eventualities). But a repeat would not as Mike suggest be in an "obviously subdued and respectful demeanor" since a rerun or "emergency" show would have been recorded before the assassination.

This also brings up the question of the JFK killing. No mention is made of (in the pdf file) of the broadcast of 11/23/63. This would be very interesting. If they did show, it would have certainly been subdued. But did they do the show? There must be an Opry historian among us.

Joe
 
My re-reading of the .PDF text leads me to think this:

  • The April 1968 show was a show that had been broadcast previously and taped. It may have been recorded earlier for play on April 6, 1968. But the words "previously recorded" might mean it was a repeat of an earlier show, but knowing the Opry people, they would not have wanted to set a precedent for a re-run.
  • The Opry on Thanksgiving weekend 1963 was broadcast. It was a holiday weekend; tickets had been sold months in advance. The cast could still have put on a show of gospel and hymns with no trouble. It likely went on. Same thing would have been done for FDR. Remember it was Easter weekend in 1945.

Looks like to me the King situation was the only time the program was not broadcast live.
 
  • Mike_Rafone said:
    • The Opry on Thanksgiving weekend 1963 was broadcast. It was a holiday weekend; tickets had been sold months in advance. The cast could still have put on a show of gospel and hymns with no trouble. It likely went on. Same thing would have been done for FDR. Remember it was Easter weekend in 1945.
    Click to expand...

    I sure would like to hear some tape of these shows. I wonder when the Opry started to archive shows in a regular manner?

    Mike you say that tickets for the 11/23/63 show were sold months in advance. Wasn't the Opry free?

    Joe
 
What about the "Midnight Jamboree" at Ernest Tubb's Record Shop. Was a tape run instead of a live show, or was there no show at all?

Joe
 
That I don't know about. In 1968 since there was a curfew imposed and people wouldl not have been able to get there, I imagine it was cancelled. Possibly WSM filled with something else. I doubt they had any canned "Jamboree" shows standing by.

In 1963 I would feel quite confident in saying WSM probably joined NBC's over night programming or produced their own local JFK memorial programming. Likewise in 1945.
 
I think (but not sure) that NBC did not stay on all night even after the assassination. I think they put the news to bed by midnight EST.

I'd like to hear anyone who knows more about this.

Joe
 
joeybabe25 said:
I think (but not sure) that NBC did not stay on all night even after the assassination. I think they put the news to bed by midnight EST.

I'd like to hear anyone who knows more about this.
Click to expand...
...well, 30 consecutive hours of WLW/700 Cincinnati airchecks from 22 and 23 November 1963 are up on YouTube, what do they show WLW did during the wee hours of the 23rd?...
 
Regarding the Opry and NBC, by the late 1950's, 30 minutes of the Saturday night show was carried on NBC Radio. I think that was 9:00 - 9:30 or 9:30 - 10:00 Eastern Time. The rest was on WSM who, I assume, picked up the NBC Network feed during that 30-minute time span.

In regards to NBC Radio's coverage on that weekend, I have found some information that the network was on until 11 P.M. (EST) on Saturday night and resumed coverage at 8:00 A.M. on Sunday morning. So that is an eight-hour window that would have had to be filled by affiliates. You would tend to think that since most games as well as Broadway shows, etc. were cancelled that weekend, the Opry would not have aired a program. If there was some live performance at the Ryman Auditorium that Saturday, you tend to think it would have been some kind tribute or religious-themed show. One way to find out might be to view a copy of a Nashville newspaper for November 23, 1963 that would show closings, cancellations, etc.
 
Thanks, Cincinnati and Ultmajock, for jumping in.

Think we've pretty much determined The Opry was on stage 11/23/63. Joey was next interested in the post-Opry programming, MIDNIGHT JAMBOREE (I am presuming in 1968). But there may have been a post-Opry show locally in 1963 as well. Anybody want to wade in and help out?
 
joeybabe25 said:
WSM now carries an Opry show on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday nights. But of course the Saturday show is the classic and I think it was the only opry broadcast for most of it's tenure.
Click to expand...
It was nice when Sirius carried WSM. After Sirius dropped WSM, I dropped Sirius.

I can remember WWVA in Wheeling WV carrying the Opry on Saturday nights when they had a country format.
 
DavidEduardo said:
Cincinnati Kid said:
Wasn't the WWVA show the "Jamboree" live country music which that station originated?
Click to expand...

Yes... the Jamboree was a locally originated show.
Click to expand...
I didn't realize the Wheeling show was local. Thanks for the correction. WWVA used to also sponsor a "Jamboree In The Hills" during the summer near St. Clairsville OH. I remember driving on I-70 one year and seeing all the RVs and campers lined up for miles.
 
I didn't realize the Wheeling show was local. Thanks for the correction. WWVA used to also sponsor a "Jamboree In The Hills" during the summer near St. Clairsville OH. I remember driving on I-70 one year and seeing all the RVs and campers lined up for miles.
[/quote]

They still do, and have done so continuously since the mid-late 70s ('76 or '77). It's billed as "The Super Bowl of Country Music" (not really sure how they get away with that). They pull in the big acts, plus folks like Neil McCoy, a perennial favorite, as well as a hot local act when available.

I'm not sure when they dropped the radio show, but surely right after they switched to all-talk. The Jamboree is relegated to the Wheeling Island casino, and is carried on some low-wattage AM's, along with being available online. It's sad that the quality of acts has seriously deteriorated. IF Wheeling had used some common sense, I believe it could have beaten Branson at its own game. Tour buses from Canada clogged the area near the Capitol building. This is a station that I wish could return to its former glory, but we all know that will never happen.

Oh, if only local boy who made good Brad Paisley could put together a tour of up-and-coming legitimate acts to once again play in the Capitol Theater (if you've never been there, it is awesome inside-worth the trip from anywhere).
 
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