Grand
Ole Opry
The Grand
Ole Opry was originally known as the WSM Barn Dance, and its inaugural
broadcast was made from that station’s small fifth floor Studio A on November
28, 1925. "Uncle" Jimmy Thompson, who claimed he could "fiddle the
bugs off tater vine," was the initial performer, and the cast included
Dr. Humphrey Bate and his daughter Alcyone, the Crook Brothers, and Kirk
McGee.
By the time the show moved to Studio B of WSM,
still in the National Life & Accident Insurance Building at 7th Avenue
North and Union Street, its name had been changed from the WSM Barn Dance
to the Grand Ole Opry.
The change reportedly came about in an accidental
way, the result of an ad lib by announcer George D. Hay, who called himself
"The Solom Old Judge," and who had originated the National Barn Dance on
WLS in Chicago in 1924. Apparently, the WSM Barn Dance came on the
air immediately after a broadcast of the NBC Music Appreciation Hour, conducted
by Dr. Walter Damrosch. Hay opened the program by saying: "For
the past hour, you have been listening to Grand Opera. Now we will
present Grand Ole Opry!"
The name stuck, and in succeeding years, as the
live audience grew, the program moved, first to a newly built studio that
accommodated about 500, then to the Hillsboro Theatre, and East Nashville
Tabernacle, and later to the auditorium of the war memorial, which seated
about 1,200. Two years after the Opry became a network show, with
a half hour broadcast coast to coast, it moved to the famous Ryman Auditorium
where it remained until 1974.
With the opening of Opryland USA, and amusement
park dedicated by President Nixon on March 16, 1974, the Opry moved into
a new $15 million theatre, the largest broadcasting studio in the world,
with a seating capacity of 4,400.
RYMAN
AUDITORIUM
The home of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville,
Tennessee. For over thirty years, the auditorium began as the Union
Gospel Tabernacle. It was built by a roistering riverboat captain,
who came originally to scoff and disrupt services conducted in downtown
Nashville by Rev. Sam Jones.
The visit in 1885 resulted in such a thorough
conversion that Captain Ryman began financing the building of the Tabernacle
in 1889. After his death, the Union Gospel Tabernacle was renamed
the Ryman Auditorium at the suggestion of the Rev. Jones.
Recognized as one of the best concert halls in
the south, with almost perfect acoustics, the the auditorium continues
to be used by many performers for many occasions; but, it remains the mother
church of Country music, its well-worn stage bearing the historic footprints
of all the Country music stars of the forties, fifties, sixties, and seventies.
The Ryman remains at 116 5th Avenue North.
Arnold
Shaw - American Dictionary of Pop / Rock.
Ryman
Auditorium
Schedule
116
Fifth Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37219
Lou Reed
Friday, May 2 at
8:00 pm
George Jones
Sunday, May 18 at
7:30 pm
KT Tunstall
Tuesday, May 20
at 7:30 pm
Marty Stuart's
7th Annual Late Night Jam
Wednesday, June
4 at 10:00 pm
Grand Ole Opry
Fan Fair Matinee
Saturday, June 7
at 3:00 pm
Chris Botti
Wednesday, June
18 at 7:30 pm
Who was one of the first stars of
The Grand Ole Opry?
DeFord Bailey
A
Good-Natured Riot:
The
Birth of the Grand Ole Opry

A Good-Natured Riot gives a full and authoritative portrayal
of the colorful beginnings of WSM's barn dance program up to 1940, by which
time the Grand Ole Opry had found its national audience and was poised
to become the legendary institution that it remains to this day.
Own
This Book
________________________
Saturday
Nights with Daddy at the Opry
From the Publisher
Saturday Nights With Daddy at the Opry is both the story of
growing up with a backstage pass to the entertainment world in Nashville
as well as a heartwarming tale of a beautiful father-daughter relationship.
From the time she was a baby, Les Leverett, who was the official photographer
for the Grand Ole Opry took his daughter, Libby, with him each Saturday
evening to witness country music's greatest entertainers.
Own
This Book
|
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The Ryman
Auditorium
Photographs
Grand
Ole Opry Schedule
2804
Opryland Drive, Nashville, TN 37214
5/2
Brad Paisley, Mark
Wills, Justin Townes Earle
Mountain Heart,
Jack Greene, Jimmy C. Newman
Grand
Ole Opry House
5/3
Charlie Daniels,
Phil Vassar, Emily West
The Steeldrivers
(first show only), Mountain Heart
Jeannie Seely, Jan
Howard
Grand
Ole Opry House
5/6
Lee Greenwood, Keith
Anderson, The Grascals
John Conlee, Bill
Anderson, Jimmy Dickens
Grand
Ole Opry House
5/9
Del McCoury, Jennifer
Hanson
Jimmy Dickens, Jean
Shepard
Grand
Ole Opry House
5/10
Carrie Underwood
(Opry Member Induction)
Dierks Bentley,
Aaron Tippin, Marty Stuart
Del McCoury, Mel
Tillis, Jim Ed Brown, The Whites
Grand
Ole Opry House
5/13
Eric Church, The
Isaacs, Del McCoury
Jimmy Dickens, Bill
Anderson
Grand
Ole Opry House
5/16
Diamond Rio,
Josh Gracin, Marty Stuart
Del McCoury, Connie
Smith, Bill Anderson
Grand
Ole Opry House
5/17
Steve Wariner, The
Grascals
John Conlee, Mel
McDaniel
Grand
Ole Opry House
5/20
Billy Currington,
Darryl Worley
Restless Heart,
Cherryholmes, Jimmy Dickens
Grand
Ole Opry House
5/23
Keith Anderson,
Riders In The Sky, Jimmy Dickens
Grand
Ole Opry House
5/24
Shooter Jennings,
Riders In The Sky, Jeannie Seely
Grand
Ole Opry House
5/27
Bucky Covington,
Sawyer Brown
Phil Stacey, Riders
In The Sky, Jimmy Dickens
Grand
Ole Opry House
5/30
John Conlee, Jean
Shepard
Grand
Ole Opry House
5/31
Del McCoury, Mike
Snider, George Hamilton IV
Grand
Ole Opry House
LIVE MUSIC
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Orleans l Oxford
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Fisk
University
Photographs
MY
MUSICAL LIFE
By Carl P. McConnell
Mabel
McConnell talks about the Carter Family, Doc & Carl,
The Original Virginia Boys
and the early days of radio.
DIXIE
BATTLE
HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC
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