The Grand Ole Opry's future?

Pete Storms · From: Spokane, Washington

"Howdy!"

I have read quite a bit about what people seem to be thinking will happen to the Opry.Some predict maybe 5 years left before it will sease to exist. There are some tidbits of info on the Christian Steel Forum as well.
I'm just curious what anybody here has heard about the Opry? I am really saddened by the feeling that we may be loosing something very wonderful, a part of our national heritage. Are there any support groups out there in favor of preserving the Opry?
Thanks for any info on this;
Pete

Theresa Galbraith · From: Goodlettsville,Tn. USA

Yeah,
We know what they say about opinions B. Country or the Opry has nothing to do with Bush or Gore!
The Opry is doing better than ever. January & Feburary will be back at the Ryman!

Joe Casey · From: Weeki Wachee .Springs FL (population.9)

Better than ever? Tourism is down, seats are empty. Old Members are told to schedule out more and don't plan on as many Opry dates...Yep things is looking up.I might add It's not the Oprys fault for the lack of tour busses rolling in,It's the demise of TNN,Opryland PArk,And the presence of Modern Nashville Music.(no relation to Country Music)

Time will tell.

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CJC

[This message was edited by Joe Casey on 17 November 2000 at 06:05 AM.]

Theresa Galbraith · From: Goodlettsville,Tn. USA

Kenny Dail · From: Kinston, N.C. R.I.P.

Joe, you present a convincing case about "GOO" future and I agree with you with respect to the "older generation of Opry performers" and their cutbacks but, I think the "alarm clocks" have been heard and you will see more of the traditional style start creeping back into todays country sounds. It may not bring the HOF'ers and the older performers back to stage any quicker but perhaps the future isn't as dark as it seems. You may tend to disagree but, I recommend you listen to Eddie Stubbs and some of the other DJ's on WSM You will hear them playing more of the traditional than they were playing acouple months back.

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kd...and the beat goes on...

Janice Brooks · From: Pleasant Gap Pa

I misplaced his name but i heard the manager of the opryhouse was let go after 30 years.

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Janice "Busgal" Brooks
ICQ 44729047

Joe Casey · From: Weeki Wachee .Springs FL (population.9)

Jerry Stroeble and counting...Time is beginning to tell.

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CJC

Joe Casey · From: Weeki Wachee .Springs FL (population.9)

OOps
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CJC

[This message was edited by Joe Casey on 18 November 2000 at 09:28 PM.]

Smiley Roberts · From: Hendersonville,Tn. 37075

Here it is,right from Marty Martel:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AFTER 30 YEARS OF LOYALTY, TRUST, HONOR AND LOVE OF THE GRAND OLE OPRY, JERRY STROEBEL, GRAND OLE OPRY HOUSE MGR., HAS BEEN LET GO BY GAYLORD, DUE TO CORPORATE RESTRUCTURE??

JERRY WAS GIVEN A GOLD WATCH LAST THURSDAY, FOR 30 YEARS OF SERVICE AND WAS LET GO THIS PAST THURSDAY.

IN CELEBRATING THE OPRY'S 75TH ANNIVERSARY, THEY HAVE TAKEN THE SHINE AND GLITTER OFF OF A TRULY WONDERFUL CELEBRATION. ALL AT THE EXPENSE OF GOOD PEOPLE AND LOYAL EMPLOYEES.

MR. GAYLORD SR.-DO YOU KNOW WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON HERE IN NASHVILLE, AND WHY IT IS HAPPENING? THE GRAND OLE OPRY WAS BUILT BY MEN WITH GREAT VISIONS OF WHAT IT COULD BE. THE GRAND OLE OPRY HAS BEEN THE MOTHER CHURCH OF COUNTRY MUSIC, AND HAS BEEN EVERYTHING TO COUNTRY MUSIC OVER THE PAST 75 YEARS UNTIL YOU CAME INTO HER LIFE. SHE HAS BEEN TOTALLY DISRESPECTED BY YOUNG EXECUTIVES WHO KNOW NOTHING ABOUT HER HISTORY AND WHAT SHE MEANS TO THE MILLIONS WHO LOVE HER FROM ALL POINTS OF THE WORLD. SHE IS BEING BROKEN INTO MANY PIECES AND THERE DOES NOT SEEM TO BE ANYONE OR ANYTHING THAT CAN HOLD HER TOGETHER, NOT EVEN THE ONES THAT LOVE HER SO MUCH.

"IF I DID NOT KNOW ANY BETTER, I WOULD SAY, MR. GAYLORD, THAT WE ARE NOW WITNESSING THE FIRST STAGES OF DEATH TO THE GRAND OLE OPRY, AND I SINCERELY HOPE THAT I AM WRONG." AT THIS TIME IN HER LIFE, THERE IS NO ONE TO CARRY ON HER TRADITION.

"JUDAS IS STILL VERY VISIBLE AT THE GRAND OLE OPRY. "

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  ~ ~


  ©¿©          ars longa,


  mm         vita brevis 


-=sr€=-

Bill Rowlett · From: Russellville, AR, USA

I'm sorry about Jerry, but I really have liked the Opry lately. The TV sound is better than ever and it's a good show. A lot of good new talent is being booked and I think it may have a chance of competing against the rest of the TV market. Besides, the steel is hotter in the mix than ever.

Bill

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Maybe it's just me, but I notice a lot of Opry singers are getting "covered up" by the music. And, in some cases, this may be a blessing in disguise!

If the Opry doesn't have the best (of whatever), it won't survive. Those who can't play or sing "on-key" shouldn't be allowed on regularly...unless they bring something else worthwhile (like a dynamite band) with them.

Good music is what made the Opry.

Smiley Roberts · From: Hendersonville,Tn. 37075

I don't think the argument here is the age of the artists,I think it's the type of material that they're recording. What would you think of Porter Wagoner or,worse yet,Bill Carlisle (90 yrs. old) if they came out & did Edgar Winter's "Free Ride",utilizing the instrumentation of the original arrangement,i.e.,no fiddles or pedal steel?
I believe I would delete them. It's the same way w/ the "country" artists of today. What they're doing is not bad music,it just ain't country,& I ain't gonna buy it!! If I want "pop" music,I'll buy "pop" music. I heard a song by the group,'N SYNC the other day,that could have very well been played on a country station,by today's COUNTRY standards. So,let me reiterate here. It's not the age of the artists,it's the arrangement of the material that they're recording.

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  ~ ~


  ©¿©          ars longa,


  mm         vita brevis 


-=sr€=-

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

I believe, as Smiley and many others that the Opry should ramain true to it's roots, not become a "every kind of music" show as apparently the current management seems to think.

However, on the recent Alan Jackson special on A&E Tim Dubois(Sp?) who was the Arista guy that was behind Alan made a statement that pretty much sums up "who killed country music". He stated that country music and the industry was dying and they needed artists that had "visual appeal". Which seems to be the direction the Nashville artist scene has gone. With that frame of mind, artists such as Patsy Cline, etc., would never make it in the current Nashville pop/rock "country" scene. This is no reflection on Alan Jackson as he is an exception to the current rule.

Pat Jenkins · From: Abingdon, VA, USA

Unfortunately, the Opry, as with many things, is facing a great time of change. The biggest change is that it is not viewed as a tradition by the ownership, it is viewed as an albatross. Unless it begins to make more money to show its own profitability, it too will be shut down, just as Opryland, and reopened as the "New And Improved"(sic) Opry with smoke, lights, fireworks, rock and roll guitars, and other changes. As much as the fans and the more traditional artists want to hang on to tradition, we are outnumbered by the suits and ties who want a larger piece of the musical pie. What we can hope for in years to come will be smaller regional "Opry" shows springing up, as we have seen in our own steel guitar community. Some changes are hard to take, but,with our throw away society, it is inevitable...Pat

Theresa Galbraith · From: Goodlettsville,Tn. USA

I'd love to hear something new & different from Porter or Bill. It would be refreshing, or maybe it's time for them to gracefully step down.
In order to draw more people, you have to have artist who are on the radio now! It's music and it's better than ever now! IMHO

Joe Casey · From: Weeki Wachee .Springs FL (population.9)

Theresa: I have no problem with the names you mentioned stepping down (except for Bill Carlilse who deserves to be the patriarch) but only if Jackson,Brooks,Reba ect carry the ball for the next 75 years..However I was under the impression the appointment to membership was a lifetime thing. There are plenty of Venues where the newer artist appear,make more money without destroying a tradition..People flock to The Opry still for it's present formular..I think that there should be two Oprys one at the Ryman now that it is feasable and renovated, and one for the New regime at the present Shopryland site..If for no other reason but to see if people will support both musics..Which ever one fails so be it.I don't think those who support Country music would be afraid of this..I just have a hunch where the tour busses would wind up...JMHO

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CJC

[This message was edited by Joe Casey on 21 November 2000 at 05:56 AM.]

Theresa Galbraith · From: Goodlettsville,Tn. USA

Yeah,
Let's just segregate!

John Steele · From: Renfrew, Ontario, Canada

quote:

not become a "every kind of music" show as apparently the current management seems to think.

I hear ya, Jack, but I must say that the "current management" couldn't have been responsible for having Elvis Presley, James Brown, and Gladys Knight and the Pips, etc. etc. etc., as has been done in the "good old days" you are all nostalgic for.
That's been going on for a long long time. Nothing new there - and nothing that could be blamed on the "current management", that's for sure !
(Like that darned Ernest Tubb and his fancy eee-lectric geetar... and that Wills guy and his noisy drum set!)
-John

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

But they experimented and found out it wouldn't work. I personally like Pappas got a brand new bag, but the Grand Ole Opry isn't (wasn't) the right venue for that.

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Maybe there could be two Opry-type shows! Big package shows are a thing of the past, what with all the money that the top names are demanding. But, package shows might still work for the older, and the lesser-known artists. Here in Baltimore, we had a great bunch of shows in the early '60s (WBMD's "Country Jubilees"). I went through some of the old programs and thought that some of you might like to see who appeared...

6-13-64
Lonnie "Pap" Wilson
The Wilburn Bros.
The "Duke of Paducah"
Hank Snow
Flat and Scruggs
Cousin Jody
The Campus Singers
Melba Montgomery
Carl Smith
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9-26-64
Roy Acuff
RoseMaddox
Archie Campbell
Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper
Loretta Lynn
The Browns
Carl and Pearl Butler
Faron Young
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4-10-65
Porter Wagoner
Norma Jean
Ferlin Husky
(& Simon Crum)
Carl Smith
Lonzo and Oscar
Marty Robbins
Quinine and Buddy Buck
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2-7-65
Hank Thompson and the Brazos Valley Boys
Roy Clark
Hank Snow and the Rainbow Ranch Boys
Wanda Jackson
The Tennesee Three
The Statler Bros.
June Carter
Johnny Cash
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11-27-66
Waylon Jennings
Jean Shepard
Grandpa Jones
Faron Young and the Deputies
The Osborne Bros.
Merle Kilgore
Hank Williams Jr. and the Cheatin' Hearts
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Nowadays, you pay $40-$50, and you're lucky to see 2 or 3 stars. Back then, you paid $6-$8 and saw half a dozen.

Yeah...things are much better now, alright!

Joe Casey · From: Weeki Wachee .Springs FL (population.9)

Segregate??? Wow, I had to look up that Strong word Theresa and I guess your right,thats what has happened or is happening...

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CJC

Bill Crook · From: Goodlettsville, TN , Spending my kid's inheritance

My take on this is:

If the Opry reverts back to the Ryman, Thats where it will stay for a long time.

This will accomplisk a number of things for Gaylord Ind.....

1) It will clear up the Opryhouse out at "Shopraland" for the Big acts and Money gigs.

2) It will pull a larger number of true "Country" folks back to the downtown area... 1st,2nd ave's, and Broad Street resulting in the reviatization of lower Broad area, which is an ongoing project of Metro and Gaylord, (who now owns most of the lower Broad area real estate.)

3) Nashville, as a whole,dosen't give a tinker's damm about country music anymore. It's drive now is the sports and money stuff, as apparent by the push on Foot-ball, Ice hocky, and other big acts at the arena.

Yes, The Ryman will again become the "Mother Church" of counrty music. It's a good thing the Ryman has been renovated and up-dated because I see alot of use for it now.

Mark my word, the Opry-mills house will soon be used for everything BUT the "GRAND OLE OPRY". Let em have it for all I care, I,ve been out to "Opry Mills" and it isn't any different from any other mall here in Nashburg. I predict that in a few years, it like the other malls will settle down to the local area folks doing business there, Why should I go to Opry Mills when I can get the same thing/product at "Rivergate Mall"??

If Gaylord had takened a lesson fron "Branson" and built a number of mini-theaters with-in the mall, signed up a number of good acts, instead of trying to kil out the music, Nashville would have shut down "Branson" in 6 months.

Thats why I and many other people all over the U.S.A. now head to "Branson" to hear and see country music. They put Nashville to shame in this area. I spent well over a thousand $$$ there which would have been spent here in my home town but for the "Gaylord determination to kill Country Music".

Just my 2cents on this.

Theresa Galbraith · From: Goodlettsville,Tn. USA

Bill,
I think Branson is a Show Vegas format. I don't believe it's true traditional country.
"Yesterday is the past, tomorrow is the future. Today is a gift that is why we call it the Present." Theresa

Joe Casey · From: Weeki Wachee .Springs FL (population.9)

I agree Bill ,Plenty of county Music in Branson,Maybe Vegas show format but plenty of the good ole C....

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CJC

Theresa Galbraith · From: Goodlettsville,Tn. USA

Joe,
When was the last time you visited Nashville?

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