Grand Ole Opry

Roger Shackelton · Post by **Roger Shackelton** » 22 May 2004 1:23 am

I have a boring 2nd shift job, that allows me time for Deja Vu. Friday evening I was recalling my first visit to the Grand Ole Opry, in May of 1963. I believe T. Tommy Cutrer and Grant Turner shared the announcing job on the Opry. Loretta Lynn and Margie Bowes were two of the up and coming female singers then.

I also attended the Friday night Opry at the WSM studios. When I saw Guitarist, Spider Wilson out in the hallway, I thought he was Porter Wagoner. ha ha ha
I believe Pete Drake was the staff Steel Guitarist on the Opry then, but don't recall if there were any others.??? I got to meet Pete in person at the Ernest Tubb Record Shop, during the Midnight Jamboree.

Roger

Randy Mason · Post by **Randy Mason** » 22 May 2004 9:58 am

You can still find Spider Wilson in the hall
at the Opry today 41 years later.

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 22 May 2004 10:02 am

Different Hall though........JH

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Livin' in the Past and the Future with a 12 string Mooney Universal tuning.

Sonny Priddy · Post by **Sonny Priddy** » 24 May 2004 4:02 pm

Those Were The Good Old Days. Wish They Were Still Here. SONNY.

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Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 24 May 2004 5:16 pm

In 1969 I was in Nasville with my college band. We had a night free and most of my freshmen buddies were looking for a T@A movie to go to. I grabbed a cab with two friends and told the cabbie to take us to the Ryman. Got the last tickets availiable and sat in the balcony just sort of hanging over the right side of the stage. Doug Kershaw, Granpa Jones, Billy Grammer and others. The sound was the most spectacular sound I have ever heard live in my life and since 69 I have played more concert halls than I can remember. I do remember that there were some speaker cabs hanging from the ceiling for monitors for musicians. Looked like Ampeg cabinets. Most guitarist plugged directly into patch boxes on the floor and the engineers in a little room upstairs to the right mixed everything. You could see them through a glass window. Hard pews, wood everywhere---made you feel sonically like you were sitting onstage with the players.

I feel like the current crop of Nasville bangers would not fare very well in that setting. The tone of the instruments both electric and acoustic and vocals was just so pure and the wonderful lack of loud crashing and bashing and savagely overproduced arrangments made for just a perfect match of country artists, musicians, engineers, and acoustics. I am so glad I got to hear that. It still impresses me after 35 years.