Today in 1979, invited by Porter Wagoner, legendary R&B star James Brown played the Grand Ole Opry. His 17-minute set consisted of “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and “Tennessee Waltz.” Some Opry members complained, but Barbara Mandrell said he should’ve been invited to perform five years earlier.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeteB7EPlJE
Garth Brooks is set to perform help say goodbye to “Austin City Limits'” famed Studio 6A. The show has filmed at the iconic studio on the University of Texas, Austin campus for 50 years, but is now moving to a new Austin Community College Highland Campus in Fall of 2020
Austin PBS’s “Farewell to Studio 6A: An Evening with Garth Brooks” will take place May 24th. The event will be a benefit for Austin PBS’s Moving Forward capital campaign for the new location.
Austin City Limits is an American public television music program recorded live in Austin, Texas, by PBS member television station KLRU, and broadcast on many PBS stations around the United States. The show helped Austin to become widely known as the “Live Music Capital of the World”, and is the only television show to receive the National Medal of Arts, which it was awarded in 2003. It also won a rare institutional Peabody Award in 2011 “for its more than three decades of presenting and preserving eclectic American musical genres.”
Source: Wikipedia
Today in 1974, the last Saturday night performance of the Grand Ole Opry at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium was held as the show moved the new Opryland. The Ryman had been home to the show since 1941.
Ryman Auditorium was included in the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and was later designated a National Historic Landmark on June 25, 2001, for its pivotal role in the popularization of country music.
The auditorium opened as the Union Gospel Tabernacle in 1892. Its construction was spearheaded by Thomas Ryman (1843–1904), a Nashville businessman who owned several saloons and a fleet of riverboats. Ryman conceived the idea of the auditorium as a tabernacle for the influential revivalist Samuel Porter Jones. He had attended one of Jones’ 1885 tent revivals with the intent to heckle, but was instead converted into a devout Christian who pledged to build the tabernacle so the people of Nashville could attend large-scale revivals indoors. It took seven years to complete and cost $100,000 (equivalent to $2,845,556 in 2019).
After debuting in 1925, the local country music radio program known as the Grand Ole Opry (originally called the WSM Barn Dance) became a Nashville institution. Broadcast over AM radio station WSM, it could be heard in 30 states across the eastern part of the nation. Although not originally a stage show, the Opry began to attract listeners from around the region who would go to the WSM studio to see it live. When crowds got too large for the studio, WSM began broadcasting the show from the Hillsboro Theatre (now Belcourt Theatre) in 1934. The Opry moved to East Nashville’s Dixie Tabernacle in 1936 and then to War Memorial Auditorium in 1939.
After four years – and several reports of upholstery damage caused by its rowdy crowds – the Opry was asked to leave War Memorial and sought a new home yet again. Thanks to its wooden pews and central location, Ryman leaders thought the auditorium would be a perfect venue for such an audience and began renting the venue to WSM for its shows. The Grand Ole Opry was first broadcast from the Ryman on June 5, 1943, and originated there every week for nearly 31 years thereafter. Every show sold out, and hundreds of fans were often turned away.
During its tenure at Ryman Auditorium, the Opry hosted the biggest country music stars of the day and became a show known around the world. In addition to its home on WSM, portions of the show (at various times throughout its history) were also broadcast on network radio and television to a wider audience. Melding its then-current usage with the building’s origins as a house of worship, the Ryman got the nickname “The Mother Church of Country Music”, which it still holds to this day.
WSM financed minor upgrades to the Opry House in 1966 to maintain its functionality, but soon began making plans to move the Opry to a new location altogether. Despite the building’s deteriorating condition, the lack of air conditioning, and the abundance of unsavory surroundings in its urban neighborhood, the show’s increasing popularity often resulted in crowds too large to fit inside the venue. Plans announced in 1969 centered around a larger, custom-built auditorium that would provide a more controlled and comfortable atmosphere for audiences and performers alike, as well as better radio and television production facilities. The company purchased a large tract of land in a then-rural area a few miles away, and the new Opry theater served as the anchor of a grand entertainment complex. The development became known as Opryland USA and eventually included the Opryland theme park and the Opryland Hotel.
The amusement park opened on May 27, 1972, and the new venue (also called the Grand Ole Opry House) debuted on Saturday, March 16, 1974. The final shows at the Ryman were emotional. Sarah Cannon, performing as Minnie Pearl, broke character and cried on stage. In an effort to maintain continuity with the Opry’s storied past, a large circle was cut from the floor of the Ryman stage and inlaid into the center of the new Opry stage. In another traditional holdover, the new Opry House was also designed to feature pew seating, although (unlike the Ryman) they are cushioned.
Eventually and without fanfare, the building resumed using the Ryman Auditorium name to differentiate it from the new Grand Ole Opry House.
Source: Wikipedia
The country community continues to do their part to help out those affected by the tornados that hit Nashville and other parts of Tennessee earlier this week.
Yesterday, CMT teamed with the American Red Cross to host a telethon with artist like Charles Kelly, Dave Haywood, Kid Rock, Travis Denning Blanco Brown, Cassadee Pope and Gavin DeGraw, among others lending their support, with all proceeds going to relief efforts.
Taylor Swift donated $1 million to the the Middle Tennessee Emergency Response Fund.
Dan + Shay also opened their wallets to help the tornado relief efforts, donating $100,000 to The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. “We are heartbroken by the devastation the tornadoes left upon Tennessee earlier this week,” they share. “We are so proud to call Nashville our home, and have seen first hand that this community is strong, resilient, and compassionate.”
They add, “What this town does best in times of need, is come together.” The duo’s tour starts tonight at Bridgestone Arena and they share, “through the power of music, we will all unite to celebrate the spirit of our incredible city.”
LeeAnn Womack shared on Twitter that she was dropping off supplies, like blankets, noting other things that were needed include Flashlights, batteries, hygiene items and more.
Nashville is obviously a big music town, and Gibson is pitching in to help out those who may have lost instruments in the devastation. They have pledged to donate guitars to any musician that lost theirs. They need to apply to the Gibson Gives Guitar Recovery Plan via email, to donation.request@gibson.com, with details of their situation.
Today in 1983, CMT made its cable debut with Faron Young’s video “It’s Four In The Morning.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxR50aaLNhY
The Dixie Chicks are back with a new song, “Gaslighter,” the title track of their upcoming new album, which is set to drop May 1st.
The trio co-wrote the tune with Jack Antonoff.
The band also released a video for the clip, in which they don military uniforms, as archival images of vintage American flash on the screen.
“Gaslighter” is the Dixie Chicks first album since 2006’s “Taking The Long Way.”
Today in 1983, Ronnie Dunn debuted on the country charts as a solo act. Eight years later he returned to the charts as one half of the duo Brooks and Dunn with singing partner Kix Brooks. The song was “It’s Written All Over Your Face”, and peaked at #59 on the Billboard Country Chart. The following year (1984), Dunn would have a minor hit with “She Put The Sad In All His Songs”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTvdzczeJi8
Kacey Musgraves is already stepping up to help those affected by the tornados that hit Nashville early yesterday morning. The singer held a “major closet sale” last night to raise money for Tennessee tornado relief.
Kacey’s items are on sale at Stage to Closet. She initially announced on Instagram that the sale would benefit Tennessee urban forest preservation, but after the recent devastation she announced on her Instagram Story the money will go to tornado relief.
“Heartbroken for East Nashville. I lived on this side of town (in this neighborhood until recently) for years,” she shared. “Many friends are severely affected. Thankful to be ok and thinking of those who aren’t.” She then added even though she still thinks forest preservation is needed, “tornado relief efforts need help first.” She also said she plans to add more items.
Today in 1980, Sissy Spacek played the lead role of Loretta Lynn’s life in “Coal Miner’s Daughter” which premiered in Nashville on March 4th.
Coal Miner’s Daughter is a 1980 American biographical musical film directed by Michael Apted from a screenplay written by Tom Rickman. It follows the story of country music singer Loretta Lynn from her early teen years in a poor family and getting married at 15 to her rise as one of the most successful country musicians. Based on Lynn’s 1976 biography of the same name by George Vecsey, the film stars Sissy Spacek as Lynn. Tommy Lee Jones, Beverly D’Angelo and Levon Helm are featured in supporting roles. Ernest Tubb, Roy Acuff, and Minnie Pearl make cameo appearances as themselves.
A film on Lynn’s life was intended to be made since the release of the biography. Production for the film began on March 1979, and Lynn herself chose Spacek to portray her on screen after seeing a photograph of her despite being unfamiliar with her films. The film’s soundtrack featured all Lynn’s hit singles which were all sung by Spacek as well as Patsy Cline’s “Sweet Dreams” sung by D’Angelo. The soundtrack reached the top 40 in the U.S. on the Billboard 200 and sold over 500,000 copies, thus being certified gold by the RIAA.
Coal Miner’s Daughter was released theatrically on March 7, 1980 and grossed $67.18 million in North America against a budget of $15 million, becoming the seventh highest-grossing film of 1980. It garnered critical acclaim and received seven nominations at the 53rd Academy Awards including for the Best Picture and winning Best Actress (for Spacek). At the 38th Golden Globe Awards, the film received four nominations and won two : Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Actress – Musical or Comedy (for Spacek).
In 2019, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
Source: Wikipedia
There’s no doubt Taylor Swift had a great 2019, and because of it, IFPI Global, the organization that represents the recorded music industry worldwide, has named her the Global Recording Artist of 2019.
This is the second time Taylor has earned the honor. The first time was back in 2014. IFPI chooses the winner based on consumption across all formats and all countries.
Coming in right behind Taylor for 2019 is Ed Sheeran, followed by Post Malone and Billie Eilish. Last year’s Global Artist of the Year, Drake, lands at eight this year.
IFPI’s Top Ten Global Artists of 2019
Taylor Swift
Ed Sheeran
Post Malone
Billie Eilish
Queen
Ariana Grande
BTS
Drake
Lady Gaga
The Beatles
Source: Billboard
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