HERE'S TO OLD FRIENDS AND GOOD TIMES

This past weekend was my 40th class reunion.  Did I just say 40th???? How in the world did that happen?  It could not possibly be 40 years since I graduated from high school! Where did the time go? So, I flew home to H-town from Nashville to attend my reunion.  So glad I did!

I grew up on the north side of Houston.  Even back then, Houston was a big city.  People lived in "areas" of town and it basically was like a town within a city.  Or, at least, my area did.  We all knew everyone, knew where everyone lived, knew who was related to who, and knew who was doing what.  A lot of us started elementary school together and went all the way through school together.  These people have been a big part of our life and have helped develop us into the person we are now.

So, Saturday night, about 175 of us got together and remembered good times and caught up on our lives.  We laughed, we were sad when we looked at the pictures of our classmates that were no longer alive, and we acted like a little more grown up kids than we use to be.  We had a blast!

 

This is Ethel....., I mean Wendy. Wendy and I have been friends since kindergarten but we became best friends, inseparable friends in middle school and remained that way all through high school.  My Mom was her second Mom.  Her Mom was my second Mom.  We were at each others house.  We knew each others secrets.  We did a lot of things we should not have but we got in trouble for those things together!  We don't see each other much anymore.  She lives in Arkansas and I use to live in H-town, but whenever we do get together, it is like we have never been apart.  We pick up right where we left off.  Because we use to do things we shouldn't and we would try to get out of trouble in very creative ways, we call ourselves Lucy and Ethel. :)  I can't wait for our next episode to happen!

This is me and Wendy with Linda and Cheryl.  Technically, Wendy did not live on my street where I grew up, but since she was at my house half the time, we took the liberty of including her in the "girls who grew up on Robmore Lane."  Cheryl lived 1house down from me.  We became friends when we were little girls. I'm talking pre-school.  Linda was in kindergarten with the rest of us and she lived on the same street but one block over.  We talked a lot about sleep overs, birthday parties, and a lot of other things that kids can't do now because of safety worries.  I grew up in a very different time.

 

This is the board with all of our classmates who are no longer alive.  They posted their senior pictures from our yearbook. The list on the yellow paper are names that did not have their pictures in the yearbook.  At the reunion, we learned of 2 more classmates that had passed away.  It was kind of sad looking at this. Not to make light of this, but we had 739 graduating seniors in our class.  So this really isn't a lot for that many people.  I'm glad there is still a lot of us around!

These are my classmates responsible for making this happen.  They did an awesome job! It was a fun, fun night for everyone. Thanks again to all these people for the wonderful job they did.  This kind of event doesn't just happen.  Also, word of advice, don't wait on your class officers. 

The memorabilia table. A blast from the past.  There were even 4 8-track tapes from 1974! I mean, who keeps that stuff????? I'm glad they did! It made for some great conversations.

My advice to anyone who waivers about going to their reunions, Go! All the weird stuff from high school has gone away and everyone is genuinely glad to see each other.  Life is short. Enjoy those friends. You might even start "hanging out" with people you didn't while in school, but you find you have a lot in common now.

This is me and Mr. W.  Did I mention that we were high school sweethearts?  Well, we were and still are.  He was in the class a year ahead of me and some of his classmates were there to help check everyone in and hang out with us.  He had just as much fun as I did.  Love you Mr. W!  I think we look the same as we did 40 years ago.......well, maybe not.

LEGENDARY GRAND OLE OPRY

If you grew up in the south like I did, you probably either heard or watched the Grand Ole Opry. The radio show that began in 1925 can still be heard on the radio today. When I was a kid, the Opry was at the Ryman Auditorium.  The Ryman was an old church auditorium and still had the pews for seating.  My parents and I went to the Ryman when I was around 9 years old to see the Opry.  The Opry has since moved to a new location but it is still going strong.  Yesterday, nearly 50 years after my first visit, I went back to the Opry.

The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee that has presented the biggest stars of that genre. Founded on November 28, 1925 by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM, it is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history. In the 1930s, the show began hiring professionals and expanded to four hours; and WSM, broadcasting by then with 50,000 watts, made the program a Saturday night musical tradition in nearly 30 states. In 1939, it debuted nationally on NBC Radio. The Opry moved to a permanent home, the Ryman Auditorium, in 1943. As it developed in importance, so did the city of Nashville, which became America's "country music capital".

Membership in the Opry remains one of country music's crowning achievements. Such country music legends as Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Marty Robbins, Roy Acuff, the Carter family, Bill Monroe, Ernest Tubb, Kitty Wells and Minnie Pearl became regulars on the Opry's stage (although Williams was dismissed in 1952 due to frequent drunkenness). In recent decades, the Opry has hosted such contemporary country stars as Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Josh Turner, Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Dierks Bentley, and Blake Shelton. Since 1974, the show has been broadcast from the Grand Ole Opry House east of downtown Nashville and performances have been sporadically televised in addition to the radio programs.

In May 2010, the Opry House was flooded, along with much of Nashville, due to the Cumberland River overflowing its banks. While repairs were made, the Opry was temporarily housed at alternate venues in Nashville, with the Ryman Auditorium hosting the majority of the shows. The Opry returned to the Grand Ole Opry House on September 28, 2010 in a special edition of the Opry entitled Country Comes Home that was televised live on Great American Country. The evening was filled with one-of-a-kind Opry moments. Martina McBride and Connie Smith dueted on Smith's signature hit "Once a Day," and other collaborations included Dierks Bentley and Del McCoury ("Roll On Buddy, Roll On"), Josh Turner and Lorrie Morgan ("Golden Ring"), and Montgomery Gentry and Charlie Daniels Band ("Devil Went Down To Georgia"), among others. The show closed with an all-star guitar jam featuring Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Steve Wariner, Ricky Skaggs, and Marty Stuart. WOW, what a guitar jam!

You can do a backstage tour at the Opry and I decided that would be  a fun thing to do. Actually, the videos they show, hosted by Blake Shelton and Carrie Underwood would more interesting and full of trivia and facts than our tour guide, Dave.  Yawn, yawn....... But, I'm glad that I did the tour for the pics of places/things that I would not have gotten without the tour. So, let's begin the tour.

Minnie Pearl's husband gave her the birdbath fountain for their 25th wedding anniversary.  When she died, she bequeathed the fountain to the Opry!

The last 10 years of Hee Haw was actually taped in one of the rooms at the Opry. I was walking through Cornfield County y'all!



Receptionist/Check-in desk at the stars' entrance to the Opry.

Once you become a member, you are assigned a mail box.  You can receive your fan mail here too.  Most of the boxes are done alphabetically, except for one.  Little Jimmy Dickens mailbox should be on the top row but since he is only 4 foot 11 inches, they moved his mailbox down.

Minnie Pearl's shoes (And they are so proud to be here!)

This is the wall that has the placques with the names of everyone who is a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

One of the dressing rooms.

A display dedicated to Curly Fox and Texas Ruby. I really like the boots.

There aren't bathrooms/showers in the dressing rooms so when you perform, you are assigned a locker for the evening.

When the Grand Ole Opry House opened in this location in 1974, President and Mrs. Nixon attended the opening.  Roy Acuff did a trick with the yo-yo. He then handed the yo-yo to the President to try and do the trick.  He couldn't do it. President Nixon told Roy that he would go over and practice the yo-yo and Roy could go practice being President! President Nixon also played the piano that night on the Opry.

 

The dressing room you get to use the night you are officially inducted into the Grand Ole Opry.  You first get invited to join and then you come back to be inducted as a member.

The Women of Country dressing room

The Wagoneer Dressing Room - It use to be Porter Wagonner's private dressing room. 

Porter and Marty Stuart were very good friends and when Porter died, Marty Stuart moved into Porter's dressing room and it is now Marty's dressing room.

 

Mr. Roy Acuff's private dressing room - Roy was affectionately known as the King of the Grand Ole Opry.  There is a house that sits on the Grand Old Opry's land.  After Roy's wife died, the Opry built the house for Roy to live in.  He didn't sleep much so he would walk over to the Opry and spend a lot of nights there.

Pics of Roy Acuff on the wall in his dressing room. His dressing room is one of the only ones that has a shower in the dressing room.  Usually, whoever is the headliner for the night, gets to use this dressing room.

This is the common room or "chill out" room.  You can get refreshments, watch TV or whatever before or after you went on stage.

Archie Campbell, from Hee Haw, drew this mural on the wall in the common room.  If you look right under the E in OLE on the mural, you will see Archie with his moustache.  The girl in the red dress by him?  Well, rumor has it that he had a big crush on Dolly Parton and that is suppose to be Dolly in the mural.

 

As you enter back stage

Looking at the auditorium from onstage.

 

That circle is wood carefully removed from the Ryman auditorium stage and moved to the new location.  This wood was where all of the entertainers that ever performed at the Opry stood while they performed.  The Opry wanted the tradition to continue.

 

The lit up barn of the Opry during every performance.
 

Since I took the afternoon tour, I had time to kill before I went back for the show.  Of course the outside is pretty when you walk up.

 

The Grand Ole Opry doesn't publish their line-up too far in advance.  You can buy tickets but you may not know who you will see.  The Grand Ole Opry only has shows on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday nights from March through October. I knew my schedule was only going to allow me to go to the Tuesday evening show this week.  So, I bought the tickets as soon as I knew what week I would be there and didn't really care who I would see.  But, I got GREAT seats.  I was on the 5th row center stage.  As it turned out, all of the male stars from the TV show Nashville were performing in the first half of the show.  I don't watch the show but all of the women around me who do watch the show, were swooning over these guys.  They do have some cuties!

Chris Carmack
Chris played and sang like a real country music star.

Sam Palladio
Sam was a very talented musician and played several instruments. I wasn't a big fan of his music but it was OK.

Johnathan Jackson
Johnathan was a talented musician also.  But, again, not real crazy about his music.  He and Sam both sang original music they wrote.

Charles Esten
Charlie was the real heart-throb of the show Nashville

He plays Deacon on the show and I really enjoyed his playing and singing.

He did have a way of charming everyone! He has performed several times at the Opry and you could tell he was very comfortable on that stage.

The second half of the show were real country music stars. 

Tracy Lawrence - a good ole Texas boy

Something I learned on the Studio B tour - Before the resurgence of the downtown area of Nashville, crime was a problem.  Tracy Lawrence was shot 3 times one night while in downtown Nashville years ago.

Del McCoury Band
Del playing the guitar and one of his sons playing the mandolin. His other son is playing the banjo but you can't see him.  He is standing behind the son with the mandolin.

They were also the singers of the group.

The headliner of the night - Easton Corbin

He was such a cutie and I love his music!

So, if you go to Nashville, pick a night to go to the Opry and do it soon  enough to get good tickets.  They will tell you, How---dy! They're so proud you are there!

 

 

 

HISTORIC RCA STUDIO B

Today I'm going to finish up the post on the Country Music Hall of Fame and RCA Recording Studio B.

RCA Studio B is a noted recording studio in Nashville, Tennessee. Originally known simply as RCA Studios, it became famous in the 1960s for being a part of what many refer to as the Nashville Sound. A sophisticated style characterized by background vocals and strings, the Nashville Sound both revived the popularity of country music and helped establish Nashville, Tennessee as an international recording center.

Inside sign

Outside sign

Built by Dan Maddox in 1956, it was constructed at the request of Chet Atkins and Steve Sholes to facilitate the needs of RCA Victor Records and other record labels. According to Chet Atkins, the plans for the studio were drawn up on a napkin by Bill Miltenburg, RCA's chief engineer and recording manager.

As you can see this recording studio was used to record Roy Orbison, the Everly Brothers, Ray Price, Elvis, Dolly Parton, Charley Pride and many more.  Here's a piece of trivia I learned from our tour guide, Nyla.  Elvis would never sing right before or right after Roy Orbison because he thought Roy Orbison had a much better voice than him.  Also, you know why Roy Orbison always wore sunglasses?  He forgot his glasses one day and only had his sunglasses to wear for one of his shows.  He had to go on stage with his sunglasses.  He discovered that the sunglasses helped him with his terrible case of stage fright so he decided he would wear the sunglasses whenever he performed. Now you know!

Bill Porter became the chief engineer in 1959 for the studio and he considered the studio's acoustics problematic, with resonant room modes creating an uneven frequency response. To lessen the problem, he took some $60 from the studio's petty cash and bought fiberglass acoustic ceiling panels which he cut into triangles and hung from the ceiling at varying heights; these were dubbed "Porter Pyramids". Porter also marked Xes on the floor where he discovered, by careful experimentation, the resonant modes to be minimal. Porter positioned lead vocalists, background vocalists and acoustic guitarists at microphones placed directly over his marks. After these improvements, Don Gibson recorded his album Girls, Guitars and Gibson in the studio. Porter later told an interviewer: "Everybody said, 'God, what a different sound!'"

In her 1994 memoir, My Life And Other Unfinished Business, Dolly Parton recounted how she was rushing to her first recording session at Studio B in September 1967 (shortly after having signed with RCA) and, in her haste to make the session on time, drove her car through the side wall of the building. She noted how the spot where her car impacted the building is still visible. She's right, you can still see it.

 A larger studio was built on 17th avenue in 1964 that became known as Studio A; the existing studio was referred to as Studio B from that point on.

Old analog sound board (mixer).  Everything s done digital now.  If you made a mistake using the analog board, you had to go back and re-record the whole thing.

The Steinway grand piano that has been in the studio since it started.  They still have recordings of Elvis just chilling in the studio with friends and you can hear the piano in the background. Also, in the original recording of Elvis singing How Great Thou Art, Floyd Cramer is playing this piano.

After the tour, Mr. W and I drove back down to "music row" and walked around looking at all the other recording studios on 16th and 17th avenue..  Most of them put up signs either on their buildings or on their property showing some of the artists that record with them.

Another piece of trivia - Nashville hired someone to build a fountain in a roundabout, across from a new park, going to music row.  They did it to look good and attract tourists to that area in a resurgence effort of this part of town.  They wanted statues in the fountain but did not tell the person what kind of statues.  They just thought that since it was Nashville, the person would do statues of country singers.  The person put in nude dancers and they are anatomically correct in every way.  This spurred much controversy in Nashville especially among the churches and parent groups. So, on a lot of major holidays or when something major is happening in town and they know there will be an unusually high number of tourists in town, the churches and parent groups will wrap clothing/material around the statues.

(I had more pics than I posted but the internet is so S-L-O-W where I'm staying right now, that it would have taken me until next week to get them all loaded! Sorry.)