{"id":3253,"date":"2019-01-31T12:59:44","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T12:59:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/?p=3253"},"modified":"2019-09-02T15:49:59","modified_gmt":"2019-09-02T15:49:59","slug":"radio-rolled-out-the-grand-ole-opry-from-nashville","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/?p=3253","title":{"rendered":"Radio Rolled Out Grand Ole Opry from Nashville"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twenty-Ninth in a Series<\/em><\/p>\n

By Matt Chaney, for ChaneysBlog.com<\/p>\n

Posted Thursday, January 31, 2019<\/p>\n

Copyright\u00a0\u00a92019 for historical arrangement and original content by Matthew L. Chaney, Four Walls Publishing<\/em><\/p>\n

The radio show to become known as Grand Ole Opry was born Nov. 28, 1925, on newbie station WSM in Nashville\u2014according to official version. But the show’s actual genesis appears to have occurred earlier, particularly the Nov. 5 broadcast from Ryman Auditorium.<\/p>\n

A mass gathered in downtown Nashville that Thursday evening, for the annual Policemen\u2019s Benefit. Many people came because of WSM, its old-time music and promotion of the event. Hilarious Uncle Dave Macon headlined with his banjo talent, and reportedly 6,000 fans jammed inside Ryman, hardly bigger than a dairy barn. A couple thousand remained outside.<\/p>\n

The show began, carried three hours, and the crowd cheered throughout. \u201cIt was a miscellaneous program of music, instrumental, song and comedy\u2026,\u201d The Tennessean<\/em> reported, \u201cpresenting a range from the finest touches in the classical to the old-time \u2018break-down,\u2019 and most \u2018scientific jazz.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUncle Dave Macon [was] introduced as the \u2018struttingest strutter that ever strutted a strut,\u2019 either with his banjo, guitar or laryngeal equipment. Uncle Dave confessed to some embarrassment in being transplanted from a home far back in the country to the stage, without a big wood fireplace in which to expectorate and throw things. Some of the numbers presented jointly by himself and Mr. [Sid] Harkreader were: Turkey In The Straw<\/em>, Sugar Walks Down The Street<\/em>, Ain\u2019t Goin\u2019 to Rain No Mo\u2019<\/em>, Don\u2019t Reckon Twill Happen Again<\/em>, and Go Way Mule<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth Harkreader and Uncle Dave kept the audience in an uproar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dozens of telegrams reached WSM that night, lauding the Ryman broadcast, and within months the Nashville show was a radio phenomenon. The \u201cWSM Barn Dance\u201d stood listed in Saturday broadcast schedules of newspapers nationwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cOld tunes like old lovers are the best, at least judging from the applause which the new Saturday night feature at station WSM receives from its listeners in all parts of the country,\u201d touted George D. Hay, show announcer. \u201cJazz has not completely turned the tables on such tunes as Pop Goes The Weasel<\/em> and Turkey In The Straw<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uncle Jimmy Thompson was press sensation for WSM, an “old fiddler” at 80-something. \u201cUncle Jimmy made his first appearance a month ago and telegrams were received from all parts of the United States, encouraging him in his task of furnishing barn dance music for a million homes,\u201d Hay promoted. \u201cHe puts his heart and soul into his work and is one of the quaintest characters radio has yet discovered.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uncle Jimmy,\u00a0crusty and endearing, was a ready human-interest story, meeting reporters to discuss life and fiddling championships. And public challenges rose immediately for Thompson, from other old fiddlers, bristling over press claims he was America\u2019s best. Mellie Dunham of Maine, 72-year-old winner of Ford fiddle contests in the North, openly questioned the validity of Uncle Jimmy.<\/p>\n

From Nashville the radio star bit back. \u201cIf Mellie Dunham will come down here to this WSM station, I\u2019ll lay with him like a bulldog,\u201d growled Uncle Jimmy. \u201cHe cain\u2019t beat me. Why, he\u2019s only a youngster, 72. I was plowin\u2019 in a field \u2019fore he was born.\u201d Their tussle went no further, apparently, as Dunham didn\u2019t visit the South on vaudeville tour.<\/p>\n

But Thompson traveled to Missouri for a Midwest fiddling contest, aired on WOS radio Jefferson City. A Missouri fiddler won the listener voting, Daniel Boone Jones, topping Uncle Jimmy Thompson and other entrants. Reportedly 250,000 votes were cast in calls, telegrams and letters to the station.<\/p>\n

\u201cHillbilly music\u201d entered lexicon as latest label in country genre. Uncle Dave Macon wrote and recorded his \u201cHill Billie Blues,\u201d declaring \u201cI am a billy and I live in the hills.\u201d The 1924 record was unprecedented for use of the term. Bands emerged bearing the moniker, including George Daniell\u2019s Hill Billies of Atlanta and the Al Hopkins Hill Billies of Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

Hillbilly books and movies sold, and record sales exploded. \u201cHill-Billy tunes are the new fashion in popular songs this year,\u201d a scribe reported from New York in 1926. \u201cAlong Tin Pan Alley the vogue is spreading.\u201d<\/p>\n

Novelist Rose Wilder Lane, author of Hill Billy<\/em>, had researched in the Missouri Ozarks. \u201cWe live in such a complicated world that a distinct movement is on hand among thinking people to restore simplicity,\u201d she said. \u201cWhile I was collecting the material for my book, I spend a great deal of time with the hill folks of the Ozarks. I found among them what I believe to be the real folk music of America\u2014the hillbilly songs. These songs go back to the time before jazz, or even negro music, was heard on this continent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I came out of the mountains, I found that the first hillbilly tune, The Prisoner\u2019s Song<\/em>, had reached Broadway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hillbilly was also a slur against country folks, deployed by 1800s newspapers, for example, to attack Kentucky highlanders in print. During 1925 Tennessee turned into tempest with hillbilly derogatory a factor, over media hysteria for the Scopes trial that pit evolution theory versus Bible scripture. Hill folks were depicted in vilest terms nationally, and ridiculed at home by uppity Tennesseans.<\/p>\n

Nashville elitists extended their hillbilly ire to \u201cWSM Barn Dance,\u201d appalled of that commotion seemingly from nowhere. Elitists had nurtured Nashville music for generations, seeding awareness and hopefully greatness for classic symphony and grand opera. They were still anticipating a homegrown Mozart or Patti when suddenly 1,000-watt WSM started broadcasting from an insurance building downtown.<\/p>\n

The radio station dismantled Nashville\u2019s musical foundation in weeks, decried the intellectuals, by broadcasting mere rubes, hillbilly goofs and noisemakers on the airwaves. And to the entire nation! Nashville had been dumbed and disgraced by WSM, wailed the elitists. Their chum local newspaper critic protested by ignoring the country radio show, as he extolled opera.<\/p>\n

Hillbilly fans struck back everywhere, defiantly supporting the music revived on radio. And country people always had comebacks for high-brow types, insults. They made fun of stuffy opera, twanging the word as\u00a0opery<\/em>\u00a0or op’ry<\/em> since before the Civil War. The comic-strip philosopher Abe Martin, wry rube character, proclaimed, \u201cO stands for opery, grand opery, you know. Nobuddy likes it, but a few have t\u2019 go.\u201d<\/p>\n

The opera barb led to a lasting name for WSM\u2019s country show, uttered by announcer Hay on Dec. 10, 1927, according to his recall and news evidence.\u00a0That evening the Barn Dance cast waited in studio as a network opera concluded in New York, for NBC at top of the hour.<\/p>\n

After changeover to local programming, Hay aired his particular remark on WSM, along these words: \u201cFor the past hour we have been listening to music from the grand opera, but from now on we will present the grand old op\u2019ry.\u201d\u00a0No recording of the broadcast was cut in disc, but evidence of a new show title was published next morning\u2014\u201cGrand \u00a0Old Op\u2019ry,\u201d as capitalized within quote marks\u2014by the Sunday Tennessean<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The name would stick and Grand Ole Opry rolled by 1930, entertaining national audience from Nashville. Music elites could cry in their grand opera. The WSM hillbilly show boasted a bona fide star of American music in Macon, 60, former banjo-picking wagoner in the hills around Nashville.<\/p>\n

\u201cUncle Dave Macon has taken the air by storm,\u201d Hay promoted earnestly from WSM. \u201cHis character is rich with humor and his folk songs seem to strike home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Macon, for posterity, \u201cwas one of the first country recording stars and was the single most popular performer on the first 15 years of the Grand Ole Opry,\u201d observed historian Charles K. Wolfe.\u00a0\u201cHe saw country music develop from an age of sawdust floors and kerosene lanterns to an age of Hollywood glamour, million-selling phonograph records, and nationwide radio broadcasts. His repertoire ranged from pre-Civil War folksongs to Eddy Arnold hits. But his individual songs were not so important as his manner of presenting them\u2026 he wanted to feel a kinship with all his fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eddy Arnold spoke of Uncle Dave in 1971. \u201cHe was a showman\u2014now that was the first thing about him,\u201d Arnold said. \u201cHe\u2019d get up and dance and take his hat and beat it on his banjo and stand the banjo down on the floor, go around it\u2026 he would tear an audience apart.”<\/p>\n

“I learned, by George, you\u2019d better be a showman to follow him.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1928 Uncle Dave was portrayed in a novel, garnering fiction immortality like his colleague Blind Joe Mangrum on The Opry. Mangrum had come to Nashville and WSM after career revival in Paducah radio, Southern tours and fiddle contests. He was helped around by Mary, his devoted wife of more than a decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cI play now better than I ever did,\u201d Mangrum said in Nashville, his former haunt with Fiddling Bob Taylor, late governor and senator. \u201cMany\u2019s the night I have played all night for \u2018Our Bob.\u2019 There was a man who dearly loved music…. I wish Governor Bob Taylor was back here now. We\u2019d show them what music is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUncle Joe was one of the dearest people I\u2019ve ever known in my life,\u201d Alcyone Bate Beasley later recalled, original Opry performer with her father, Dr. Humphrey Bate. \u201cHe had a sweet wife who came with him every Saturday night, Aunt Mary. Used to bring him up there and stay right with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUncle Joe was a talented man. I\u2019ll tell you what he played\u2014he played so beautifully\u2014he played Italian things, some of those things, you can almost see gondolas. He played a lot that did not really fit in with the Opry, but it was so fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

The historian Wolfe summarized: \u201cUncle Joe Mangrum represented The Opry\u2019s deepest roots in nineteenth century music.”<\/p>\n

Mangrum starred in the glittering Opry shows of 1931, accompanied by Fred Shriver on accordion. Performers included the Macons, Dave and son Dorris; Dr. Bate and Alcyone with the Possum Hunters; G.W. Wilkerson and the Fruit Jar Drinkers; Sid Harkreader; the Crook Brothers; DeFord Bailey; Theron Hale; and Paul Warmack and the Gully Jumpers.<\/p>\n

In remote broadcasts the Grand Ole Opry hosted crowds of 2,000 in War Memorial Auditorium, and a local music critic finally showed up, Alvin S. Wiggers, to review a show.\u00a0Wiggers had avoided the WSM hillbillies for five years, covering everything else musical in Nashville, imploring readers to support grand opera especially.<\/p>\n

Yet when Wiggers laid his eyes on and opened ears to Opry performers, he was pleasantly surprised and a good sport about it.\u00a0\u201cIt was a novel experience for the writer, who felt like he had just dropped in from the moon,\u201d Wiggers confessed in The Tennessean<\/em>, adding\u00a0he \u201cdidn\u2019t know there was so much musical talent in Nashville, and had never seen so many fiddles, guitars, banjos, harmonicas, and accordions before, all played by experts who had spent their lives in studying their chosen instruments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listeners sent song requests by telegram from multiple states, impressing Wiggers, who critiqued the players in positive notes.\u00a0\u201cDr. Humphrey Bates and his \u2018Possum Hunters\u2019 played Take Your Foot Out Of The Mud<\/em> and other classics, and varied their playing with occasional outbursts of vocalism or a hand-clapping concerto,\u201d Wiggers wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cUncle Dave Macon, with his unique personality, gates-ajar collar, gold teeth and goatee, received an ovation. His son Dorris assisted in Red Wing <\/em>and Jonah And The Whale<\/em>, and Uncle Dave\u2019s shouting and prancing brought down the house.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUncle Joe Mangrum, who in his 79 years has never seen the light of day on his violin, and Fred Shriver, on the accordion, played Golden Slippers<\/em> very entertainingly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mangrum would\u2019ve been better known in the 1932, when WSM went \u201cclear channel\u201d on its own radio frequency with 50,000-watts power. But the musical great died of a heart attack in January. Opry stars led by Macon performed a melodious tribute to Uncle Joe on the show.<\/p>\n

A newsman friend wrote of Mangrum in remembrance, William Valentine Barry, at Lexington, Tenn. \u201cI can still say that in all my life I never have heard anyone play The Mocking Bird<\/em> as Joe did…\u00a0He loved his violin and all who loved it. He would sit for hours and play for one man who listened attentively.”<\/p>\n

“We hear of harps in heaven, but I take it that with Joe, it will be his old violin, reincarnated and transported to the Celestial Empire.\u201d<\/p>\n

Writer and consultant Matt Chaney is compiling a book on historical song and dance, tentatively titled <\/em>River Music and Rockabilly in the Northern Delta. For more information see the\u00a0<\/em>ChaneysBlog\u00a0page\u00a0<\/em>\u201cMusic History and Legend of the Missouri Delta.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0For information on Chaney\u2019s previous books, visit\u00a0<\/em>www.fourwallspublishing.com<\/a>.\u00a0 Email:<\/em>\u00a0mattchaney@fourwallspublishing.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Select References<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Genuine Treat. (1922, Nov. 12). Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 18.<\/p>\n

Albert Spalding A. K. Guest Artist on WSM Tonight. (1931, Jan. 4). Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 6.<\/p>\n

\u201cArtemus Ward Sees Patti.\u201d (1861, Feb. 1). Vicksburg Citizen<\/em> MS, p. 2.<\/p>\n

Barry, W.V. (1932, Jan. 22) Blind Violinist Dead. Lexington Progress<\/em> TN, p. 6.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlind Joe\u201d Mangrum Dies in Nashville. (1932, Jan. 15). Paducah Evening Sun<\/em> KY, p. 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlind Joe\u201d Mangrum, Once Known Far and Wide as Violinist, Here. (1927, Feb. 14). Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 2.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlind Joe\u201d Mangrum to Enter Vaudeville. (1909, May 16). Louisville Courier-Journal<\/em> KY, p. 6.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlind Joe\u201d Mangrum Sees How Paducah has Grown. (1906, Jan. 6). Paducah News-Democrat<\/em> NY, p. 8.<\/p>\n

Blind Joe Stirs Up Memories of Early Days. (1909, May 18). Montgomery Times<\/em> AL, p. 1.<\/p>\n

Blind Joe\u2019s Music Pleases Radio Fans Far Away. (1922, Dec. 9). Paducah Evening Sun<\/em> KY, p. 1.<\/p>\n

Blind Violinist Artist Again for WIAR Radio Post. (1922, Dec. 29). Paducah Evening Sun<\/em> KY, p. 1.<\/p>\n

Bob Taylor\u2019s Lecture. (1907, Oct. 31). Jackson Daily News<\/em> MS, p. 5.<\/p>\n

Coming Germanization of the Southwest. (1906, June 3). St. Louis Post-Dispatch<\/em> MO, p. 58.<\/p>\n

D.B. Jones Voted \u201cChamp\u201d Fiddler. (1926, April 19). Sedalia Democrat <\/em>MO, p. 10.<\/p>\n

Darrow\u2019s Eloquent Appeal Wasted on Ears that Heed only Bryan, Says Mencken. (1925, July 14). Baltimore Sun<\/em> MD, pp. 1-2.<\/p>\n

Dennis, P.R. (2000, May). Music in Jackson, Tennessee: 1875-1917<\/em>. Doctoral thesis in musicology, University of Memphis: Memphis TN.<\/p>\n

Distant Stations Pick Up WIAR Music Programs and Ask for More Just Like It. (1922, Nov. 30). Paducah Evening Sun<\/em> KY, p. 1.<\/p>\n

George B. Daniell to be Buried Today. (1933, Sept. 26). Atlanta Constitution<\/em> GA, p. 9.<\/p>\n

Gilchrist, A.S. (1910). The Night-Rider\u2019s Daughter<\/em>. Marshall & Bruce Company: Nashville TN.<\/p>\n

Grand Opera On Air Wednesday. (1927, Nov. 27). Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 26.<\/p>\n

Green, S. (2019, Jan. 11, accessed). Blind Joe Mangrum. traildriver.com.<\/p>\n

Hay, G.D. (1925, Dec. 26). Uncle Jimmy is feature at WSM. Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 17.<\/p>\n

Hay, G.D. (1925, Dec. 27). WSM to feature old-time tunes. Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 17.<\/p>\n

Heard Last Night on the Air. (1925, Dec. 15). Hartford Courant<\/em> CT, p. 12.<\/p>\n

How Jeff Davis Won a Vote. (1910, Feb. 23). Shelby County Herald<\/em>, Shelbyville MO, p. 6.<\/p>\n

Johnson, N. (1925, July 24). One word after another. Brooklyn Eagle<\/em> NY, p. 12.<\/p>\n

Major Jones on His Travels. (1846, Aug. 12). Spirit of The South<\/em>, Eufaula AL, p. 1.<\/p>\n

Malone, B.C. (1979). Southern Music, American Music<\/em>. The University Press of Kentucky: Lexington KY.<\/p>\n

Malone, B.C. (1985). Country Music, U.S.A<\/em>. University of Texas Press: Austin TX.<\/p>\n

Malone, B.C., & McCulloh, J. [Eds.] (1975). Stars of Country Music<\/em>. University of Illinois Press: Urbana IL.<\/p>\n

Mencken Angers Daytonians. (1925, July 17). Wilmington News Journal<\/em> DE, p. 6.<\/p>\n

Mountain Writer is Visitor in City. (1928, Sept. 4). Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 3.<\/p>\n

Musicians, Entertainers and Invited officials to Attend WSM Opening. (1925, Sept. 27). Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 20.<\/p>\n

Nashville Broadcasts. (1925, Nov. 28). Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 2.<\/p>\n

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\u201cNuttyville News.\u201d (1924, Feb. 29). Pemiscot Argus<\/em>, Caruthersville MO, p. 2.<\/p>\n

Obituary. (1912, Feb. 4). Mrs. A.S. Gilchrist. Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 23.<\/p>\n

Old-Time Fiddlers of 9 States Contest for Middle West Title. (1926, April 3). Joplin Globe <\/em>MO, p. 2.<\/p>\n

Old-Time Fiddlers Show Their Skill; John W. Harris, 104, Takes a Prize. (1922, Sept. 22). Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, pp. 1, 5.<\/p>\n

Ozark Hill Billies No Longer a Fact. (1923, July 2). Springfield Leader and Press<\/em> MO, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Pouliot, L. (1971, July 4). The history of country music. Springfield News and Leader<\/em> MO, p. 24.<\/p>\n

Powell and Gilbert. (1914, Oct. 6). Paducah Evening Sun<\/em> KY, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Powell, B. (1965, Feb. 9). Columnists High in Praise of Harry Gilbert. Paducah Sun<\/em> KY, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Prisoners Thank \u201cSolemn Judge.\u201d (1925, Dec. 20). Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 67.<\/p>\n

Radio By-The-Clock. (1931, Dec. 26). Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 6.<\/p>\n

Radio Menu for Week. (1931, Aug. 16). Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 42.<\/p>\n

Radio Program for the Week. (1925, Dec. 6). Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 29.<\/p>\n

Says Hill-Billies Think Earth Flat. (1925, Dec. 23). Baltimore Sun<\/em> MD, p. 31.<\/p>\n

\u201cSolemn Old Judge\u201d is Now with WSM. (1925, Nov. 12). Racine Journal Times<\/em> WI, p. 19.<\/p>\n

\u201cSolemn Old Judge\u201d Takes Radio Listeners in \u201cBehind Scenes of Radio Studio.\u201d (1926, Jan. 3). Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 22.<\/p>\n

Superstitious Sleuth. (1920, July 29). Pemiscot Argus<\/em>, Caruthersville MO, p. 6.<\/p>\n

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Tucker, G. (2011, Jan. 9). Macons traveled divergent paths. Murfreesboro Daily News-Journal<\/em> TN, pp. B1, B10.<\/p>\n

U.S. Radio Club Promoter Here. (1925, Dec. 6). Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 30.<\/p>\n

Uncle Jack to Jasper. (1902, Jan. 19). Pine Bluff Graphic<\/em> AR, p.3.<\/p>\n

Want Blind Joe to Broadcast. (1926, Jan. 15). Paducah News-Democrat<\/em> KY, p. 2.<\/p>\n

Week\u2019s Programs. (1926, April 18). Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 30.<\/p>\n

Week\u2019s Programs of Local Stations. (1925, Dec. 20). Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 58.<\/p>\n

Weldy, G.R. (1998, Feb.). Kin Hubbard\u2014Hoosier humorist. The Rotarian, 172 (2),<\/em> p. 20.<\/p>\n

What is a Hick? (1925, July 17). Alton Telegraph<\/em> IL, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Wiggers, A.S. (1925, Jan. 29). A cause worthy of help. Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Wiggers, A.S. (1931, March 2). Big crowd hears Grand Ol\u2019 Opry. Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 3.<\/p>\n

Will Fiddle with Mellie Dunham. (1926, Jan. 15). Central New Jersey Home News<\/em>, New Brunswick NJ, p. 27.<\/p>\n

Wolfe, C.K. (1975). The Grand Ole Opry: The Early Years, 1925-35<\/em>. Old Time Music: London, England.<\/p>\n

Wolfe, C.K. (1999). A Good-Natured Riot<\/em>. Country Music Foundation Press and Vanderbilt University Press: Nashville TN.<\/p>\n

WSM Concerts Heard in Mexico. (1926, Jan. 3). Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 22.<\/p>\n

WSM Distance Reports Grow. (1928, Feb. 26). Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 24.<\/p>\n

WSM Offers Varied Program for Week. (1926, Feb. 21). Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 28.<\/p>\n

WSM Programs Well Received. (1926, May 16). Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 25.<\/p>\n

WSM to Offer Studio Frolics. (1926, Jan. 11). Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 10.<\/p>\n

WSM to Present Symphony Today. (1927, Dec. 11). Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 31.<\/p>\n

WSM to Put on Barn Dances Tonight during Test Period. (1926, Jan. 30). Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 1.<\/p>\n

WSM\u2019s \u2018Grand Ole Op\u2019ry\u2019 Pleases Mountain Folk. (1929, July 12). Camden Courier<\/em> NJ, p. 15.<\/p>\n

Yaarab Temple\u2019s Big Oriental Band Plans Tacky Party. (1925, Feb. 15). Atlanta Constitution<\/em> GA, p. 48.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Twenty-Ninth in a Series By Matt Chaney, for ChaneysBlog.com Posted Thursday, January 31, 2019 Copyright\u00a0\u00a92019 for historical arrangement and original content by Matthew L. Chaney, Four Walls Publishing The radio show to become known as Grand Ole Opry was born Nov. 28, 1925, on newbie station WSM in Nashville\u2014according to official version. But the show’s … Continue reading Radio Rolled Out Grand Ole Opry from Nashville<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[283,374],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4ywFp-Qt","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3253"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3253"}],"version-history":[{"count":45,"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3693,"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3253\/revisions\/3693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}