Thursday 10/31
We got to the Ryman Auditorium in plenty of time for our 2:00 PM backstage tour. It began in the upper level with a video of the history of its founding by Thomas Ryman (1843–1904), a Nashville businessman who owned several saloons and a fleet of riverboats. The drinking and gambling trades initially put Ryman at odds with the preachings of religion. But Samuel Porter Jones, a prominent revivalist Methodist minister won him over. Ryman became instrumental in building the originally named Union Gospel Tabernacle, initially as gathering place for revival meetings. The seating within is wooden church pews. It was later renamed Ryman Auditorium
The overview was concise and well done. I am glad we did more than the self-guided tour. Also included in the backstage tour was a visit to the dressing rooms that the artists occupied before the show. No pictures were allowed in those rooms but each had a theme and a short video. The four themes were Carter-Cash Room, Women of Country Music Room, Minnie Pearl / Roy Acuff Room, and the Lulu C. Naff / Makeup Room. Three were on the second level and one on stage level. We emerged from the backstage area into the stage right wing of the stage. The backdrop of the show we were to see that evening was there as the crew was setting up in preparation.
We passed a tribute to Lulu Naff, manager of the Ryman for fifty years who was instrumental in its growth and in securing the excellent variety of stage acts offered. In a time when women were dismissed and not taken seriously in the business world, she was extremely successful and preferred to go by her initials of L.C. Naff to avoid the gender bias as much as possible. She was a widow with a daughter and succeeded in supporting them both very well with this job to which she was devotedly dedicated.
We browsed cases of memorabilia for some of the stars of the stage. This red dress was worn by Dolly Parton.
This flour sack and stuffed doll are memorabilia from Roy Acuff of Wabash Cannonball fame and part of a comedy duo with Minnie Pearl. A bronze statue of Roy Acuff and Minnie Pearl is in the lobby of the Ryman. I showed a photo of it in the part of my Nashville Downtown 11/26/19 post that addressed statues. Having sewed many stuffed dolls for grandchildren, the Roy Acuff doll caught my eye and I investigated if I could get one online. Sure enough, check out these items on eBay, the flour sack and the doll.
Text advertising the sack (which I could still bid on at the time of this writing) reads
What exactly is cambric? In the second, third, and fourth verses of the Simon and Garfunkel song Scarborough Fair the gentlemen wants his true love to make him a cambric shirt. Per the Wikipedia explanation
After browsing the display cases we went up on the stage for our complimentary photo. For Frank & me there was one pose side by side and one pose which Frank likes to call the worshiping pose. Then the whole gang got up there for a group shot. From the positioning, are we to assume that John is lead guitarist and Frank is backup?
A mural on the wall is a collage of the names of all the artists who performed there. Frank thought it would be a clever idea for me to photoshop in our names. I considered it but then felt bad that I would be supplanting someone far more famous than us, even if in my ignorance I did not know who they were. Anecdotally, Elvis Presley’s name is in there in a very large font although he played there only once when he sang a jazzed-up high-speed version of the classic Blue Moon of Kentucky usually sung by Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys. Elvis’ stylized version did not go over very well with the audience and legend is, that although invited back, Elvis Presley never played at that venue again.
We went to the adjacent Cafe Lula for dinner before our show. The restaurant was named in honor of Lula C. Naff, manager of the Ryman Auditorium for fifty years from 1905 to 1955.
The place cards, designating where a food order once ready should be delivered, rather than mere numbers, sported names of favorite artists who had played at the Ryman. Merle Haggard, famous for song (My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers, was for John & Sue; Gregg Allman, famous for song Midnight Rider, was for Joe & Margaret; and Miranda Lambert, famous for song Little Red Wagon, was for Frank and me.
Cafe Lula had great brownies and cookies for dessert.
This was the view we had from our seats in the balcony. True to its heritage of origin as a church, there were three gospel songs sung mid-show, the titles chosen by input from the audience. Not truly a country music aficionado, I think I only recognized about a third of the country classic songs but it was enjoyable anyway. The show’s title reference to classics supported the fact that the artists were older, established performers, and not younger ones who were the hit of the day or on a fast climb to the top. There were a lot of gray hairs in the audience as well. I could not help but think of a poem by Milton Berle:
While we were at the Ryman auditorium we were actually a part of a special Halloween broadcast of the Grand Ole Opry. Technically the Grand Ole Oprey is the name for the radio broadcast stage show independent of from where it is broadcast. Our applause that Halloween night became part of what was being broadcast to the stratosphere. Typically the Grand Ole Oprey is held on Saturday nights but this was a special broadcast and we were part of it! Per the Wikipedia entry for Grand Ole Opry:
After the show we milled about in the lobby, admiring posters and taking “yes-we-really-were-here” type photos while John & Sue waited in line to have a Crystal Gale CD they purchased autographed.
When we emerged from the theatre it was bitter cold. (That is one reason Frank bought and put on the Ryman Auditorium sweatshirt.) The streets had some interesting Halloween scenes to enjoy but we were frigidly intent on just getting to the car before our cheeks and noses were made brittle enough to fall off from the icy wind. These scenarios were probably the Nashville night life we were missing out on by doing our tourist activities during the daytime hours.
Nevertheless we went home, unwound, and went to bed. Tomorrow would be our final day to tour Nashville before heading home Saturday.
There had been a very strong storm during the night with high winds and torrential rains. Fortunately it had blown over by morning. We were scheduled for an afternoon tour and an evening performance at the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville. We’d decided to enjoy a lazy morning at the house, eat lunch there from the fixings we still had, then head out shortly thereafter. The car was parked in the alley that ran behind the house. When we went out there, lo and behold, there was a police car and patrolman monitoring the situation of a downed tree at the far end of the alley. Apparently the storm was not the only thing that had blown over. No harm, no foul, though. We merely exited the alley in the direction away from the horizontal trunk.
The video at the start of the backstage tour was excellent. Called The Soul of Nashville, the graphics and scenes shot with six high resolution cameras from multiple angles made for an immersive experience. Shadows dancing along the wall near the end were not projected shadows because the audience passing by did not eclipse them.
We then continued with the self-guided portion of the tour. We started in the balcony area.
The seats are wooden church pews in a semi-circular arrangement. As is typical of a church, there are stained glass windows at the rear.
In front of the stained glass windows are the audio-visual controls. We walked by where the lightboard and soundboard for the upcoming show were being set up.
We passed a tribute to Lulu Naff, manager of the Ryman for fifty years who was instrumental in its growth and in securing the excellent variety of stage acts offered. In a time when women were dismissed and not taken seriously in the business world, she was extremely successful and preferred to go by her initials of L.C. Naff to avoid the gender bias as much as possible. She was a widow with a daughter and succeeded in supporting them both very well with this job to which she was devotedly dedicated.
This flour sack and stuffed doll are memorabilia from Roy Acuff of Wabash Cannonball fame and part of a comedy duo with Minnie Pearl. A bronze statue of Roy Acuff and Minnie Pearl is in the lobby of the Ryman. I showed a photo of it in the part of my Nashville Downtown 11/26/19 post that addressed statues. Having sewed many stuffed dolls for grandchildren, the Roy Acuff doll caught my eye and I investigated if I could get one online. Sure enough, check out these items on eBay, the flour sack and the doll.
Text advertising the sack (which I could still bid on at the time of this writing) reads
Up for Bid is a Vintage 25lb Flour Sack Roy Acuff's Own Flour with a cut out pattern for a Roy Acuff stuffed doll. This was produced by Cherokee Mills Nashville, TENN. The bag is made of Pure Cambric material. The print on the front and back is in very good condition and ledgible.
What exactly is cambric? In the second, third, and fourth verses of the Simon and Garfunkel song Scarborough Fair the gentlemen wants his true love to make him a cambric shirt. Per the Wikipedia explanation
... one of the finest and most dense kinds of cloth, [cambric] is a lightweight plain-weave cloth, originally from the French commune of Cambrai, woven in greige, then bleached, piece-dyed and often glazed or calendered. Initially it was made of linen; later, the term came to be applied to cotton fabrics as well. Cambric is used as fabric for linens, shirts, handkerchieves, ruffs, lace, and needlework.The text on the doll (which sold) reads
Up for Bid is a Vintage 25lb Flour Sack Roy Acuff's Own Flour with a cut out pattern for a Roy Acuff stuffed doll. This was produced by Cherokee Mills Nashville, TENN. The bag is made of Pure Cambric material. The print on the front and back is in very good condition and ledgible.
After browsing the display cases we went up on the stage for our complimentary photo. For Frank & me there was one pose side by side and one pose which Frank likes to call the worshiping pose. Then the whole gang got up there for a group shot. From the positioning, are we to assume that John is lead guitarist and Frank is backup?
A mural on the wall is a collage of the names of all the artists who performed there. Frank thought it would be a clever idea for me to photoshop in our names. I considered it but then felt bad that I would be supplanting someone far more famous than us, even if in my ignorance I did not know who they were. Anecdotally, Elvis Presley’s name is in there in a very large font although he played there only once when he sang a jazzed-up high-speed version of the classic Blue Moon of Kentucky usually sung by Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys. Elvis’ stylized version did not go over very well with the audience and legend is, that although invited back, Elvis Presley never played at that venue again.
We went to the adjacent Cafe Lula for dinner before our show. The restaurant was named in honor of Lula C. Naff, manager of the Ryman Auditorium for fifty years from 1905 to 1955.
The place cards, designating where a food order once ready should be delivered, rather than mere numbers, sported names of favorite artists who had played at the Ryman. Merle Haggard, famous for song (My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers, was for John & Sue; Gregg Allman, famous for song Midnight Rider, was for Joe & Margaret; and Miranda Lambert, famous for song Little Red Wagon, was for Frank and me.
Cafe Lula had great brownies and cookies for dessert.
We ate and then went on over to the auditorium itself for our show. Thre were two key words in the program title: OPRY and CLASSICS. Ryman Auditorium had been the home base for the Grand Ole Opry for many years but now the show is usually broadcast from a venue in northern Nashville. The program also described the host as Larry Gatlin, head of the famed Gatlin Brothers, and named the artists to be performing.
This was the view we had from our seats in the balcony. True to its heritage of origin as a church, there were three gospel songs sung mid-show, the titles chosen by input from the audience. Not truly a country music aficionado, I think I only recognized about a third of the country classic songs but it was enjoyable anyway. The show’s title reference to classics supported the fact that the artists were older, established performers, and not younger ones who were the hit of the day or on a fast climb to the top. There were a lot of gray hairs in the audience as well. I could not help but think of a poem by Milton Berle:
I'd rather be a could-be if I cannot be an are; because a could-be is a maybe who is reaching for a star. I'd rather be a has-been than a might-have-been, by far; for a might have-been has never been, but a has was once an are.
While we were at the Ryman auditorium we were actually a part of a special Halloween broadcast of the Grand Ole Opry. Technically the Grand Ole Oprey is the name for the radio broadcast stage show independent of from where it is broadcast. Our applause that Halloween night became part of what was being broadcast to the stratosphere. Typically the Grand Ole Oprey is held on Saturday nights but this was a special broadcast and we were part of it! Per the Wikipedia entry for Grand Ole Opry:
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925. ... It is the longest running radio broadcast in US history. Dedicated to honoring country music and its history, the Opry showcases a mix of famous singers and contemporary chart-toppers performing country, bluegrass, Americana, folk, and gospel music as well as comedic performances and skits. It attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world and millions of radio and internet listeners.
When we emerged from the theatre it was bitter cold. (That is one reason Frank bought and put on the Ryman Auditorium sweatshirt.) The streets had some interesting Halloween scenes to enjoy but we were frigidly intent on just getting to the car before our cheeks and noses were made brittle enough to fall off from the icy wind. These scenarios were probably the Nashville night life we were missing out on by doing our tourist activities during the daytime hours.
Nevertheless we went home, unwound, and went to bed. Tomorrow would be our final day to tour Nashville before heading home Saturday.
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