by Colin Escott
Hank Williams interviewed by Ralph J. Gleason.
Chapter 5
Roy Acuff in Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry.
George Barker in Tennessean, March 3, 1963.
Don Eddy, “Hillbilly Heaven,” American Magazine, March 1952.
George D. Hay in A Story of the Grand Ole Opry, and undated 1960s radio broadcast.
Vince Hines in Albert Cunniff, “Muscle Behind the Music: The Life and Times of Jim Denny.” Journal of Country Music, Vol. 11, Nos. 1–2, 1986.
Pee Wee King, Hell Bent for Music.
Pee Wee King interviewed by Otto Kitsinger in Pee Wee King & His Golden West Cowboys.
William R. McDaniel & Harold Seligman, The Grand Ole Opry. Greenberg Press, NY, 1952.
Sam McGee in Tennessee Traditional Singers. Knoxville, TN: UT Press, 1981.
Minnie Pearl in Grinder’s Switch Gazette, March 1945, May 1945.
Harry Stone in Tennessean, October 4, 1970.
Grant Turner on Grant’s Corner, WSM–AM, March 31, 1987.
Maurice Zolotow, “Hillbilly Boom,” Saturday Evening Post, February 12, 1944.
Chapter 6
Chet Atkins interviewed by Alanna Nash in Behind Closed Doors.
Marie Claire interviewed by Albert Cunniff in “Muscle Behind the Music: The Life and Times of Jim Denny,” Journal of Country Music, Vol. 11, Nos. 1–2, 1986.
Jim Denny in “Big Wheel on the Bandwagon,” Tennessean, March 3, 1963.
Little Jimmy Dickens interviewed by Eddie Stubbs in Country Boy, Bear Family George D. Hay, radio broadcast, 1960s.
Rufus Jarman, “Country Music Goes to Town,” Nation’s Business, February 1953. Hank Snow, The Hank Snow Story. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1994. Jack Stapp interviewed by Bill Ivey, August 8, 1972.
Ernest Tubb interviewed in Ashboro, NC, Courier-Tribune, September 20, 1981.
Chapter 7
Roy Acuff in Billboard, February 3, 1968; “Acuff, King of Country Music Now Mostly Counts His Money” by Larry Rohter in Milwaukee Journal, June 24, 1977.
David Cobb in Nashville! Magazine, July 1986.
George D. Hay, A Story of the Grand Ole Opry.
Wesley Rose in Billboard, February 3, 1968; Record World, September 8, 1973.
Jack Stapp interviewed in Nashville Banner, October 9, 1977.
Chapter 8
Mae Axton in Nashville Banner, July 14, 1956.
Johnny Cash and Patrick Carr, Cash. NY: HarperCollins, 1997.
Marie Claire and Ken Marvin quoted in Cunniff, Albert, “Muscle Behind the Music: The Life and Times of Jim Denny.”
Jim Denny in Country Music Reporter, October 6, 1956.
Little Jimmy Dickens interviewed by Eddie Stubbs in liner notes to Out Behind the Barn, Bear Family Records, 1997.
Ben A. Green, “Johnny Cash Achieves Life’s Ambition, Wins Opry Hearts.” Nashville Banner, July 14, 1956.
Stonewall Jackson and Hal Smith in Ronnie Pugh, Ernest Tubb—The Texas Troubadour. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1998.
Buddy Killen in By the Seat of My Pants. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1993.
Bill Monroe interviewed by Alanna Nash in Behind Closed Doors.
Scotty Moore in That’s Alright Elvis. NY: Schirmer Books, 1997.
Dolly Parton, My Life and Other Unfinished Business. NY: HarperCollins, 1994.
Wesley Rose in Record World, September 8, 1973.
Chapter 9
Kenny Baker and Ralph Rinzler in Bossmen, by James Rooney. NY: Dial Press, 1971.
Jake Lambert, Lester Flatt: A Biography. Nashville, TN: Jay-Lyn Publications, 1982.
Bill Maples, “Marty, the Opry Together Again,” Tennessean, March 1958.
Chapter 10
Ott Devine letter to Earl Scruggs, February 15, 1966.
David Hall, “National Life Buys Ryman,” Tennessean, September 6, 1963.
Clara Hieronymous, Tennessean, December 6, 1964.
Ernest Tubb, Music City News, October 1971.
Johnnie Wright to Eddie Stubbs, Johnnie & Jack: The Tennessee Mountain Boys, Bear Family Records, 1994.
Chapter 11
Ralph Emery in Nashville Tennessean, October 14, 1973.
D. Kilpatrick in Jack Hurst, The Grand Ole Opry: The First 50 Years.
Ralph Rinzler, “A Man and His Music,” Pickin’, December 1976.
Kathy Sawyer, “Lester & Earl,” Tennessean, October 16, 1966.
Marty Stuart, “Flatt & Scruggs,” The Journal, December 1991.
Ernest Tubb in Music City News, October 1971.
Pat Welch, “Flatt’s Temperament Blamed by Scruggs,” Tennessean, April 17, 1969.
Chapter 12
Randy Brooks, Vanderbilt Hustler, March 19, 1968.
Bill Hance, “Stringbean Would Have Been Vexed,” Nashville Banner, November 12, 1975.
Grandpa Jones and Charles Wolfe, Everybody’s Grandpa. Knoxville: University of Ten-nessee Press, 1984.
Rose Maddox and Jonnie Whiteside, Ramblin’ Rosie. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1997.
Roger McGuinn quoted in Bud Scoppa, The Byrds. NY: Scholastic, 1971.
Chapter 13
Jack Hurst, “Opry Already Out to Surpass Last Year’s Record Attendance,” Tennessean, February 21, 1972.
Ada Louise Huxtable, “Only the Phony Is Real,” New York Times, May 13, 1973.
Garrison Keillor, “At the Opry,” New Yorker, May 1974.
Sam McGee in Tennessee Traditional Singers.
Uncredited report, “Acuff Says Ryman Should Go Before It Falls,” Tennessean, March 15, 1974.
Uncredited report, “Opry Center Gets Under Way,” Tennessean, July 1, 1970.
Uncredited report, “Stars Say No to Razing Ryman,” Tennessean, December 9, 1976.
Uncredited report, “Tear Down Ryman, Acuff Recommends,” Tennessean, December 18, 1976.
Del Wood in Tennessean, December 9, 1976.
Chapter 14
Roy Acuff quoted by Red O’Donnell, “Roy Acuff ‘Lifetime Tenant’ at Opryland,” Nashville Banner, April 22, 1983; Sandy Neese, “New Opryland Home Is Fit for King of Country,” Tennessean, April 22, 1983.
Hal Durham in Paul Kingsbury, The Grand Ole Opry History of Country Music. NY: Villard, 1995.
Porter Wagoner quoted in Steve Eng, A Satisfied Mind. Nashville, TN: Rutledge Hill Press, 1992.
Chapter 15
Bill Fletcher, Nashville Banner, July 2, 1983.
Michael McCall, Nashville Banner, February 16, 1987.
Sonia L. Nazario, Wall Street Journal, undated clip.
Jim O’Hara and Ed Cromer, “Upbeat Reagan Mixes Opry with Politicking,” Ten-nessean, September 14, 1985.
Jay Orr, Nashville Banner, November 30, 1992.
Margaret Ann Robinson in “Nashvillian of the Year,” Nashville Scene, December 27, 2001.
Chapter 16
Peter Cooper, Tennessean, November 15, 2005.
Mary Hance, undated clip in Nashville Banner archives.
Emmylou Harris, liner notes to At the Ryman, Warner Bros. Records, 1992.
Jon Pareles, New York Times, November 15, 2005.
PHOTOGRAPHER CREDITS
From the Grand Ole Opry Archives:
John E. Hood Photos: pp. ii, 2, 54, 57, 58, 65, 79, 81, 83, 86, 88, 92, 99, 102, 114; Commercial Photograph Co.: pp. 15, 25; Elmer Williams: p. 31; Wiles: p. 32; Gordon Gillingham: pp. 63, 95, 103, 104, 109, 115, 116, 118, 121–124, 126, 128, 129, 132–134, 136, 140, 142, 143, 148, 166, 169, 183; Ken Spain: pp. 44, 66, 101, 117; Henry Schofield Studio: pp. 84, 1o0; Charles Renegar: pp. 88, 102, 112; Walden S. Fabry: pp. 95, 106; John Faber: p. 99; Photographic Arts, Inc.: p. 99; Sid O’Berry: pp. 123, 185; Les Leverett: pp. 151, 154, 155, 158, 161–165, 173, 174, 178, 185, 187, 194, 197–199, 204, 206, 209, 220, 221; Donnie Beauchamp: pp. 218, 221, 222, 224, 230; Chris Hollo: pp. xi, 228, 233, 234, 237, 239–241; Annamaria DiSanto: p. 235.
Additional Sources:
Minnie Pearl Collection: p. 5; Nashville Public Library,
The Nashville Room: pp. 17, 156, 212; Bear Family Records: p. 24; Tennessee State Library and Archives: p. 81; William P. Gottlieb © Copyright 1979: p. 97; © The Tennessee Historical Society: p. 106; Colin Escott: pp. 121, 139; Showtime Music Archives: p. 148; Les Leverett: pp. 158, 180, 209; Tennessean : p. 201.
All other illustrations and photographs are unattributed and from the Grand Ole Opry Archives