Beyond the South End

 

(Ted, a lover of Country music took many trips to Nashville. This one we think was in the 80s. I will present it to you in two parts—the second part will be in next month’s Fish and Chips.)

 

If you want to see the giants in the country music field, don’t bother to go to Nashville, Tenn. The stars aren’t there. They are on the road performing in such places as Bangor and Augusta earning upwards of $10,000 a night.

But if you want to be exposed to some fantastic entertainment and country music, Nashville is the place. We made a four-day whirlwind tour of Music City U.S.A. There were a few disappointments and prices were higher than expected, but, overall, it was a dream vacation.

We visited places like Loretta Lynn’s Dude Ranch, Twitty City, Grand Ole Opry, Opryland, Printer’s Alley and the world-famous Stock-Yard Restaurant and Bull Pen Lounge. Saw some of the city of 500,000 during a tour, as well as the homes of some of the greats. Also learned a little insight into human nature and the overwhelming fact that Nashville is a city geared to tourists—and the tourist dollar.

We were surprised to learn that music is not the No. 1 industry of Nashville. Printing is. The second biggest industry is finance, including banking and insurance. Third is the tourist industry, and fourth is country music. We found out that Opryland and Grand Ole Opry are for sale and that an offer of $300 million had been rejected.

We had not even checked into our motel room in Nashville before the tour salesman had us in front of his little booth and extolling the fantastic sights and sounds we could experience for a few dollars. We immediately signed up for the nightlife tour we had heard so much about from friends who had preceded us. This is a visit to the famous Printer’s Alley of Nashville where all the nightclubs are found. It is called Printer’s Alley because it had been just that, a string of buildings which formerly housed printing businesses and have since been converted to nightclubs.

Now hear this, for $45 a person you attended two clubs, saw three shows, had dinner and drinks. A tour guide transported you and accompanied you to the clubs where there was no waiting and you had front row seats. This was one of the most enjoyable evenings on the town one could have, capped by a visit to the Boots Randolph Club where Boots put on a show. We, in fact, were part of his monologue of the night. When we sneezed Boots turned it into a good laugh by advising the audience to get their shots before leaving.

The warm-up to the Boots show was an entertainer by the name of Jim Travers. When he found out we were from Maine, he told us he used to go with a girl from Belfast. We tried to get to him after the show but he was too busy hawking his albums and the guide was ushering us into our seats for the Boots show.

The only sour note of the experience was the realization afterward that the tour salesman had charged us $5 more a person than the advertised price for the tour.

The next night was Grand Ole Opry night for 21/2 hours of entertainment. The show is actually a live radio show broadcast over WSM, complete with commercials. Seldom do any of the giants of the industry appear, with the exception of the King, Roy Acuff. But there is plenty of good music from some former greats, near greats and artists trying to work their way to the top. Among those we saw were Jim Ed Brown, David Huston, Jean Shepard, Jack Greene, Jimmy Newman, Connie Smith, Ray Pillow, Roy Drusky, Skeeter Davis, The Four Guys and Hank Snow.

Opryland is a Disneyland-type operation except the emphasis is on music. There are eight to 10 continuous shows, plus a combination of amusements, rides, concessions, exhibits and restaurants. The price of admission--$12.75 a day, or $17.50 for a two-day ticket—will admit you to any or all of the shows, all rides and exhibits. You pay extra for food or any purchases. We saw six shows in two days. Country Music U.S.A. was the best production, although all others were worth seeing and very enjoyable.

Part 2 of this story will be presented here next month.