The
Renaissance Spirit of Opryland
in
Nashville
Tennessee
Opryland
Nashville
When
you're learning about something
new, it's easy to feel
overwhelmed by the sheer amount
of relevant information
available. This informative
article should help you focus on
the central
points.
Starting as
far back as the 1870’s,
before Opryland, Nashville was
even a concept, the city of
Nashville was getting its first
association as a musical
epicenter in the United
States.
The
Jubilee Singers of Fisk
University, a group of
musicians who elevated the Negro
spiritual and brought much-needed
funding to the school, toured to
raise money for Fisk by taking
their music on the road and
bringing the proceeds back to
Nashville university.
It was
then, says one Nashville expert,
that Nashville first got
its reputation for
music.
In the
1920’s, the first
country singer recorded a work:
Vernon Dalhart recorded “The
Wreck of Old ‘97”
first; then many others followed.
Soon, Jimmie Rogers was bringing
Country Folk music, and not much
later, by the mid 30’s, the
great Hank Williams was learning
the guitar and was, by the
40’s cranking out his most
popular Honky Tonk, by songs like
“Honky Tonkin” and
“Move it on Over.”
By the
1950’s (again, before
Opryland Nashville was a
reality), Nashville, building on
its music rep with a radio
announcer name David Cobb calling
it “Music City, USA, began
development of what is now known
as Music Row.
Recording
executives, recording studios,
and now world-famous companies
and musical artists—such as
RCA and Elvis, for
example—began moving in to
the area, lining both sides of
16th Street with everything from
country to gospel to rock and
back to country again.
By the
1960’s, then, country
music—now known as the
Nashville Sound--was getting the
respect and acclaim it deserved,
and the finest of singers, such
as Patsy Cline and
Tammy Wynette, were making
Country paths for an Opryland,
Nashville that would start with
the Grand Ole Opry — where
every legendary performer from
Hank Snow and Little
Jimmy Dickens to Kitty
Wells, Loretta Lynn
and Johnny Cash performed
in the old Ryman Auditorium tunes
like "Walk the Line" and
"Coal Miner's Daughter"
making good on the Opryland,
Nashville name that was soon to
come.
In
1972, Opryland, Nashville was
developed as an amusement theme
park — where singers
performed, audiences cheered, and
kids and adults alike rode the
rides, saw the fair shows, and
enjoyed the theme park fare.
In
1997, the park closed, though
its namesake lived on, composed
today as it is of The Grand Old
Opry, which has featured
performers since the 1930’s
and broadcasts a radio program
that is the longest running in
the world; the General Jackson,
the Opryland Hotel, the largest
non-casino style hotel in the
world; the famous paddlewheel
showboat, and Opry
Mills … all of which
continue in varying ways to keep
the Opryland, Nashville image
alive and
ever-popular.
If you
are a country music fan
Opryland, Nashville should be at
the very top of your list for
places to visit.
When is
your next Nashville vacation?
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Bob
Pardue
is the owner of Music Playground
where you can find plenty of
valuable music information. You
can even learn
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often.
Disclaimer: Although we
have made every effort to provide
solid and accurate information
about opryland or Nashville
Tennessee on these pages, Bob
Pardue or Music Playground
accepts no responsibility or does
the site insure or imply any
degree of expertise about the
music city. Degrees of success
with these music ideas varies
greatly dependent upon the
talent, attitudes, attributes and
ambition of each individual
person.
Please
thoroughly check out any
information you find on this site
before assuming the accuracy of
this article about Opryland in
Nashville, TN.
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