Dear Coop,
Post by Coopand people still come to the Opry to see the legends.
Do they? What kind of attendence figures have they had in the last 10
years and is it consistent across all the shows? If not, are people like
Stonewall putting their personal interest above that of the Opry?
The audience attendance is declining, true; however, consider that in the
past ten years, the Opry membership has lost bona fide legends Bill Monroe,
Hank Snow, Grandpa Jones, Don Gibson, and Minnie Pearl. (I say "bona fide"
because those people were in the Hall of Fame long before their deaths.)
Also dying in the past decade: Jerry Clower, Skeeter Davis, Roy Drusky, Del
Reeves, Johnny Russell, Justin Tubb, Billy Walker, Teddy Wilburn, Boxcar
Willie, and the last surviving member of the Willis Brothers (Vic Willis).
These people aren't being replaced with similar artists (in terms of
traditional country); rather, they're being replaced with "hot country"
stars, a number of which -- as you yourself have pointed out -- don't like
to show up because they're going to lose a hefty Saturday night concert gate
in favor of $325 standard fee. (Mike Snider used to joke whenever Garth
Brooks would play the Opry, "Me and Garth Brooks are makin' the same money
tonight." A lot of superstars with super egos to match don't like that
fact, and like even LESS to hear it articulated!)
And, the Opry audience has been shunned over the past decade with the
removal of Opryland's theme park and the aforementioned glut of "hot new
country" artists replacing the traditionalists. It would stand to reason
that no fan of punk music is going to go to a Barry Manilow concert, no
matter how many people tout Manilow as "punk." Oh, they might see a marquee
that says "punk show tonight," but they can only be fooled for so long. The
people who used to go to the Opry have discovered that they can go to
Branson, Pigeon Forge, or Myrtle Beach and see more country-sounding country
music in a night than they can in a month at the Opry -- and, sadly,
CHEAPER.
Is Stonewall Jackson being self-serving? I'm probably biased, because I've
met the man a number of times and I've found him to be a gracious, humble
gentleman who loves his fans and wants to sing his songs for them. If he
were truly putting his personal interests first, he would simply quit the
Opry, say the heck with them, and go to Branson or P.F. and open a theater.
His actions are not just for himself -- in fact, he is taking the biggest
gamble here because it's HIS name on the suit and he's probably already
realized that, in filing the suit, win or lose his boots will never stand in
that circle of wood behind the red curtain again. But he's not doing this
for himself; rather, he's thinking about Charlie Louvin, Hank Locklin, Ernie
Ashworth, Jim Ed Brown, Billy Grammer, Jean Shepard, Stu Phillips, and Ray
Pillow -- not to mention other Opry members like Ricky Skaggs, Ricky Van
Shelton, and Hal Ketchum who aren't old....YET.
Happy Monday (such as it is)!
--
Things get complicated
When you get past 18.
--Statler Brothers
