International Country Music
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Volume 4, No . 8 Week of October 1Bth, 1965 The music business is a changing business. The COUNTRYmusical fads of yester year are comm ercially INTERNATIONAL MUSIC dead and no o ne knows IN for sure how long the CANADA cash registers wil 1 con tinue singing to today's COUNTRY tunes. That's why many people in the industry looked with skepticism MUSIC at CFGM's switch to a n by al I-country format more GORD than two years ago."Sure MONTH country music is hot SYMONDS now," they said, "But how long will it last?" To add impressive muscles to their logic they pointed to the legion of stations which had hitched their formula-wagons to musical stars. "How long", they asked, "Had singalong music lasted?" And even while CFGM was mak ing the change to country a host of stations were abandoning the folk musii: format. It's evident now that CFGM' s wagon is tied to the music phenomena of the century. Country music has proved as durable as Berlin's "White Christmas". What's more, it's continuing growth in the past year in dicates the peak is still ahead. Here are some suggestions why. MORE STATIONS ARE PLAYING COUNTRY MUSIC More stations continue to play more country music every month. Though country stations were once confined to secondary markets, the trend is to larger metro sta sounds, acceptable to a far large tions taking the plunge into the all-country of the buying public than ever pool . Doing exceptionally well are country Listen to Eddy Arnold's "Make the stations in Chicago, Los Angeles, New Go Away" or Leroy Van Dyke ' s " Just a York, and Seattle. In many cases country State of Mind" and you'll see what I mean. stations have made such inroads into the The days of the fruit jar a nd the wash market that the pop stations have begun to board, the wailing fiddle and the off-key sprinkle country music liberally over their singer are gone. formula. (It does this old hillbilly heart POP ARTISTS HAVE GONE COUNTRY good to hear CFGM blasting away on such Country music has been exposed to the items as Little Jimmie Dickens' "May the world by such giants as Dean Martin, Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose.") Brenda Lee, Johnny Tillotson and, yes, Television, too, has rossed a couple of the Beatles. You can hear country mu sic grappling hooks at the fast-moving country instrumentally on new a lbums by Frank bandwagon. The Jimmy Dean Show below Chacksfie ld, llenry Jerome, The Three and the Tommy Hunter Show here are two Suns, Billy Liebert and J an Garber. If giving increasing attention to news, sports, examples of programs with a country music these people think country music is worth public service presentations and other foundation. Dozens of others, though not singing and playing and coll ecting royal features of high listener interest. Wherever using it in the cellar, have been wise ties from, who are we to argue? a station has switched to country music enough to strengthen their structure against COUNTRY STATIONS ARE GROWING UP and done it in such a way that everyone the ratings storms by adding country music Rapidly disappearing (Thank God!) are connected with th e operation could be above the frost line. (Shindig, llullabaloo, the stations who take an artificial cowboy, proud of what they were doing, a sizeable Steve Lawrence, Lloyd Thaxton, Johnny hand him a random armful of records and a rating increase has followed. Carson, etc.) batch of three minute commercials. The More a nd more we arc moving into an COUNTRY ARTISTS HAVE GONE successful country stations of today have age of spec ia li zation. The secret is to find MODERN a select list of the best music curre ntly a speciality format which will not be obso Without losing the basic qualities which available, tight production, first c lass lete in twelve month s . I predict that hun make country music unique, country record broadcast personalities, and excellent dreds of stations in a nada and the U.S. producers are currently creating magnificenr jingles. They promote shrewdly. They are will "discover" country music very shortly. prove the props. mu s ic became a world fa vo urice, thanks The first s inging s car to appear under largely co the development of the country the s potlight was ' The Dixie Dewdrop', - and western vocal is c. THE GRAND OLE Uncle Dave Macon. During the firs t 15 Although Uncle Dave Ma con had fo r 1 5 years of th e s how, Ma con was th e biggest years been the Opry ' s sing ing s car, the s ingle a ttrac tion. bas ic tal ent was the ba nd. OPRY Ma con ' s pare was more that o f a feat During its primary stages, th e s how was broadcast from the fifth fl oor a t the Nation ured voca lis e in a present day dance band. by Bria n Chalker al Life Bui lding . But, with th e additions to Roy Acuff, Pee We e King, Eddy Arnold, Th e Ryman Auditori the case, newer and larger qua rters were Red Foley, e tc •. Roy Acuff, ch anged this , he reversed um and the W. S.M. bui It on the same fl oor. Wit h the new s tudios in operation , listene rs w ere able the procedure, around 1938. Opry acts of Barndance to watch the performa nce. chose days included Pee Wee King a nd his The Ryman Auditorium in W S M Barn Dance remained as s uc h Golden West Cowboys. One in s trume nta list. Nashville, Tennessee, until 1927 , when it recei ved a ne w title, come singer, in the ba nd, Eddy Arnold, provides the right setting quite accidentally. On chat particular day, sang a song entitl ed ' Mom my, p lease s tay a nd a tm osph ere for the George D. Hay was given the signa l chat home with me '. le s ui te d him so w e ll ch a t world famed Grand Ole the Mu s ic appreciation hour had ended .a nd he was lifted from his s ub-ordinate pos i Opry. Captain Tom Ry- chat the Barn Dance was on the air. He tion with the band. man was the owner of a began th e programme by seating chat the Othe rs soon followed s uit, Red Foley , fleet of pleasure boats o n the Cumberland programme preceding th e Ba rn Da nce, was with 'Smoke on th e water', Ernest Tubb, River during the last 19th century . Ryman's devoted co the classics - mu s ic taken with, ' Watkin' th e floor over you', Ha nk boats featured gambling rooms, and saloons largely from Grand Ope ra. Bue from th en Williams , with, ' Your cheacin' heart' ecc ... a ll luxuriously equipped, which were con on, he would present " The Grand Ol e Here th e n was the bi rth of di e country s idered immoral by Sam J o nes, a noted Opry'' . T he name caught on and the s how singer. Adde d to this came a vase increase revivalist. J o nes, who was th e n holding increased in popul arity. in liste ners . meetings a nd services on th e Union Gos The Opry moves house. Today , th e Grand Ole Opry is famous as pel grounds, c halle nged Ryman to a ttend Country music becomes world favourite. the oldes t continuous commerical radio one of his meetings. Ryman accepted a nd Forced co move o nce more, d ue this s how - 40 uninte rrupted years . Varie ty has bro ught a long his c rew of riverboat ruffi time co a ban o n 'live' audiences, W S M been introduced - gay songs , gags, hymns, ans. They seated ih emselves in the front rented the Hillsboro T heatre in the south ball ads, ins trumentals, e tc. row with the sole intention of heckling wesc pare of the c ity. le became so popular Throughout its h istory, the Opry h as Jones, but Tom Ryman was touched when that on Saturday nigh ts crowds were being seen many greats on its ancient stage, Jones c hose as his s ubject for speech, turne d away. A tabernacle across the Cum Ha nk Wi lliams, Rod Brasefield, Uncle Dave 'Mother'. Ryman was converted ch at very berland River in east Nashv ii le was then Macon, Hawks haw Hawkins, and Cowboy nigh t. It was !hen chat he decided ch a t leased, but being in a ba d location , this Copas, a ll of whom have passed on. Others Jones was too good a preacher to be con was abandoned. The Opry the n move d to include Che e Ackins, P e te Drake, Johnny fined to a humble tent. Realiz ing that some the War Memorial Auditorium in the s hop Cash, Skeeter Davis , Jimmie Driftwood, thing had to be done, Ryman s tarted a fund ping area. J?rior to this move entry to the Flatt & Scruggs, Ma rcy Robbins, Jim to build a tabernacle for all revivalists, Opry had been free , but it was decided to Reeves, T ex Ritte r, Hank Snow, Ferlin regardless of creed. The Ryma n Auditorium charge 25 cents admission . Hus ky, The Jordanaires, Scringbean, was completed in 1892.