July - AmericanRadioHistory.Com

By JACK HARRIS
There's never been
anything like it on
the air -read about
WSM's unique show
FROM the heart of the South,
each Saturday night, comes a
local, sustaining broadcast that
reaches out into the homes and _hearts
of listeners in every state of the Union.
There is no program like it in the
country.
A broad statement?
Then check these facts: It began in
December, 1925. has never missed a
show, and runs every Saturday from
eight until twelve -four solid hours of
entertainment by 60-odd performers!
It's The Grand 01e Opry, over
WSM, Nashville, Tennessee's 50,000
watter, and it's run by the same master
of ceremonies who laid down the
principle on which this show has
always been based.
"Boys," George D. Hay, the Solemn
Old Judge, said ten years ago, "keep
her close to the ground."
How close to the ground this program
has kept it is easy to determine
by the simple process of counting the
number of letters written after every
broadcast. This last winter, it's tenth
on the air, The Ole Opry drew better
than 40,000 letters each week, letters
that were postmarked from such distant
countries as Australia.
There's a reason for this amazing
yearly response -the performers them-
selves.
The Grand Ole Opry is made
up of poor but honest fiddlers, yodlers,
banjo and guitar strummers whose
daily bread is won, not in the radio
studio, but in the fields -the red clay
of Alabama -the mountainous region
of Kentucky -(Continued on page 82)
Above, just part of the irrepressible gang of performers straight from the
heart of the old southland. There's sixty all told on the Tennessee program.
Above, Uncle Dave Macon, "The Dixie Dewdrop"
and his son Dorris. Below, the Fruit Jar
Drinkers who wear those overalls all week.
Above, the master of ceremonies
- George D. Hay,
as the Solemn Old Judge.
If your set can tune in Nashville. turn
the dial to 461.3 meters or 650 kilocycles
ct eight o'clock Saturdays, E.S.T.
for this WSM four -hour broadcast.