I'll never forget visiting the Grand Ole Opry c. 1964. At that time the Opry was still in the Ryman Auditorium and we all sat on hard wooden church pews. It was a standard Saturday night show and included some Opry regulars known as much for their sequined suits as for their musical achievements. These, I thought, were the performers all these country music fans had come to see.The Opry used to be just a radio show so appearances didn't matter too much. Performers and stage crew were wandering all over the stage during segments and the guy with the snare drum on a stand would walk up behind every performer and lay down the same groove with a brush. Sometimes you had to look carefully to see where the featured performer was standing.
In the middle of all that confusion, they introduced Mother Maybelle Carter as a guest in someone's sponsored segment. Mother Maybelle came out wearing a simple, tasteful dress looking very small amid the crowd on stage. She was carying her autoharp as she walked to the mike and softly announced that she would play "Liberty." (I think that was the tune.) As the familiar notes and rhythms of her playing filled the auditorium you could tell that something was changing. The audience went very quiet and eventually even those on stage stopped their conversations to listen. When she finished she gave her characteristic shy bow and the audience literally errupted with applause. It was easily the biggest hand anyone got that evening. It turned out that Mother Maybelle, and what she represented, was what all those people had come so far to see. The rest of it was just some stuff they heard every day on the radio.
The odd thing was that the Opry stage managers couldn't get her out of there fast enough. You'd have thought they had the old hook. A couple of them grabbed her and "helped" backstage very quickly so yet another sequined suit could croon his latest country hit.
That experience gave me a whole new outlook on country music fans and the values they hold. When they thought of Mother Maybelle, they weren't thinking of "primative" singers or the history of American traditional music. They were just grateful to hear the music of a lady they regarded as a true star and a giant of the music world.
I guess you had to be there.
- Mark