COVER STORY
80 Unforgettable Moments
at the Grand Ole Opry
21
May 29, 1950 – "Mother" Maybelle Carter and the Carter Sisters—June, Anita and Helen—join the Opry.
22
December 30, 1950 – Lefty Frizzell sings "If You’ve Got the Money, I’ve Got the Time" and "I Love You a Thousand Ways" during his Grand Ole Opry debut.
23
May 1, 1954 – Andy Griffith makes his first Opry appearance.
24
October 2, 1954 – Elvis Presley sings Bill Monroe’s “Blue Moon of Kentucky” during his one and only Opry appearance. Presley is nervous about the reaction of Monroe to his souped-up 4/4 time version of the waltz, but is pleasantly surprised when the bluegrass legend compliments his interpretation.
25
October 1955 – Jim Reeves joins the Opry cast. Among the internationally popular member’s biggest hits is “He’ll Have to Go.”
26
July 7, 1956 – Johnny Cash joins the Opry. Johnny meets his future wife, June Carter, backstage at the Opry the same year.
27
May 11, 1957 – The Everly Brothers make their Opry debut, the same week their first single, “Bye Bye Love,” enters the country charts.
28
1958 – The Friday Night Opry begins. The show had begun broadcasting from WSM’s Studio C as the
Friday Night Frolics.
29
January 9, 1960 – Patsy Cline joins the Opry cast. Cline's monster hit "Crazy" was written by a young songwriter named Willie Nelson.
30
March 9, 1963 – A silent prayer is held during the Opry in tribute to members Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, and Hawkshaw Hawkins, who had died March 5 in a plane crash near Camden, Tennessee. Also remembered is Jack Anglin of the duo Johnnie and Jack, who was killed en route to a prayer service for Cline. Opry manager Ott Devine encourages the audience "to keep smiling, and to recall the happier occasions. I feel I can speak for all of them when I say ... let's continue in the tradition of the Grand Ole Opry."
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