Bob Wray asks: > - Who decides who becomes a member of the Opry and who doesn't? For > instance, there was a big deal made of the guests (Daryl Singletary, > John Berry, Sherrie somebody from Australia) as opposed to the > members. Sherrie Austin (and BTW, Singletary spells his name Daryle). "Opry management" decides who becomes a member; if you manage to pierce that veil, let us know. > - Can someone tell me something about the Jim Ed Brown? Of all the > old timers last night, he seemed to me the one who had weathered the > best. His voice was good, smooth, and he carried himself with an > undeniable dignity (unlike Bill Anderson and Porter, who seemed to me > caricatures of themselves). I vaguely remember Brown on country radio > when I was child but nothing concrete immediately comes to mind. Is > he someone who's career is worth reviewing? Unless you have a blanket objection to smooth, absolutely. Started out with his sisters as The Browns, then had a reasonably successful solo career; he's the source of Mike Ireland's "Pop A Top," he did "You Can Have Her" that Crowe'n'em have been doing for years, had some great countrypolitan duets with Helen Cornelius. RCA has a tolerable Essential Jim Ed Brown & The Browns comp. > - Although Porter's showmanship was unquestionable, his (and many of > the older stars, Jeanne Pruett, Skeeter somebody, John Connally) voice > were pretty poor (I certainly heard as many bad notes last night as I > have heard at a Freakwater show :). Not intending to stir up a > hornet's nest, but how do I resolve these performers' > much-less-than-perfect vocal skills (admitted degraded skills) with > the argument that country is medium/genre in which performance skills > are central? Well, there's a two-part answer to that, the first part of which is that there are a lot of people in and around country music who complain regularly about the degraded skills of some performers; see, for instance, periodic discussion on bgrass-l (let me observe, too, that a number of the performers - John Conlee being a good example - have their good days and their bad; I have heard him absolutely kill some stuff in the last year or two, and heard some pretty bad performances as well). The second part is that there are some outstanding musicians in the bands, including the house band. Overall, though, I'd say that going to the Opry, or going to see some of these stars, has a lot to do with - well, I'm in a rush, so this bad phrase will have to do - nostalgia, not with the musical quality of all the acts. > - Do the regular performers keep repeating the same songs and same > jokes? Some do, some don't. Watch or listen a few times and you'll figure out which; when you can identify the subject of the "Willie Nelson after taxes" line, you'll be there <g>. Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
