Opry’s 100th Anniversary Book Doesn’t Shy Away from Controversy
The Grand Ole Opry is celebrating its 100th birthday in 2025, and already outdid itself with its televised 100th Anniversary Special in mid March. Other festivities are planned throughout the year, and the Opry has also released a photo-rich, 350-page history book to coincide with the anniversary called 100 Years of Grand Ole Opry. It’s written by Craig Shelburne, with large contributions from Grand Ole Opry members.
Since this was the authorized biography of the Grand Ole Opry, you wondered how accurate this historical interpretation would be. Would we only get a wine and roses portrayal of the Opry, especially through the modern era? Or would it be willing to present the accurate history, warts and all? Luckily, the latter is the case.
Looking through the chapters of the book, you can’t help but notice the title of the chapter that covers the period between 2000 and 2009 called “Competing To Be Heard.” Though today it feels like we’re seeing Opry debuts for worthy artists left and right, and the living legends all get their opportunities to perform on the stage—especially with the expanded Opry schedule—that wasn’t exactly the case in the oughts.
As the chapter says near the beginning, “In the summer of 1999, Steve Buchanan hired Pete Fisher as general manager of the Opry.” Arguably, this was the beginning of the troubles for the Opry through the 2000s decade and beyond. Though Fisher would do some necessary house cleaning and make some tough decisions in an attempt to modernize the institution, he also became one of the most polarizing figures of the era in country music. The new Opry book doesn’t shy away from that truth.
“Just five months into the job, after surveying (or perhaps scrutinizing) the landscape, Fisher dismissed five members of the Opry’s house band,” the book explains. This included drummer Buddy Harman, guitarist Leon Rhodes, fiddle/guitarist Joe Edwards, guitarist Ralph Davis, and drummer Jerry Ray Johnson, all of whom were beloved and legendary players in Nashville. Fisher was looking for players who “could play more contemporary styles and sounds.”
The book goes on to say, “Fisher made the most waves among the elder cast members by reducing their appearances and offering more slots for guest performers. To further complicate things, Opry members would lose their health insurance if they didn’t make a certain number of appearances each year, even if earning a spot on the weekend schedule was beyond their control.”
Then it goes into how this policy especially ran afoul of Charlie Louvin, and most notably, Stonewall Jackson, who ended up suing the Opry for age discrimination. Though the book doesn’t go into the details of the lawsuit (the specifics of the settlement have never been revealed publicly), the fact that it even goes there at all is heartening to see.
The book even includes Stonewall’s notorious accusation that Pete Fisher once said he would work “as hard as possible until no gray hair was in the audience or on the stage.” Pete Fisher has always denied the claim, but it became a rallying cry for country fans old and young who felt like the legends of country music were being shifted aside in the era, which in part, they were. Some of that work was necessary to modernize the institution. Some, if not much of it, could have been handled better by Pete Fisher.
The chapter also points out how Pam Tillis actually became a Grand Ole Opry member before her legendary father, Mel. But Mel Tillis and other legends like Charlie Daniels were made members in the era, righting previous oversights along with some of the more polarizing moves. The chapter also goes into another criticism that would come up during the era: some big Opry members not paying their dues.
“The real crux of the problem for me is in Garth and in Reba and in Alan and in Clint and on and on—the so-called big stars of today that don’t support the Grand Ole Opry,” Vince Gill is quoted as saying, in words that originally appeared in The Tennessean. “That’s just a cold, hard fact. That’s what it needs.”
This concern would also come up with some of the newer inductees to the Opry such as Blake Shelton, who notoriously has not met his performance obligations to the Opry ever since being inducted in October of 2010. This is an issue that still lingers with the Opry into the present tense.
But what doesn’t linger around the Opry today is some of the disrespect for older performers, the unnecessarily stingy approach to Opry debuts, and other criticisms you heard regularly in the Pete Fisher era. The Opry has opened up under the management of Dan Rogers. If anything, you could argue it’s maybe opened up a little too much.
But you don’t hear any of the bellyaching from older stars saying they’re getting moved aside, while it feels like public knowledge of the Opry, and respect and interest in the institution is at a 25-year high. This was helped in part due to the popularity of the Opry during the pandemic when it was one of the few live shows allowed to carry on, sans an audience.
Of course, 100 Years of Grand Ole Opry covers the entire history of the show, from 1925 on (full book report coming soon). One thing it doesn’t mention is the Reinstate Hank movement, which began in earnest when Hank Williams III felt like he was personally disrespected by Pete Fisher. But it’s good to see the book doesn’t serve a sanitized version of the Opry’s history.
The Grand Ole Opry has never been perfect. But by recognizing some of its mistakes in the past, it gives the Opry and country music an opportunity to learn from them, and not repeat them in the future. Good on The Grand Ole Opry and writer Craig Shelburne for finding the right balance in this telling of the Opry’s history.
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Purchase 100 Years of Grand Ole Opry.
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May 2, 2025 @ 3:03 pm
I’ve had this saved on Amazon but haven’t preordered yet. Great post!
May 4, 2025 @ 10:56 pm
This sounds like it would be a great read but the only reason I didn’t pre-order it months ago is because they can’t be bothered to show me any real pictures of the book so I can get some sense of the layout. The doddering old buffoons that run the publishing industry seem to think they can sell people photo books without showing any, ya’ know, PHOTOS. I come across this idiocy all the time. Makes me think a publisher doesn’t have any faith in their product if they can’t even give folks, say, 20 pages of samples, especially in something as big as a 354 page book.
May 3, 2025 @ 12:03 am
No Church review?
May 3, 2025 @ 7:06 am
The only good song is “Johnny.”
Everything else is Church’s typical half-baked heartland rock.
Listen to his first three albums instead.
May 3, 2025 @ 5:58 am
Thanks for this Trigger. I’ve always respected your journalistic integrity, and so it doesn’t surprise me that you would respect it when it shows up somewhere else. And congrats to the authors of this book for apparently not just putting out a puff piece with a bunch of pictures (although I do look forward to seeing the pictures).
May 3, 2025 @ 8:27 am
Major reason that “….you don’t hear any of the bellyaching from older stars saying they’re getting moved aside…” is that most of those older veteran’s have died or are no longer able to perform.
That said, I’ve always big proponent of including the veteran acts on the Opry roster. But age eventually does take it’s toll and there have been many acts that did not realize when it was time to step off the stage. It was painful to hear some of them attempt to sing their old hits trying to keep the dream alive. You felt sorry for them.
Charlie Louvin is a case in point. Saw him behind the counter in his souvenir store on Opryland Drive in the early 00’s chain-smoking cigarettes. He was well into his 70’s at that time and smoking likely did not help his already fragile voice.
May 3, 2025 @ 9:11 am
Yes, some of the veterans around in the 00s have died off, but now we have a new crop of veterans like Jeannie Seely and Bill Anderson who still regularly appear. Adding more shows really helped solve a lot of those problems, same with handing out debuts.
I do agree that some of the work Pete Fisher did had to be done. Someone needed to play bad cop. But the take at the time—and what is captured in this book—is how sometimes it was unfair, or overboard, like requiring appearances for health insurance, and then not handing out those appearances. It’s Stonewall Jackson. Just pay his damn health insurance.
May 4, 2025 @ 8:15 am
Pete Fisher indeed played the “bad cop” role in firing many of the Opry’s veteran acts. But the unanswered question is – was he doing it of his own choosing or was he directed to “clean house” by the upper Opry executive management?
I believe that the latter may have been at the root of that purge. Perhaps that may have been a condition of Fisher being hired for that job.
Too bad they could not have kept the older acts on the roster in some regard by offering them limited appearances including at some of the extra weekday summertime shows. That way they could have continued to fund their heath insurance. Was their budget THAT tight?
Too bad that some of the new/current acts that were raking in armored cars full of cash could not have set up a fund to bankroll the needs of the older performers on whose shoulders they stand? How about sharing the wealth folks?
May 4, 2025 @ 2:56 pm
Opry.com states that the Opry Trust Fund has distributed over 4.8 million since its inception in 1965. Who is in charge of the trust fund, well, your guess is as good as mine.
May 3, 2025 @ 2:25 pm
Thanks for the story on this. The Fisher era was indeed a dark time.
Yes, there were some veterans that were not anywhere near their best. Charlie Louvin was one. Others like Jeanne Pruett sang the same one or two songs over and over. But there were many others that could still sing and perform very well and had a varied repertoire. Stonewall was one and Billy Walker was another. There were others but those come to mind. Billy Walker’s case is especially sad because it’s been suggested that had his appearances not been curtailed so much he wouldn’t have had to be on the road more than usual including the trip where he and others lost their lives. I don’t know that is actuallly true but it is horribly sad if so.
Even those like Mr. Louvin who were a bit past their sale date were still appreciated by their fans. One thing that fans of that generation of artists have consistently demonstrated is their loyalty. George Jones had no business touring the last part of his career but fans still showed up. The elder 3 Oaks are all 80+ and despite a clear decline in vocal strength they still attract good crowds.
May 3, 2025 @ 4:04 pm
George Jones, back then, and now the Oak Ridge Boys and Willie Nelson have to draw their own crowds. If they’re too old or infirm to put on a decent show, they won’t sell tickets and the venues won’t book them. The Opry manager has to use his judgment. Presumably, he observes and surveys the audiences to make these determinations.
Suggesting that Billy Walker was too infirm to drive kind of confimrs that maybe his ability to entertain the Opry audiences had waned, as well. To suggest that Pete Fisher may be responsible for Walker’s death because he should have kept Walker on the Opry stage to prevent him from going driving is completely unfair. A manager cannot manage under that standard.
May 4, 2025 @ 8:13 pm
To be clear I didn’t say Pete Fisher was responsible for Billy Walker’s death nor did I suggest it. I posted that it has been suggested that Billy was working more road dates because of curtailed Opry appearances.
I also didn’t say anything remotely like Mr. Walker was too infirm to drive. It was a tragic accident. His grandson, who survived the accident, carries guilt because he was supposed to be the driver but had a suspended license at the time. Sad all the way around.
May 5, 2025 @ 6:12 pm
Charlie Louvin may well have had some vocal problems. But here’s a guy who young rockers were hailing and having on tour with them, and who Emmylou Harris celebrated. You think he wouldn’t have been a draw on the Opry? Further, the musicians Fisher fired almost immediately were all excellent. “Contemporary sounds”? Huh? That was a garbage comment then, and it still is.
May 9, 2025 @ 6:58 am
Just wondering what this book has to say, or how much mention goes to the Legends who made the Opry. Folks like Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, Jean Shepard.
May 9, 2025 @ 7:36 am
There is a ton of info and photos from the foundation of the Opry, into the Golden era, all the way up to modern times. Might have a full book report at some point. Just wanted to focus on this section, because I think it was illustrative of the honesty and thoroughness of the book.
May 11, 2025 @ 5:02 pm
To be honest and thorough, it will have to address the treatment of the Delmore Brothers and DeFord Bailey back in the early days.