SUSPENDED: The Midnite Jamboree in Jeopardy
***NOTE: This story has been updated. Earlier reports citing that the Ernest Tubb Record Store near the Grand Ole Opry has been shut down were incorrect. Also new information has come to light about the financial status of the Midnite Jamboree. To read the updates, CLICK HERE.
Story highlights:
”The 68-year-old Midnite Jamboree radio show is suspended due to financial reasons.
”A “Midnite Jamboree Association” has been created to save the radio show.
A cultural institution of the country music world and the second longest-running radio show only to The Grand Ole Opry is in serious trouble. The Midnite Jamboree, a Saturday evening staple for over 68 years started by Ernest Tubb is in danger of shuttering after its historic run due to a lack of funds, and folks are banding together in attempt to rescue the show.
On Friday (3-27) the owner of the Ernest Tubb Record Shops David McCormick was forced to suspend the Midnite Jamboree that broadcasts from the Texas Troubadour Theatre. The free show has been broadcast on WSM after the Grand Ole Opry since 1947—originally from the location on Commerce St., then later at the Ernest Tubb Record Shop on Lower Broadway before moving to the Troubadour.
“We’re in a dilemma right now,” says Glenn Douglas Tubb, a legendary songwriter and the nephew of Ernest Tubb. “David [McCormick] called me a couple of days ago and said he had to suspend the Midnite Jamboree and he’s had to close the record shop out by the Opryland because there’s just not enough business anymore. They’re downloading their music off the internet now. They quit buying records and that was what was supposed to support the Midnite Jamboree when Ernest started it back in 1947. For the last several years, David’s had to pay the expenses out of his pocket. He was pretty well off at one time, but now he’s broke. We just need to get him some help.”
David McCormick is said to be heartbroken over having to suspend the show, but is too distraught to solicit for help himself. So Glenn Douglas, who frequently performs and hosts Midnite Jamboree sessions, is taking the lead in helping to save the country music institution.
“It started on Commerce St. in 1947, but very shortly after that we had to move it to Broadway. But the crowds got so big down there, they spilled out into the street,” Glenn explains. That is why the Midnite Jamboree moved to its most recent location near the Grand Ole Opry. “When the theme park was out there, that place was full all the time, and all the businesses around there were full. Since they tore the theme park down and put a shopping mall there—people don’t come to town to go to your shopping mall. They come to be entertained.”
Though the resurgence in vinyl has helped some record stores, the impact hasn’t helped enough to keep the Ernest Tubb Record Shops from struggling. Started by Ernest Tubb to help country music artists whose records were not stocked in other record stores, the stores have become institutions in themselves.
“I’m happy to see it,” Glenn says about the vinyl resurgence. “I hope it really starts to build and people fall in love with the LP’s with the good artwork on the covers and the liner notes. It used to be more than just the record. I’m hoping it will come back to that because all of us songwriters have really been impacted by the internet. I’d say we’ve lost about 98% of our income. Of course the publishing companies and the record companies and the performers have lost a bunch too. The internet is wonderful. My wife and I are in the ministry and we use the internet as a tool to reach out. We broadcast our little church service all around the world. But it really killed me as a songwriter. I’ve been writing since 1952, and I did pretty good for a long time, but it’s all gone now. Songwriting is just a hobby now.”
“We try to keep Uncle Ernest’s name alive as much as possible because he did so much for this business, and he was such a giving person,” Glenn continues. “He made millions of dollars when he was alive, and he gave every bit of it away. When he died, he was broke. And he had the biggest heart of anyone I ever saw. He helped so many people. He didn’t have a jealous bone in his body. He didn’t care if these young whipper snappers came along and sold more records than he did. If it was good for country music, he loved it. And he did all he could to support everybody. And the Midnite Jamboree gave a whole bunch of them a leg up on that ladder of success, everyone from Elvis Presley on down. Elvis wasn’t country, but he was a country boy to start. I remember the night he came down there. He was just a skinny little kid with a pink coat and some black britches with a pink stripe down the leg. I remember in 1947 when [the Ernest Tubb Record Store] was still on Commerce St. that Tennessee Ernie [Ford] showed up before he got real famous. I remember him having a fishnet shirt on, and he was as hairy as an ape, and that hair was sticking out of that fish net and I thought, ‘Goodness gracious, what kind of guy is this?'(laughing)”
Another issue facing the Midnite Jamboree is the lack of support coming from younger, and newer artists—an issue also plaguing the Grand Ole Opry. Also, where in past eras the Grand Ole Opry worked in concert with the Midnite Jamboree, acting as the Opry’s defacto afterparty on Saturday nights, now the support doesn’t seem to be there.
“The oldtimers, they’re happy to come. The new ones don’t care anything about it,” says Glenn Douglas Tubb. “Garth Brooks was the last one of what I call the newcomers that played. He just had his first record out when he came over and did the show. Boy he was very humble, and very proud to be there, and I have a lot of respect for him because he still is like that. I can’t say anything bad about Garth.”
Currently owner David McCormick is looking for a new location to host the Midnite Jamboree, while also trying to craft a long-term solution to how to put the radio show on sure financial footing.
“We could probably get the expenses down if we didn’t have to pay a big rental fee for the venue where we broadcast. That’s what I’m hoping we can get done,” says Tubb. “We’re trying to move it back to Broadway where it started. Frankly I’m kind of happy to see the thing come back to Broadway because that’s where all the tourists are. But I hope if we can get enough money together, David has the building down there on Broadway where the record shop is down there, and it’s got an upstairs that could be renovated and made into a concert hall where we could broadcast the Midnite Jamboree. My idea in the interim is to locate in one of the clubs down there on Lower Broadway that has a stage.”
Also Glenn Douglas, along with a man named Ken Moser, have started the Midnite Jamboree Association hoping to solicit donations from fans of the radio show to help keep it afloat. There has also been some talk of attempting to get philanthropist and Studio ‘A’ savior Aubrey Preston involved. “Even with him, we still need the grassroots,” Glen explains. “We still need the people that love country music, and love the Midnite Jamboree. We need them to come on board and be a part of this and help us get this thing going and keep it going. I’m doing all I can here, which is not much. We need national and international exposure on this to let the world know.”
“It just broke my heart when David called me and said he had to suspend it,” Glen continues. “He didn’t want to say cancel it; he said suspend it. It is a suspension. It’s just off the air until he can find a place to put it back on. That’s another thing, we need money for WSM. He’s behind on his payment to them too. All of this is going to take money. The only thing we could figure out to do was to start this association. My friend Ken Mosher in Washington State, he is the guy that thought of this to start with, and he’s having all kinds of perks made up for the members, and he’s paying for it all out of his pocket, and not wanting a dime back.”
No different than other Nashville brick and mortar institutions such as Studio ‘A’, Studio ‘B’, The Ryman Auditorium, the Midnite Jamboree radio show is a national treasure that should be preserved.
March 30, 2015 @ 11:54 am
Sad, but I think it makes much more sense to have it on Broadway. That’s where all the action is now IMO.
March 30, 2015 @ 12:07 pm
Damn, I’m almost more sad to hear about the music valley store closing than to hear the show is being suspended. On my first trip to Nashville in 2003 that was the first place I went and right away I felt the magic of the city.
I’ve only attended the jamboree once myself, which was in 2013 on a night that Jimmy Fortune hosted, but even then I remember wondering how the show financially made sense, considering the only source of revenue for it seemed to be from whatever money the live commercials brought in.
Hopefully there’s some sort of positive long term resolution to this.
March 30, 2015 @ 2:53 pm
Ditto. The first time I went to Nashville, the first place I went was the record shop.
March 30, 2015 @ 1:37 pm
This hurts my heart.
I worked at that Music Valley/Opryland location years ago as a clerk/cashier. I always had the Saturday night shift too, so the Jamboree was going on while we worked. That part of town was still a happening place back then. The last time I was in town in 2013, Music Valley was looking about like a ghost town. The Nashville Palace had to move from it’s original location, and now it’s about dead too.
I knew this was coming. It was inevitable. A lot of these young, degenerate A-holes in Nashville now, probably have never even heard of The Midnite Jamboree, why would they care about playing on it? Country Music isn’t cultural for these losers. We’re in a time now, where people’s music gives birth to their culture, image, lifestyle. In the old days, culture and lifestyle gave birth to the music.
March 30, 2015 @ 4:41 pm
Well, for some people, musical tastes diverge strongly from lifestyle. Based on my lifestyle, you would think that I would be a modern pop fan, or at the very least an indie rock fan. Yet I dislike both of those types of music and am a fan of classic country and old pop music instead. Go figure.
March 30, 2015 @ 5:06 pm
I understand what you’re saying Eric, but you’re missing my point I think.
Country music used to be the voice of a specific region, culture, and lifestyle. Now, the “country” image and lifestyle are a response to Nashville’s music. Young, upper-middle-class, suburban males(i.e. Jake Owen, Dierks Bentley, Rascal Flatts) move to Nashville, and have no cultural ties to the music they want to sing. So, it’s no surprise that history and tradition are lost on them. There’s no reverence for it in their hearts.
March 30, 2015 @ 6:25 pm
Two of the worst bro-country singers, Luke Bryan and Cole Swindell, are both from rural Georgia. Ultimately, musical taste is based on more than just the place that one is from.
April 1, 2015 @ 11:01 am
I must not be very good at explaining myself, because you’re still not getting it.
I’m not talking about musical tastes Eric. I’m speaking about something much deeper. I intentionally didn’t mention Luke or Cole, because for whatever reason, they do seem to be traitors to their own heritage. But who knows, maybe those guys weren’t actually raised on classic Country music? Being Southern doesn’t necessarily mean that one is country.
April 1, 2015 @ 2:44 pm
I suppose the question here ultimately is:
Is country music an assimilative culture or a blood-based one? Should someone who has deep family roots in the music but does not care about it himself/herself be considered more “country” than one who has no family roots in the music but loves it anyway?
March 30, 2015 @ 2:05 pm
The Ernest Tubb Record Store (#2) and Theatre are still open! Its a shame younger country acts aren’t preforming there. It should be a rite of passage to playing the Opry. Might I suggest the Elvis show A Tribute to The King, every Monday and Thursday. Or… Joanne Cash Yates’ Cowboy Church every Sunday!
March 30, 2015 @ 5:22 pm
Still open? What do you mean? This whole article is about how they’re closed.
March 30, 2015 @ 7:42 pm
Sorry my apologizes, the record store is closing. The theater is not.
March 31, 2015 @ 2:03 am
The Ernest Tubb Record Shop in Ft. Worth, Texas at the Stockyards closed last year. It has reopened under a different name, because a local guy purchased it in an effort to keep the music alive. His store puts a big emphasis on sales of vinyl, but the historic Ernest Tubb artifacts are no longer on display for everyone to see. I will say, they seem to have a good selection of country artists from every decade.
March 30, 2015 @ 2:46 pm
This really breaks my heart. Loved visiting the record shop everytime I was in Nashville. If I’m reading this correctly, it sounds like the issue is they have to rent the Texas Troubadour Theater. Couldn’t they just go back to the old way they did it for years and have the show live in the record shop itself (think of the scene from the Coal Miners Daughter movie…back then everyone stood up and watched the show right there in the record shop).
March 30, 2015 @ 3:25 pm
Yes, but as Glenn Douglas explained, the crowds would back out into the street, and apparently the Nashville police department (which incidentally has a precinct right there on Lower Broadway) had big problems with that, and that’s what forced it to be moved. There was also apparently a problem with people stealing merch when there were so many people packed in there. If enough money can be raised to renovate the upstairs and turn it into a concert venue, then this could be the best of both worlds. It would come back to Lower Broadway, but be able to habitate a bigger space, and one that’s already paid for since the owner owns the building itself.
March 30, 2015 @ 3:51 pm
From the article I think that even if they did change the venue they’d still have to come up with about $1,000 per show for the host, musicians and the WSM fee’s, and since the man who had been financing the show is broke, they’d still have to come up with that money.
March 30, 2015 @ 2:48 pm
Hate to hear this, its becoming all to familiar with traditional country institutions. As an old school avid vinyl and album collector, theirs nothing quite like walking into a record shop and browsing for more treasures. these stores are special, you cant go to walmart and find the new mavericks cd or a sought after classic, heck your lucky to find physical albums at all anymore. Anybody know if the Pigeon Forge or Fort Worth locations are affected. Support local record shops!
March 30, 2015 @ 4:51 pm
The Fort Worth location was, basically, a franchise. It no longer operates under the name “Ernest Tubb Record Shop.”
http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article3844483.html
March 30, 2015 @ 3:36 pm
Thanks for this post. The more publicity the better.
March 30, 2015 @ 4:15 pm
Hey Trig,
Did you see that a Belgian DJ named “Lost Frequencies” remixed the Easton Corbin song “Are You With Me” and made it a Top 5 hit in 7 European countries? It hit #1 in Belgium, Germany and Austria and Easton Corbin is credited as a featured artist in the title.
What do you think of this?
March 30, 2015 @ 4:32 pm
I think I need to do some research before I know what I think.
March 30, 2015 @ 4:53 pm
yeah I stopped going to Nashville when they closed opry land down! Never understood why they thought a shopping mall would make more money! I’m sure some rich politician had s hand in it!
March 31, 2015 @ 5:38 am
From what I’ve read on it, Opryland got kind of stagnant and because it was bordered by the river on one side, and the highway on the other there wasn’t room to expand to add any new attractions. It’s a shame too, that it couldn’t have weathered those slow years. With the resurgence the town is going through now I’d imagine a theme park would have been a viable business today, which in turn could have propped up the rest of music valley.
March 30, 2015 @ 5:03 pm
Go fund; Fund raiser where are you marty stuart alan jackson johnny rodriquez daryl mccall etc Grand ole opry members … Fans of CLASSIC COUNTRY… Some one give them a building… HISTORY ….
March 30, 2015 @ 5:03 pm
see if some of the music icons from nashville will help save the show
March 30, 2015 @ 5:11 pm
I hate to hear this, but I am not surprised.
I have been shopping at this Ernest Tubb location regularly for several years now, and its inventory was extremely depleted the last few times I stopped by.
I have left a lot of money at the Ernest Tubb stores for a good many years.
I will give the Lower Broadway location another try, but finding safe parking for it (I’m not worried about being accosted, but I usually have valuables in my car when I’m passing through Nashville) is kind of tough, plus you have to wade through the Lower Broadway melee/crush of humanity (putting a favorable spin on some of the folks) to go there.
The last time I was in the Lower Broadway location, it, too, had a very depleted inventory.
I wonder who will wind up with Ernest’s Green Hornet tour bus which resided in the Music Valley location.
It is quite a beauty.
March 31, 2015 @ 5:18 am
My money’s on Marty Stuart getting the Green Hornet.
March 30, 2015 @ 5:31 pm
Is the ET Record Shop in Pigeon Forge, TN still open?
March 31, 2015 @ 8:22 am
I have shopped there quite a bit, too.
I will call to try to find out or get on the web site.
ET closed its Fort Worth store last year.
None of this looks good.
I like the people who work there (Steve, Ralph and Peggy) a lot.
March 30, 2015 @ 5:33 pm
I always wondered if the performers got paid, or if they just did it because Ernest Tubb Midnight Jamboree was an institution and they would make there money after the show from people buying there cd’s at the record shop and getting them autographed. Why can’t the Opry performers put on a benefit show, with all the proceeds going toward the Jamboree to keep it going.
March 30, 2015 @ 5:55 pm
I just found out today. I am so sad. Our beautiful country music is fading….I posted this on our pages with hopes that we can get some of our fans to help! It’s always been one of our favorite stops! David played the Jamboree last summer. Please let us know what we can do to help. We will spread the word!!!!
March 30, 2015 @ 6:41 pm
This hurts me more than I can say. My favorite shopping place in the whole world is the Ernest Tubb Record Shop on Music Valley Drive. Just ask any of my friends about my record collection. I’ve joined the association they have started. I hope other country music fans and entertainers get on board to bring back the shops and shows. Thank you Terri Church and David for your support.
March 30, 2015 @ 6:49 pm
I can remember playing in Don and Phil’s club on 5th there back in the early 70’s and we’d all quit about 11:45 pm and head over to the record shop to hear ET and whomever was the guest for the midnight jamboree!! Thing was, there was parking available back then. And that store sure was packed and they made lots of sales!
March 30, 2015 @ 7:29 pm
This reminds me of the UAB football situation. Alabama got away with its murder because of the lack of support. Even if somehow the place is saved short term, it won’t guarantee a long term survival. People might move on to another cause. It is like putting a Band-Aid on a gut shot.
March 30, 2015 @ 10:00 pm
I lived in Nashville during the 60’s and the Midnight Jamboree was the thing to watch or listen to on Saturday. I thought the artist performed for the publicity that they received from their appearing on the show. The show is a great tourist attraction and a Nashville institution. It should be funded by the State of Tennessee or the Nashville Chamber of Commerce. Teea Goans has hosted a few times and I tuned in just to hear her sing. I have ordered many records and tapes from the Record Shop. The ET Record Shop was place to find what you were looking for. That is why I joined the Association that you are starting. I love country music and town.
March 31, 2015 @ 12:39 am
A HUGE PITY.. MY FIRST TIME IN NASHVILLE IN 2013 TO RECORD. STAYED AT THE FIDDLERS INN AND THE ERNEST TUBB SHOP AND THE THEATRE WERE JUST ACROSS THE ROAD.. VISITED BOTH VENUES TWO OR THREE TIMES AND LOVED IT.. COMING BACK SOON BUT GONNA FEEL A HUGE LOSS TO NOT HAVE THEM WORKING AND ACTIVE AND SOMEWHERE TO GO.. SO SORRY TO HEAR THIS NEWS
March 31, 2015 @ 4:30 am
I was at this ET shop a couple of weeks ago. It was pretty sad – very quiet, very little stock. I’ve always looked forward to visiting on my trips to Nashville.
And it’ll be a great shame if the Jamboree disappears. I’ve had some great evenings there. It’s always been packed when I’ve attended and though it was nice that it was free, I’m sure nobody would have complained about paying, say, $10 to get a couple of hours of top class live music.
March 31, 2015 @ 5:21 am
My absolute favorite show that I saw at the Midnite Jamboree was the incomparable Ray Price. This was around 2009-2010 I believe.
March 31, 2015 @ 6:21 am
I think the key here is finding a way to keep the show sustainable for years to come. Currently it would cost about $125,000 a year to keep the show afloat if they stay in the same location. However with the record shop in Music Valley closing I’m not sure if it makes much sense to stay at the Texas Troubadour Theater. On the one hand it is a great venue, with great parking and centrally located between the hotels in the area. Plus when the Opry is at the Opry house it’s fairly easy for people attending the later Opry show to make the short drive from there to the Theater. However part of the appeal of that location was that you had the record shop right next door for pre and post show socializing, autographs etc, which made the location something of a headquarters for the Midnight Jamboree.
If you were to move the show to the Broadway location, once its theater space was refurbished, they could probably produce the show for under $60,000 per year, which seems pretty obtainable. The problem is what kind of crowd is available on Lower Broadway on a Saturday night at midnight. It’s a younger crowd, that I’m not sure is going to want to sit through a two hour, alcohol free, midnight to 2 a.m. show, even if it is free, hosted by a lesser known star of country’s golden or silver era. Plus the older crowd that would be drawn to the Jamboree might be discouraged by the inconvenience of the location, parking etc.
It’s a tough situation. Music Valley is a more natural fit for the type of show the jamboree is, but Lower Broadway has more access to a sustainable revenue stream, be it one that doesn’t right now fit with what the show is.
I’d say there are two options right now. Option #1 is to stay in the music valley location, work out some deal with the Opry, where they can sell “package deals” for the Saturday night Opry and the midnight Jamboree complete with bus transportation from the Opry hotels, to both shows. Have some of that night’s Opry performers play the jamboree for scale. Sell any remaining tickets to that night’s show for $10.00 a piece. Do some post-show autograph signings to drive sales of merchandise at the Opry gift shop at the start of the night.
Option #2 would be to move the show to the Lower Broadway store once its concert space is ready. Make the show only 1 hour, from 12 to 1a.m. so that the younger crowd on Broadway would still be able to have a drink after the show. Sell tickets to cover the cost of producing the show. Try and get some younger emerging artists to host and appear, just to bring a little more attention to the show. Get some local sponsors to help with production costs.
Hopefully the Midnight Jamboree Association is able to find a way to keep the show going.
May 26, 2015 @ 2:50 pm
THE ERNEST TUBB RECORD SHOP #2 IS NOT CLOSING.
March 31, 2015 @ 5:59 pm
Folks, a lot of new information on this story has come to light. As I updated above, the Ernest Tubb Record Shop #2 is NOT closed, at least for the moment. I will have a new story as soon as I clarify all the facts and hear back from all the parties involved.
April 1, 2015 @ 4:59 am
My first thought is that The Midnight Jamboree Association needs a Facebook page, and preferably a Twitter account too. That’s where people go to get their information these days, and I think publicizing the movement on those platforms would be the best way to get people’s attention. When the “Save Studio A” fracas was going on, the movement has a solid social media presence which allowed them to spread the word as much as possible, even if that simply meant re-posting articles from The Tennessean, or SCM for that matter.
Actually, these days I believe you can even link up multiple social media accounts so that posts go out on both Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms at the same time.
The more people that are aware about this movement, the better. I know that WSM, the Opry, and the Midnight Jamboree have fans around the globe, and many probably still don’t know what’s going on.
April 16, 2015 @ 7:46 am
You should set up a GoFundMe campaign – see if you can raise enough money to continue