All the Opry's in the Land

We all know the The Grand Ole Opry. It's been on 650 WSM-AM for 92 years. It was originally called WLS and WMC in Memphis, TN. Hay was key to the renaming of the barn dance into the Opry.
"The WSM Barn Dance." At that time is was broadcasting live from the fifth-floor radio studio of the National Life & Accident Insurance Company in downtown Nashville, TN. It's first airdate was November 28, 1925. They had hired announcer George D. Hay 26 days earlier.  He had already worked at

The program was re-named on December 10, 1927. That year on NBC the barn dance was preceded by NBC Red Network's Music Appreciation Hour. It was a schlock program of classical music and opera presented conductor Walter Damrosch. Damrosch however was no stuffed shirt. His father and brother were also conductors, and his mother was an opera singer. He studied at the Dresden Conservatory, and was conducting himself in New York and New Jersey by the age of 19. Damrosch was the National Broadcasting Company's music director under David Sarnoff, from 1928 to 1942. Yet critic Theo Adorno wrote that the Damrosch approach towards popularizing classical music was infantilizing and authoritarian. Anyway back in 1927 Damrosch stated "there is no place in the classics for realism." George Hay decided to make hay of it. Hay responded as follows:

" Friends, the program which just came to a close was devoted to the classics. Doctor Damrosch told us that there is no place in the classics for realism. However, from here on out for the next three hours, we will present nothing but realism. It will be down to earth for the "earthy"... For the past hour, we have been listening to music taken largely from Grand Opera. From now on, we will present the "Grand Ole Opry".

He followed that up with a performance by DeFord Bailey who played "The Pan-American Blues," which is a semi-improvisational and impressive series of train noises played on harmonica. By December newspapers were using the new name. Sociologists have oft remarked on this expression of "rural values" in a Southern City. We can skip that. The story is apocryphal, but it is notable that the word "opry" was thus born. But the word didn't stop here. Other barn dances took up term and the original Grand Ole Opry finally trade marked the word in 1950. They further trademarked "Opryland USA" for their theme park in 1974 and "Opryland Talent Agency" in 1981. But the word "Opry" not until 1982.

• Country Shindig Opry (1979 - 1982)
• Myrtlebeach Opry (1970-1973)
• The Ozark Opry (1954-1980)
• Austin's Nashville Opry (1954)
• Austin's Ozark Nashville Opry
• The Carolina Opry (1986)

Legal action ensued. WSM sued for trademark infringement. There were numerous cases but three in particular put the question to rest. WSM, Inc. v. Hilton in 1985, and before that WSM, Inc. v. Bailey and

Rainwater in 1969.  That same year was WSM, Inc. v. Kansas City Industries.  But let's start with Bailey. Donald Bailey had recorded a record released by Jay Rainwater which in part bore the name Grand Ole Opry. Actually they had named their recording company "Opry Records." WSM had never used their brand in that manner, but Bailey and Rainwater didn't have the right to misappropriate it either. They got shut down.


In 1970 the court went the other way. Lee Mace operated the "Ozark Opry" and registered that trademark in 1962. Then in 1962 Austin Wood licensed the Opry name from WSM and began operating "Austin's Ozark Nashville Opry" in Branson Missouri. Lee Mace objected in 1962 and Austin changed the name to Austin's Nashville Opry. WSM got around to suing in 1969, and the parties settled. Lee was prohibited from using the name "Ozark Opry" in Kentucky and Tennessee but was licensed for the other 48 states.

The Hilton case was more interesting. The central issue was whether or not the word "Opry" was a generic term for country music entertainment. The Federal Circuit held surprisingly in 1982 that the word "opry" is generic! At the core was not George Hay's first use of the word but it's etymology as common vernacular. For that I'll quote the court:

"Certain persons who reside along the mid-Atlantic seaboard, in Appalachia and in the Ozarks have adhered to a rule of pronunciation under which words ending with the letter "a" are pronounced as if the word ended with the letter "y". The word "opera" is among at least 175 words to which this rule of dialectic pronunciation applies. For example, "opera" is pronounced as "opery" or "opry". The horse, medicine and jig operas were often respectively referred to as "horse opry" or "hoss opry", "medicine opry" or "med-opry", and "jig opry."

More problematic was that the word "opry" is listed and defined in Webster's New Third International Dictionary as a dialectic variation of the word "opera." The American Thesaurus of Slang lists "opry" as a "musical performance," describes an "opery house" as a "theatre," and includes "horse opera" and "hoss opry" among terms referring to a "circus." So the court applied the Lanham Act, which provides that if a registered mark at any time becomes generic, it provides for the cancellation of that mark's registration. George D. Hay died in 1968 and was unable to make his case. The court for what it's worth was correct. The term "horse opry" appears in every John Wayne biography, and a dozen 1940's-era issues of Billboard hocking disposable C&W 78s.

Barn Storming and Barn Dancing

Barn Dances predate American history. It's a tradition that is said to have descended from a tradition of bohemian round dancing in Bavaria. It rose to prominence in the late 1800s. This is the source of the tradition of the dance, and therefore the root of the radio program it was all founded upon.

A barn dance is any kind of dance held in a barn, but usually involves traditional or folk music with traditional dancing. It is a type of dance, originating in America and popular in Britain in the late 19th century and early 20th, derived from Schottische. Folk dancing events are often also referred to as "barn dances", despite being held in locations other than barns.

There have been a substantial number of "Barn Dance" themed programs. WBAP-AM is generally credited with debuting the first Barn Dance type of program in 1923. Even if I exclude the very similar Jamboree, Jubilee, Stampedes, Follies, Round ups, Hoedowns and Hayride programs the numbers are almost really surprising. Obviously those too are barn dance radio programs. According to the book Music of the World War II Era by William H. Young there were approximately 5,000 country music programs in radio land in the year 1935.

It seems impossible at first, but there were easily thousands of similar country music and variety radio programs on air at that time. There were about 600 stations on air by then [source] Even if they all broadcast only 12 hours a day, that's 7,200 hours of programming per day, 50,400 per week!  The math bears out the possibility at the very least. What I'm trying to do is to indicate their enormous popularity. Despite the obvious strength of country radio today, it is nothing compared to it's former prominence.  The "Barn Dance" formatted programs debuted essentially along with radio, then exploded toward the end of WWII.  The 1944 Music Year Book remarked on the phenomena, they "hold and build audiences."  But by then the National Barn Dance was in it's 12th year.

WRVA-AM - Old Dominion Barn Dance - 1946
KMBC-AM - Sears Roebuck Barn Dance - 1928
WLS-AM - National Barn Dance - 1924
KMOX-AM - Old Fashioned Barn Dance- 1930
KFH-AM -  KFH Barn Dance - 1946
WNAX-AM - Missouri Valley Barn Dance - 1940
WBRM-AM - Carlisle Family Barn Dance - 1933
WBAP-AM - Barn Dance Show - 1928
WSM-AM - WSM Barn Dance - 1925 (Grand Ole Opry)
WHO-AM - Iowa Barn Dance Frolic - 1931
WLW-AM - Renfro Valley Barn Dance - 1937
WOV-AM - Broadway Barn Dance - 1944
WXYZ-AM - Lazy Ranch Boys Barn Dance 1950?
KSTP-AM - Sunset Valley Barn Dance - 1944
WNOX-AM - Tennessee Barn Dance - 1942
WDVA-AM - Virginia Barn Dance - 1949
WHAS-AM - Old Kentucky Barn Dance - 1949
KMPC-AM - Country Carnival Barn Dance1948
KVOA-AM - KVOA Barn Dance - 1954
KRKD-AM - Los Angeles County Barn Dance- 1943
WMCA-AM - WMCA Barn Dance - 1935
KNX-AM - Hollywood Barn Dance - 1943
WBT-AM - Crazy Barn Dance - 1931
WAOK-AM - Hocking Valley Barn Dance
KLRA-AM - Arkansas Jamboree Barn Dance - 1946
WBRM-AM - Carolina Barn Dance - 1949
KRKD-AM - Foreman Phillips County Barn Dance - 1944
WCKY-AM - Liberty Theater Barn Dance - 1950s?
WEAU-AM - Chippewa Valley Barn Dance - 1948
WJHL-AM - Hawkins County Barn Dance - 1952
WKNX-AM - Michigan Barn Dance - 1954
WVLK-AM - Kentucky Mountain Barn Dance - 1949
WINS-AM - Village Barn Dance - ????
KTBB-AM - Texas Barn Dance - ????

Many of these stations have become what we now call heritage brands and are still broadcasting today in one form or another. Of those 30 or so radio stations listed above almost none are still airing country music. WSM of course has stayed the course with Country Music simulcast on both 650 AM and 95.5 FM. But WNAX moved Country to their FM stick on 94.1 and flipped the AM side to News Talk and small town 1250 WBRM-AM is still a country station today.  But that's all.  WOV became WADO and now airs regional Mexican music. WXYZ became WXYT and now airs Sports talk. WAOK and WDVA are a Gospel stations. KVOA became KCUB in 1953, it's a talker as well. KLRA became KELC-AM in the 1980s and went talk. All the others are News, talk or News/Talk as well.

There are still a handful of radio stations airing Barn Dance programs today.  Thought admittedly the format is dissimilar, the persistence of the branding is what's interesting.

KRFC-FM   - Poudre Valley Barn Dance
WMPG-FM - Barn Dance Radio
WSM-AM   - Grand Ole Opry

Uncle Ezra's Radio Station

Uncle Ezra P. Watters didn't really have a radio station. There was no E-Z-R-A in any FCC record. But Ezra did have a radio show, more than one actually. He began as a character on the WLS National Barn Dance. On his own program he had a fictional radio station. It was described as a powerful 5-watt stick down in Rosedale, the friendly little city. The character was played by Patrick Barrett and former vaudeville man born back in 1887. That made him 41 When the barn dance debuted. The WLS National Barn Dance first started in 1928 broadcasting on Saturday nights from the Sherman Hotel in Chicago. It was a small program in the beginning but it's popularity grew until it was a nightly 5-hour country music jamboree. Ezra closed out each episode with a folksy routine. The show was picked up by NBC in 1933 for national distribution. In 1946 they moved to ABC. Distribution was killed in 1957, and the live portion of the program ended. the decline began sharply. It moved to WGN-AM when WLS flipped to Top -40. It was finally canceled in 1968. More here.

Uncle Ezra had a strange fame beyond the WLS National Barn Dance program. He was on the cover of Radio Guide. He published a book of hick poetry titled "Howdy Ev'Vybuddy". In 1936, the Lincoln Theater in Lincoln, IL celebrated its 13th anniversary with a stage show featuring Uncle Ezra and his Hoosier Hot-Shots from WLS and the National Barn Dance. In 1940 Life Magazine wrote up the hayseed humor of WLS and singled out Uncle Ezra:

"A phenomenon in the brief perspective of radio history is the ever popular, ever-corny, National Barn Dance... With it's cracker-Barrel Characters, Uncle Ezra, the Arkansas Woodchopper, the Hoosier Hotshots-and it's slapstick rural hijinks. The Barn Dance typifies the success story of WLS..."

In the 1940 the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company sponsored a program called Uncle Ezra's Radio Station. It ran out of WMAQ and was carried by the NBC Red network. The program ran three days a week Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays 7:15 PM. It was only a 15 minute slot, btu it ran for over 4 years. You can read a sample script here.

He died in died in 1959, before the barn dance was canceled, but after it was cut from the big networks. He was 72.