1
00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:08,119
Speaker 1: Hello, everyone. This is Sarah Harrelson, your host of Taking

2
00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:12,280
Speaker 1: a Walk Nashville, and I am back today to give

3
00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:17,599
Speaker 1: you this month in Nashville History for the month of February,

4
00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:20,800
Speaker 1: and joining me today to talk about all the events

5
00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:24,160
Speaker 1: that happened in Nashville history in February is buzz night

6
00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:25,919
Speaker 1: from Taking a Walk Buzz.

7
00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:27,320
Speaker 2: Thank you for joining me today.

8
00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:28,960
Speaker 3: It's nice to be with you, Sarah.

9
00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:31,680
Speaker 4: It's nice to be with you in person a little

10
00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:34,400
Speaker 4: while ago, but here we are back to virtual.

11
00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:35,640
Speaker 3: We're ready to roll.

12
00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:39,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, we had so much fun at the listening room

13
00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:44,000
Speaker 1: interviewing the owner, Chris Blair. People can look forward to

14
00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:48,600
Speaker 1: listening to that episode. And they have sold out of

15
00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:53,400
Speaker 1: their anniversary show at the Ryman in March, which is incredible.

16
00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:56,960
Speaker 3: I loved it. I loved getting to meet Chris.

17
00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:02,720
Speaker 4: It's a wonderful venue, the working on his team, we're

18
00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:06,160
Speaker 4: all great. So it was a tremendous experience.

19
00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:09,880
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know, it's been a wild couple weeks

20
00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:13,040
Speaker 1: in Nashville with the ice storm and power outage, so

21
00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:16,440
Speaker 1: I am so glad we could still make that conversation happen.

22
00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:17,640
Speaker 3: Yep, for sure.

23
00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:21,960
Speaker 1: All right, so let's dive into everything that happened in

24
00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:26,560
Speaker 1: February and Nashville history. There's a lot that happened in

25
00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:30,800
Speaker 1: February and Nashville history, starting with February third. A few

26
00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:34,920
Speaker 1: different things happened on this date. In nineteen seventy four,

27
00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:40,000
Speaker 1: Dolly Parton's iconic hit Joe Lene reached number one on

28
00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:43,840
Speaker 1: the Billboard Country Chart. It still remains one of the

29
00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:47,440
Speaker 1: most covered and celebrated songs and music history. And I

30
00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:49,480
Speaker 1: don't know about you, buzz, but that's definitely one of

31
00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:50,840
Speaker 1: my favorite Dolly songs.

32
00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:53,520
Speaker 3: Always will be, always will be for sure.

33
00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:57,720
Speaker 1: Yeah, she is so iconic. And another thing that happened

34
00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:00,360
Speaker 1: on February third. This is a few years later. In

35
00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:04,520
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty one, a young George Straight He recorded his

36
00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:09,200
Speaker 1: first major hit, Unwound, at the Music City Music Hall.

37
00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:14,720
Speaker 1: This session effectively launched the neo traditionalist movement that would

38
00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:19,200
Speaker 1: define nineteen eighties country. So even though he's kind of

39
00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:22,880
Speaker 1: known for being a Texas country artist, he has had

40
00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:25,600
Speaker 1: a lot of history here in Nashville.

41
00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:29,720
Speaker 4: You ever hear his cover of the Tom Petty song

42
00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:32,400
Speaker 4: I Think It's a You wreck Me is the name

43
00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:34,320
Speaker 4: of the song of you heard George Strait's cover.

44
00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:37,200
Speaker 2: Ooh, I'm not sure I've heard his version of that.

45
00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:38,840
Speaker 3: That's a pretty cool song.

46
00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:41,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm definitely gonna have to check that out. I

47
00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:42,720
Speaker 2: love George straight.

48
00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:47,720
Speaker 1: There's still more things that happened on February third. This

49
00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,400
Speaker 1: happened in nineteen ninety four. And this is kind of

50
00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:56,400
Speaker 1: a trivia question because I interviewed Paul Kingsbury at the

51
00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:00,919
Speaker 1: Country Music Hall of Fame, and if anyone remembers from

52
00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:05,400
Speaker 1: listening to that episode, he mentioned the original location of

53
00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:06,960
Speaker 1: the Country Music Hall of Fame.

54
00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:10,880
Speaker 2: So it's not downtown. Do you remember where the original

55
00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:11,680
Speaker 2: location was?

56
00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:13,600
Speaker 3: Buzz I'm not really sure.

57
00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:17,720
Speaker 1: Actually, yeah, so the original location of the Country Music

58
00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:21,639
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame was on Music Row actually, so on

59
00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:26,200
Speaker 1: February third, nineteen ninety four, they announced their plan to

60
00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:29,360
Speaker 1: move from their original home and Music Row to its

61
00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:32,639
Speaker 1: current place, which you can check out now, the very

62
00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:35,080
Speaker 1: massive location in downtown Nashville.

63
00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:38,080
Speaker 4: They do such an amazing job there, and I love

64
00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:42,640
Speaker 4: how they bring in these new particular highlight shows that

65
00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:45,680
Speaker 4: are there for a number of months. A great take

66
00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:49,280
Speaker 4: if you're going to Nashville or if you are in Nashville.

67
00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:54,640
Speaker 1: Yes, they always have such great exhibits and rotating exhibits. Okay,

68
00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:59,320
Speaker 1: So more that happened in this month in history. February fifth,

69
00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:02,800
Speaker 1: nineteen thirty eight. Roy Acuff, he made his debut on

70
00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:07,000
Speaker 1: the Grand Ole Opry. His performance of the Great Speckled

71
00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,800
Speaker 1: Bird was so popular that he soon became the show's

72
00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:14,559
Speaker 1: biggest star and eventually a co founder of the powerhouse

73
00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:20,359
Speaker 1: publishing company Acuff Rows. And another little fun fact about

74
00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:24,719
Speaker 1: roy Acuff, he actually opened the first show and the

75
00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:30,320
Speaker 1: new grand Ole Opry House with his performance of Oahbosh Cannonball.

76
00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:35,920
Speaker 1: President Richard Nixon was an attendance. So very cool history

77
00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:39,040
Speaker 1: with roy Acuff doing the first performance of the new

78
00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:39,919
Speaker 1: grand Ole Opry.

79
00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:42,240
Speaker 3: Yeah, except for the Nixon part.

80
00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:47,480
Speaker 4: Yeah, everything was sounded good until then.

81
00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:49,960
Speaker 2: Gonna love that bart out.

82
00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:56,120
Speaker 1: So another thing that the community has been reflecting on

83
00:04:56,200 --> 00:05:01,080
Speaker 1: this week is a great loss to film music. On

84
00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:06,400
Speaker 1: February fifth, twenty twenty four, it's already been two years

85
00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:10,040
Speaker 1: since we have lost Toby Keith, a modern titan of

86
00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:16,040
Speaker 1: country music. He's written so many songs in country music

87
00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:19,080
Speaker 1: and he's always been one of my favorite artists. So

88
00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:21,279
Speaker 1: definitely a sad loss to the community.

89
00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:23,520
Speaker 3: Yeah, rest in peace, Toby for sure.

90
00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:29,080
Speaker 1: Yeah, four different things that happened on February seventeenth. So

91
00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:34,640
Speaker 1: February seventeenth, nineteen sixty Elvis Presley earned his very first

92
00:05:34,839 --> 00:05:38,440
Speaker 1: gold record for his self titled album. Though he was

93
00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:42,640
Speaker 1: a Memphis boy, his biggest hits were recorded right here

94
00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:47,840
Speaker 1: on music Row at RCA Studio B. Tourists can come in,

95
00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:51,560
Speaker 1: especially on the bus tours. They usually drop off a

96
00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:54,000
Speaker 1: lot of tour groups at RCA Studio B.

97
00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:54,960
Speaker 2: You can tour it.

98
00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:59,159
Speaker 1: They even have group recordings where you're doing a group

99
00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:01,039
Speaker 1: recording with your tour group.

100
00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:02,520
Speaker 2: So always a fun stop.

101
00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:06,320
Speaker 3: As long as I don't have to sing, it's perfect.

102
00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:09,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, just rely on the other people in the group

103
00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:09,360
Speaker 2: to sing.

104
00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:10,720
Speaker 3: Yeah.

105
00:06:10,839 --> 00:06:14,760
Speaker 1: So on this date, in nineteen sixty five, the Tennessee

106
00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:18,360
Speaker 1: State Legislature officially declared.

107
00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:22,160
Speaker 2: The Tennessee Waltz as the state song. Written by Red

108
00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:23,960
Speaker 2: Stewart and Pee Wee King.

109
00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:27,960
Speaker 1: It became a massive hit for Patty Page and it's

110
00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:32,920
Speaker 1: a mandatory standard for any Nashville honky talk band.

111
00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:34,040
Speaker 2: That's definitely one of my.

112
00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:37,520
Speaker 4: Favorites, no doubt, for sure. Keep me away from getting

113
00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:38,720
Speaker 4: up on stage for that one.

114
00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:38,960
Speaker 3: Too.

115
00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:43,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, So another thing that happened on February seventeenth and

116
00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:49,240
Speaker 1: nineteen sixty nine, Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash famously teamed

117
00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:54,000
Speaker 1: up at CBS Studios in Nashville to record duets including

118
00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:58,000
Speaker 1: Girl from the North Country, and this session was part

119
00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:03,400
Speaker 1: of the recordings for Dylan's Nashville Skyline album, which cemented

120
00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:08,360
Speaker 1: Nashville as a destination for folk and rock artist buzz.

121
00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:10,080
Speaker 2: Have you taken a listen to this album?

122
00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:13,720
Speaker 4: It's one of my favorites for sure. And I got

123
00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:16,760
Speaker 4: to go to the studio there. I'm not sure it's

124
00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:19,280
Speaker 4: the exact studio, but I know there was some of

125
00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:21,880
Speaker 4: those sessions that were there at the Quancet Hut. Have

126
00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:24,960
Speaker 4: you been to the Quancet Hut studio and taken a

127
00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:29,440
Speaker 4: little tour of that legendary place there on music Row?

128
00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:34,440
Speaker 1: I have, And I went to Belmont University and minored

129
00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:37,480
Speaker 1: in production, so a lot of my audio engineering classes

130
00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:41,560
Speaker 1: were right there in Quancet Hut where so many legends recorded.

131
00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:44,600
Speaker 1: So it was amazing being able to take classes in there.

132
00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:49,000
Speaker 4: Yeah, you actually feel almost like a presence of some

133
00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:51,800
Speaker 4: of what has certainly been there before.

134
00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:54,160
Speaker 3: You know, the rates that have been there, so I

135
00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:56,000
Speaker 3: love it absolutely.

136
00:07:56,840 --> 00:08:00,679
Speaker 1: And another thing that happened on February seventeenth in nineteen

137
00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:05,240
Speaker 1: seventy one, James Taylor. He made his US television debut

138
00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:07,960
Speaker 1: on The Johnny Cash Show, which was taped at the

139
00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:12,800
Speaker 1: Riemann Auditorium. His performance of Fire and Rain helped catapult

140
00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:16,000
Speaker 1: the singer songwriter era into the mainstream. I mean, it

141
00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:18,480
Speaker 1: seems to me like Johnny Cash had so many people

142
00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:22,760
Speaker 1: besides country artists on his show. You know, Bob Dylan,

143
00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:26,920
Speaker 1: James Taylor, A lot of singer songwriter, folk artists were.

144
00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:29,360
Speaker 4: On his show, and some of those are really great

145
00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:33,360
Speaker 4: to go look up on YouTube and more than likely

146
00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:38,559
Speaker 4: some other spots to chronicle those moments. Production values are

147
00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:42,359
Speaker 4: certainly of the time, but they're great performances.

148
00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:49,800
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, absolutely, So a few more things for everyone.

149
00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:55,040
Speaker 1: On February twenty second, twenty sixteen, Sonny James, known as

150
00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:59,280
Speaker 1: the Southern Gentleman, he passed away in Nashville. He famously

151
00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:04,480
Speaker 1: held a record for sixteen consecutive number one hits. Wow, Boss,

152
00:09:04,559 --> 00:09:06,120
Speaker 1: that's that's a lot of number ones.

153
00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:09,199
Speaker 3: That is the Southern Gentleman. I love that name.

154
00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:10,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, me too.

155
00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:15,560
Speaker 1: And then on February twenty fifth, nineteen thirty two, the

156
00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:19,920
Speaker 1: Singing Sheriff Fair and Young was born. He became one

157
00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:24,400
Speaker 1: of country's most colorful characters and a founding member of

158
00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:28,360
Speaker 1: the Music City News, and the Music City News still exist.

159
00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:31,400
Speaker 4: See now, I had heard of fair and Young, but

160
00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:34,640
Speaker 4: I had never heard of who the Singing Sheriff was.

161
00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:36,079
Speaker 2: Great.

162
00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:39,960
Speaker 4: Reminds me of something that probably well before I know,

163
00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:42,760
Speaker 4: it's well before your time. Did you ever hear of

164
00:09:42,760 --> 00:09:48,960
Speaker 4: the Andy Griffith Show? Of course, I think I would

165
00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:52,080
Speaker 4: think we would see the Singing Sheriff pay a visit

166
00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:53,040
Speaker 4: to Andy Griffith.

167
00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:55,280
Speaker 3: It would seem for some reason. Don't you think.

168
00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:57,760
Speaker 2: That is true? Yeah?

169
00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:02,000
Speaker 1: I remember being little and my dad making me watch

170
00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:04,840
Speaker 1: the Andy Griffith Show with him and me just like

171
00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:07,320
Speaker 1: wanting to snooze on the couch.

172
00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:09,000
Speaker 2: Will I get it on? Yeah?

173
00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:11,480
Speaker 3: I noticed how you said making me watch.

174
00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:15,280
Speaker 4: Yeah, against your wishes.

175
00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:15,839
Speaker 3: It's great.

176
00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:18,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely at that time.

177
00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:22,360
Speaker 1: Well, we talked about so many events that happened in February,

178
00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:24,719
Speaker 1: but I want to close it with something that happens

179
00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:29,560
Speaker 1: every year. It doesn't just occur in Nashville, but in

180
00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:34,040
Speaker 1: all of Tennessee. We have Tennessee Songwriters Week. It's an

181
00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:39,600
Speaker 1: annual tradition. The state celebrates Tennessee Songwriters Week every February.

182
00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:44,440
Speaker 1: So it features qualifying rounds at venues across Nashville and

183
00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:47,120
Speaker 1: not just Nashville, but if you look it up on

184
00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:52,920
Speaker 1: Tennessee vacation dot com, musicians all over Tennessee can apply

185
00:10:53,559 --> 00:10:56,439
Speaker 1: for this competition, so they host it in venues in

186
00:10:56,840 --> 00:11:00,760
Speaker 1: East Tennessee, Memphis, Nashville, all across the state, and people

187
00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:04,000
Speaker 1: who qualify at those rounds they get to come to

188
00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:08,520
Speaker 1: Nashville and compete at the Franklin Theater and the Bluebird

189
00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:13,120
Speaker 1: Cafe for the winner, and I believe they get to

190
00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:17,280
Speaker 1: play at Bluebird during ten Pans South. The winner does

191
00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:20,440
Speaker 1: and they get a Taylor guitar. So it's an amazing

192
00:11:21,679 --> 00:11:26,320
Speaker 1: competition that happens every year and shines light on independent

193
00:11:26,559 --> 00:11:27,880
Speaker 1: songwriters in Tennessee.

194
00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:31,480
Speaker 4: Sounds awesome. What a great way to celebrate what's important

195
00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:32,760
Speaker 4: the song right.

196
00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:36,920
Speaker 1: Absolutely, yeah, So definitely check it out if you want

197
00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:39,439
Speaker 1: to go to a qualifying round and check it out

198
00:11:39,440 --> 00:11:44,080
Speaker 1: for next year if you're interested in participating. Buzz Man,

199
00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:47,080
Speaker 1: that was a lot to cover in February. In Nashville history.

200
00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:51,320
Speaker 4: We covered a lot, but luckily we only got away

201
00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:54,400
Speaker 4: with the one Richard Nixon mentioned, so that's perfect.

202
00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:57,040
Speaker 3: But other than that, we had a good one.

203
00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:00,840
Speaker 2: That is true. Yeah, I can I agree with you

204
00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:03,800
Speaker 2: on that, but you know, there's so much that happened

205
00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:06,720
Speaker 2: in winter months in Nashville.

206
00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:08,520
Speaker 1: That, oh man, when we get to the warmer months,

207
00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:10,600
Speaker 1: I can only imagine how much history will have to

208
00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:11,079
Speaker 1: go through.

209
00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:13,720
Speaker 4: It's awesome, awesome doing it with you, Sarah. Thank you

210
00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:14,840
Speaker 4: so much for inviting me.

211
00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:18,079
Speaker 1: Thank you buys, Yeah, thank you for everyone who's tuning in,

212
00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:20,760
Speaker 1: and definitely check out the other episodes of Taking a

213
00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:22,840
Speaker 1: Walk Nashville