Post by Village Idiot on Jan 4, 2018 21:14:59 GMT -5
I know it was back in the 50s, but they talked about it on NPR's Fresh Air
Quote from program, the bolding is mine:
I don't know how far it broadcast, but I thought some of you who remember the 50s might have heard of it?
Quote from program, the bolding is mine:
KEN TUCKER, BYLINE: The Louisiana Hayride began as a talent show and a showcase for country music at the very end of the 1940s. It was broadcast on KWKH, a radio station whose owners included John D. Ewing, locally famous for his opposition to the Ku Klux Klan and Louisiana Governor Huey Long, and W.K. Henderson, who liked to deejay and was known for his on-air catchphrase, hello, world, dog-gone you, which was considered vulgar at the time. But the man who wanted you to think he invented the Hayride all by himself was program director Horace Logan, whose ego was such that he felt comfortable titling his autobiography "Elvis, Hank And Me."
The Louisiana Hayride came along 20 years after the Grand Ole Opry had set up in Nashville, Tenn. The Opry was already in the 1950s seen as the establishment - conservative, ripe for some upstart competition. The Opry had the biggest stars, but the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport gave more breaks to new acts that hadn't yet scored nationwide hits. Not just Elvis Presley, fresh from cutting a few songs at Sun Records, or Hank Williams, already considered a dicey proposition for his heavy drinking and tendency to blow off performances.
The Hayride, three hours of entertainment every Saturday night for the price of 60 cents for adults, 30 cents for kids, introduced a big chunk of America to Kitty Wells, Webb Pierce, Faron Young, George Jones, Johnny Cash and scores of others. And by others, I mean such would-be legends as Werly Fairburn, who christened himself The Singing Barber after his day job.
The Louisiana Hayride came along 20 years after the Grand Ole Opry had set up in Nashville, Tenn. The Opry was already in the 1950s seen as the establishment - conservative, ripe for some upstart competition. The Opry had the biggest stars, but the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport gave more breaks to new acts that hadn't yet scored nationwide hits. Not just Elvis Presley, fresh from cutting a few songs at Sun Records, or Hank Williams, already considered a dicey proposition for his heavy drinking and tendency to blow off performances.
The Hayride, three hours of entertainment every Saturday night for the price of 60 cents for adults, 30 cents for kids, introduced a big chunk of America to Kitty Wells, Webb Pierce, Faron Young, George Jones, Johnny Cash and scores of others. And by others, I mean such would-be legends as Werly Fairburn, who christened himself The Singing Barber after his day job.
I don't know how far it broadcast, but I thought some of you who remember the 50s might have heard of it?
