Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Opryland USA
    Opryland USA
    Opryland USA
    Ebook162 pages46 minutes

    Opryland USA

    By Stephen W. Phillips and Ty Herndon

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Opryland USA attracted millions of visitors each year and gave many celebrities their first taste of show business. As the "Home of American Music," Opryland USA still lives on in the hearts and minds of those who visited this show that made country music famous.


    By the late 1960s, the Ryman Auditorium - the fifth home of the Grand Ole Opry - was a deteriorating firetrap in a seedy part of Nashville, yet it still attracted thousands of people each weekend to the "show that made country music famous." In an effort to develop an attraction that could sustain a larger Opry all week long, Opryland was born. Opryland USA operated from May 27, 1972, until December 31, 1997, attracting millions of visitors each year and giving many celebrities their first taste of show business. The park consisted of nine areas, dozens of rides, and Broadway-caliber shows featuring live bands and orchestras. As the "Home of American Music," Opryland USA still lives on in the hearts and minds of those who visited its wooded trails, lazy streams, exciting attractions, and toe-tapping performances.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateAug 22, 2016
    ISBN9781439657409
    Opryland USA
    Author

    Stephen W. Phillips

    Stephen W. Phillips, a former Gaylord Entertainment executive, is a Tennessee native and recognized Opryland Themepark historian. He is an academic of all attractions but has collected Opryland-related memorabilia and artifacts his entire life. In 1995, Phillips created the first website on the Internet dedicated to a single theme-park attraction, CHAOS at Opryland USA.

    Related authors

    Related to Opryland USA

    Related ebooks

    Special Interest Travel For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Fried to Perfection

      May 31, 2022

      Fried to Perfection
      2 min read

    • Article

      Secrets Of The Real Downton

      Oct 14, 2019

      Secrets Of The Real Downton
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Mystery Egg

      Feb 1, 2022

      None of us had ever seen anything like it! Oh, our own Easter baskets contained many delicious treats—wonderful chocolate bunnies, jelly beans, marshmallow chicks and coconut-cream eggs, usually made by our mother. Mother’s eggs were very tasty, but

      2 min read

    • Article

      This Creeping Malaise

      Dec 31, 2020

      This Creeping Malaise
      11 min read

    • Article

      10 Quick Questions

      Oct 3, 2021

      1. The 1979 song Crazy Little Thing Called Love by the band Queen was written as a tribute to whom? ❑ John Lennon ❑ Billie Holiday ❑ Elvis Presley ❑ Buddy Holly 2. Which of these is not considered a marine mammal? ❑ Polar bear ❑ Manatee ❑ Hippopotamu

      1 min read

    • Article

      10 Quick Questions

      Feb 13, 2022

      1. Hello Sailor’s song Gutter Black was used as the theme music for which Kiwi TV series? ❑ Shark in the Park ❑ Nothing Trivial ❑ Outrageous Fortune ❑ University Challenge 2. Which novel includes the main characters Hazel, Fiver and Bigwig? ❑ Slaugh

      1 min read

    • Article

      Magnum Opus

      Feb 3, 2023

      Magnum Opus
      7 min read

    • Article

      Not All Musicals…

      Jan 18, 2022

      Not All Musicals…
      4 min read

    • Article

      Stadium Rock

      Aug 18, 2023

      Stadium Rock
      8 min read

    • Article

      A Blooming Good Show

      Apr 6, 2022

      A Blooming Good Show
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Southern Agenda

      Mar 14, 2019

      The Southern Agenda
      12 min read

    • Article

      Historic Background

      Apr 19, 2022

      Historic Background
      2 min read

    • Article

      10 Quick Questions

      Oct 31, 2021

      1. True or false? There’s no real difference between a tower and a turret. ❑ True ❑ False 2. Tony Clifton, an obnoxious lounge singer, was a character played by which comedian? ❑ Richard Pryor ❑ Andy Kaufman ❑ Rodney Dangerfield ❑ Roseanne Barr 3. Wh

      1 min read

    • Article

      10 Quick Questions

      Aug 14, 2022

      1. What is the world’s all-time highest-selling studio album by a solo female artist? ❑ True Blue, Madonna❑ Come On Over, Shania Twain❑ Music Box, Maria Carey❑ Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette 2. Which of these is an invention that greatly advan

      1 min read

    • Article

      Center Stage

      May 1, 2022

      Center Stage
      1 min read

    • Article

      Houses Of The Holy

      May 25, 2021

      Houses Of The Holy
      5 min read

    • Article

      Magical Musicals

      Mar 25, 2022

      Magical Musicals
      4 min read

    • Article

      Legendary Label

      Jan 17, 2021

      Legendary Label
      3 min read

    • Article

      History Sings In Memphis

      Nov 9, 2023

      I AM ON THE PORCH SWING OF A tiny wooden house, creaking to and fro and contemplating where I am. Inside this two-room ‘shotgun’ house, is where it all began for one of the world’s biggest stars. Standing in the bedroom, I have goosebumps as the guid

      4 min read

    • Article

      Marcia Hines ‘MOLLY MADE COUNTDOWN A HIT!’

      Jul 17, 2022

      It's hard to believe it's 35 years since we waved goodbye to Ian “Molly” Meldrum and his iconic music show Countdown. In its mammoth 13-year run, Countdown supported and nurtured local artists like Sherbet, Skyhooks, AC/DC, Olivia Newton-John, Ted Mu

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Wight Stuff

      Aug 18, 2020

      The Wight Stuff
      6 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Jan 13, 2022

      Books
      3 min read

    • Article

      Making Your Park

      Oct 17, 2019

      MY frothy and relevant column for 1 November covering our Brave New post-Brexit World has hit the buffers. I haven’t the foggiest idea what is going to happen. It all looks like a blind man trying to herd frogs into a bucket. Instead, I will provide

      2 min read

    • Article

      Editorial Calendar

      Feb 3, 2022

      • Ivy Williams was the first woman to be called to the English bar. • Actor Christopher Lee, who played Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, was born. • Actor Denholm Elliott was born. • British physicist James Chadwick discovers the neutron.

      2 min read

    • Article

      Lette From The Founder

      Apr 14, 2022

      Lette From The Founder
      3 min read

    • Article

      Magnum Opus

      Sep 11, 2023

      It's autumn 1972. John Cale is vacating The Manor, a picturesque residential studio nestled in the Oxfordshire hills of the UK. It's a recent acquisition by a budding music impresario called Richard Branson. The next artist booked into the studio is

      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Opryland USA

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Opryland USA - Stephen W. Phillips

      LLC.

      INTRODUCTION

      The Ryman Auditorium, constructed in 1892, is often referred to as the Mother Church of Country Music, but by the late 1960s, after hundreds of nights of performances of the Grand Ole Opry, the weekly radio show had beaten the building into what its owners called the mother of all firetraps. Without air-conditioning, the inside temperature could rise up to 120 degrees on summer nights. Some of the world-famous pews were supported by Coke crates. The outside of the auditorium was worse; adult theaters, panhandlers, and massage parlors lined the streets outside the Ryman. The thousands of families coming in to Nashville every weekend to see the Grand Ole Opry were appalled.

      The Ryman would either have to be renovated, or a new facility would have to be built. Improvements to the theater did not seem practical since the attendance for the weekly shows continued to climb. The National Life and Accident Insurance Company was the corporate owner of the Grand Ole Opry, as well as WSM, the 50,000-watt AM radio station that broadcast the show each week. The final answer came when Irving Waugh, the president of WSM and the Opry, visited Houston, Texas, on a golf trip. There, he saw Judge Roy Hofheinz’s Astrodome. It was the centerpiece of the Astrodomain complex, a property that not only included the Astrodome arena, but also the AstroWorld theme park, hotels, and more. Waugh had an epiphany. If the castle was Disney’s icon at Disneyland on the West Coast and the Astrodome was the focal point for the Astro World resort, then a new Opry House could be a centerpiece for a similar venture.

      No one had a theme park focused on music, and the Grand Ole Opry still had 325,000 people coming to Nashville each year to see the show and Opry House with nothing else to do. WSM veteran programmer Elmer Alley presented Irving Waugh a memo outlining his vision for the proposed Opryland resort. The new Opry House would have a theme park and a commercial district, mainly composed of hotels, motels, and apartments, that would complete the complex. On June 30, 1970, ground was broken for the Opryland USA theme park and future home of the Grand Ole Opry. The property encompassed 369 acres; 110 for the theme park, 105 for the future Opry Town, and the remaining acreage for parking and future development. Over the years, additional land around the property was purchased, and by 1997, the complex had grown to 750 acres.

      One of the keys to Opryland’s success was its location. Built just as Briley Parkway was extended past Interstate 40, the proposed land bordered the Cumberland River and was previously the site of Rudy’s Farm, a sausage and bacon operation. Most of the land was undeveloped, full of trees, streams, and natural foundation. Randall Duell, the architect for the park, aimed to keep nature intact. His design for the park followed natural trails and preserved as much of the existing trees and nature as

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1