Ten Favorite Music Songs: Country Music Time (#10)

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I just finished my list of favorite songs with "song" in the title, so I suppose the natural progression from that subject is to go to songs that have the word "music" in the title. So I'll start my countdown with a song that's not well-known but definitely has a title that's no surprise to anyone who knows me. #10: Country Music Time - Lonzo & Oscar So here's the story: in 1949 Jim Denny, who infamously told Elvis Presley he'd best go back to driving trucks because he had no future in music, auditioned Homer & Jethro for the Grand Ole Opry. There was no question that their Hall of Fame career was well on its way, thanks to the popularity of their parody of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" (with June Carter). Denny, however, had a "problem" with Jethro's brother-in-law, who was playing guitar with them. He told Homer and Jethro they could become members of the Opry if they'd ditch the guitar-playing brother-in-law. In reply, Jethro said later, they simply picked up their instruments and walked out. So, Denny instead hired what Charlie Louvin later described as "the poor man's Homer & Jethro," Lonzo & Oscar. Brothers Lonzo (Johnny) and Oscar (Rollin) Sullivan had a minimal career in country music (Lonzo died of a heart attack in 1967; Oscar succumbed to leukemia in 2012), while Homer & Jethro are in the Hall of Fame. Oh, Jethro's brother-in-law guitarist that Jim Denny didn't like? His name was Chester Atkins. So anyway, here's Lonzo & Oscar doing a tribute to the Grand Ole Opry, complete with the closing statement of "the solemn old judge," George D. Hay, who was the first announcer for the Opry and gave the legendary program its name (by saying, "For the last hour you've been listening to grand opera, but from now on, it's Grand Ole Opry!") at the conclusion of the song. It has a long list of Opry favorites, many of whom have been long forgotten (okay, most of whom have been long forgotten, but I mean that several who had a career that weren't Hall of Fame worthy, like Sam & Kirk McGee). If you're interested (I'll keep you from counting), there are seventeen country acts mentioned in the song, six of which (the Fruit Jar Drinkers, Lonzo & Oscar [nice self-promotion there, huh?], Stringbean Dr. Lew Childre, Skeeter Davis, and Sam & Kirk McGee) are not in the Hall of Fame (and, of those six, the most worthy would be Skeeter Davis IMO). It's a happy, upbeat song that's a good oral history of the first 35 years of the legendary Grand Ole Opry. Country Music Time Written by Billy Henson, Lonzo Sullivan, and Oscar Sullivan Recorded by Lonzo & Oscar Released as a single, 1962 Just to keep things movin':