| WHEN ROY ACUFF SAYS "PLAY"... I don't remember not loving country music and wanting to be a performer, which, in my kid's mind, meant being a member of the Grand Ole Opry. That didn't happen but, thank you, Lord, I got involved in entertainment journalism and, for some thirty years, the Grand Ole Opry was a major part of "my beat" -- something I have always regarded with gratitude. We hear about all the books that need to be written; wow, there are countless Opry backstage-and-on-stage stories, but my very favorite one, for obviously personal reasons, had a totally unexpected impact on the course of things. To add to the magic, I didn't know what had happened for a year! At the first Exit/In bash CBS had for then- new act Charlie Daniels, Dan Beck told the elbow rubbers, "We have an interesting precedent for this event. About a year ago, we had a listening party in this same room for Willie Nelson's 'Redheaded Stranger' album, and there were barely twenty people present, in contrast to today's crowd. At the conclusion of 'Blue Eyes Cryin' In The Rain,' Bill Littleton stood up and clapped and yelled, and we went back to the office and re-thought the single." Like I say, wow! Maybe the moral is to be honest in expressing our feelings. What helped those feelings is that some six months before the Willie listening party, I was among the pickers in Roy Acuff's dressing room one Saturday night. At a given point, everybody but Jesse McReynolds and I drifted off, and Mr. Roy suggested, "You boys play something." Loving the song, knowing its history, and hoping he would sing, I started playing "Blue Eyes Cryin' In The Rain" and Jesse fell in with just the power you would expect. Mr. Roy didn't sing, but he watched and listened attentively, commenting when we finished, "That really is a good song. And you boys play it well." Six months later, Willie sings it in a batch of cowboy songs -- of course I got emotional! Bill Littleton |