Happy Birthday, Minnie Pearl

Country Music Hall of Fame member Minnie Pearl was born 100 years ago on this date in 1912. We honor her on her birthday and with special programs this weekend including a birthday party, panel discussion – Memories of Minnie, and film screenings. See our special program line-up at http://countrymusichalloffame.org/calendar/?year=2012&month=10&day=27

Kelly Lang's Album (1988)

Canadian country star K.D. Lang, left, pose with legendary vocalists Brenda Lee, Kitty Wells and Loretta Lynn, and with producer Owen Bradley, back. The four singers got together in Bradley's recording studio to make a music video of a medley they recorded for Lang's next album. 4/4/1988

Ricky Rogers/The Tennessean

Patsy Cline

On November 13, Universal Music's Hip-O Records will release a new Patsy Cline album called "On The Air: Her Greatest TV Performances".

Culled mostly from Patsy's appearances on WSM-TV's "Pet Milk Grand Ole Opry" show, hosted by T. Tom...

my Cutrer, the album will include the audio from 3 performances that have never been previously released to the public.

Track List:
* Crazy
* She's Got You
* Strange [Previously Unreleased]
* Imagine That
* Walkin' After Midnight
* A Church, A Courtroom, Then Goodbye
* I Fall To Pieces
* You're Stronger Than Me [Previously Unreleased]
* So Wrong
* When I Get Through With You (You'll Love Me Too)
* Why Can't He Be You [Previously Unreleased]
* Blue Moon of Kentucky
* Leavin' On Your Mind
* San Antonio Rose

Order your copy today:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B008XNPNOY/patsclintheladyt

Jim Reeves

Jim Reeves records "White Christmas" in the studio on Oct. 19, 1962. Reeves, one of the nation's top country music singer, is recording his first Christmas album for RCA Victor.

(Joe Rudis / The Tennessean)

[Courtesy of The Tennessean | Tennessean.com]

Floyd Cramer

Floyd Cramer, on piano, is one of the collection of Nashville's best musicians warms up to capture the sound in the studio on Oct. 19, 1962. Jim Reeves is recording his first Christmas album for RCA Victor.

(Joe Rudis / The Tennessean)

[Courtesy of The Tennessean | Tennessean.com]

Center Stage at the Opry

Brenda Lee and LuLu Roman, backstage at the Opry House Monday night, during the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation's "Center Stage at the Opry" event.

[Courtesy of LuLu Roman and Friends]

Pioneers of Country Music

Music or golf or both in the form of the Music City USA Pro-Celebrity Golf Tournament is the topic of conversation among this group at Crockett Springs National Golf Course on Sept. 27, 1972. They are entertainers Archie Campbell, left, Chet Atkins, Faron Young and Charlie Walker. They are getting ready to play the Crockett Springs layout in preparation for the Pro-Celebrity Oct. 13-15.
(Robert Johnson / The Tennessean)
[Courtesy of The Tennessean | Tennessean.com]

Minnie Pearl

Doris Graybille, left, a blue-ribbon winner in the National Rose Show at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, shares her top-ranked spray of miniatures with Minne Pearl and Mrs. Kemp Denning, Jr., of Gallatin on Sept. 23, 1982. Mrs. Denning received the top award for an arrangement of roses and Minnie was honored during the Show with the introduction of a bloom named in her honor.

(J.T. Phillips / The Tennessean)

[Courtesy of The Tennessean | Tennessean.com]

Johnny Cash Museum Store preps for opening

The long-awaited Johnny Cash Museum Store is slated to open within two weeks, according to museum founder Bill Miller.

The 850-square-foot retail space will anchor The Johnny Cash Museum, which is still several months from being unveiled, Miller said. Both the store and the museum are located in a vintage building on Third Avenue South about one-half block south of Broadway.

Miller (pictured) said the museum store will feature various memorabilia dedicated to Cash and his career. For example, the retail shop will offer autographed vinyl albums, photographs and books. T-shirts will also figure prominently.

“We are taking a curatorial approach,” Miller said of the retail shop, adding that he and his team have assessed retail spaces at high-end museums devoted to, for example, presidential libraries.

Miller, who is based in California and is known to have one of the world’s largest collections of Cash memorabilia (he operates johnnycashstore.com), said he wanted to open the retail space first, as it will serve as a “beachhead” of sorts. Currently, large-scale museum pieces are being built off-site.

The effort has not come without challenges, as both the SoBro-based retail store and museum will open later than Miller would have preferred.

“It’s a huge undertaking,” he said.

(Published October 10, 2012 by William Williams)