Book Review: Historic Photos of the Opry: Ryman Auditorium 1974

Matt C | November 18th, 2007 Email Share

“The Opry left [the Ryman] in 1974 for the suburbs but music fans kept coming to commune with the ghosts. They wanted to come inside and look around, though the building had been left to moulder, with big holes in the roof, and to be torn down, but the persistent curiosity of ordinary people persuaded WSM to open up the place for tourists and eventually to renovate it as a concert venue and TV studio. The Ryman reopened for business in 1994.” — Garrison Keillor

hporyman.jpgGarrison Keillor’s introduction to Jim McGuire’s Historic Photos of the Opry: Ryman Auditorium 1974 appropriately sets the stage for a collection of photographs that’s unique and distinct in its focus. The Opry cast of 1974 was composed of as many legendary artists as any one in history, but performers like Porter Wagoner, Roy Acuff, Lester Flatt, Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash are only secondary characters in most of McGuire’s photographs. This book is about the Ryman Auditorium, Mother Church of country music, birthplace of bluegrass music and cradle for many of the genre’s greatest legends.

McGuire does an admirable job of capturing the charm of a legendary venue that in 1974, despite facing the loss of its only permanent tenant, was still very much in its prime. The need for a new venue is evident throughout the photographs: the Ryman’s dark and crowded dressing rooms, with instruments stacked from floor to ceiling in some cases, would no doubt be described as squalor by many of today’s performers. But it’s also clear what was lost: the line of fans that snaked through lower downtown as they waited for the opening of the venue’s doors; those without tickets who sat outside near open stained-glass windows and listened to the music; the easy-going “guard” at the back entrance who just might be persuaded to allow a few eager fans backstage.

Architecture inspiring art may be the focus of Historic Photos of the Opry, but McGuire’s character studies are not without merit. A beautifully poignant shot of a conversation between Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner reminds the viewer of the intimacy that could be found even amidst the chaos of an Opry production. McGuire captures the jubilance of Johnny Cash and June Carter as they hit the final note of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” the final song performed on the Ryman stage on the Opry’s last night, in a photograph that has both historical and emotional significance. While fans should derive pleasure from the numerous photographs of their favorite Opry stars, at times McGuire’s work becomes thematically redundant and the more trivial photographs dilute some truly remarkable work. The book’s text, while at times informative, is often bland and rarely equal in quality to the photographs that it describes.

Historic Photos of the Opry assumes new meaning in the aftermath of the re-opening of the Ryman Auditorium and the subsequent part-time return of the Grand Ole Opry. McGuire’s photographs communicate that, despite its historical significance, the Opry’s final show at the Ryman was a very subdued affair. Nashville was preoccupied with President Richard Nixon, whose popularity had hit rock bottom in the wake of the Watergate scandal and was trying to salvage his Presidency with an appearance at the opening of the Grand Ole Opry House the next day. As the curtain came down for the final time, Opry security warily supervised the departing fans, fearful of a riotous scramble for any Ryman souvenirs that could be torn off of the walls. McGuire photographs the Opry staff as they disassemble the show’s signage and the Ryman falls eerily silent. It’s almost as if the Ryman passes without notice, the victim of a remarkable and puzzling public apathy that nearly lead to its demolition at the end of the last century. Historic Photos of the Opry: Ryman Auditorium 1974 is an important addition to the legacy of the Ryman Auditorium that should help ensure perpetual love and appreciation for this remarkable venue.

312 Stars

Buy: Historic Photos of the Opry: Ryman Auditorium 1974

  1. Baron Lane
    November 20, 2007 at 9:04 am Permalink

    I’ll have to pick this one up. Any shots of the unofficial Opry green room Tootsies Orchid Lounge across the alley?

  2. Matt C
    November 20, 2007 at 11:21 am Permalink

    No, though at least one allusion to it in the text.

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