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

Garrison 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.

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