Records and Roots: Ryman Auditorium, Grand Ole Opry hold an intertwined history

Fifty years ago tomorrow, the fabled Grand Ole Opry staged its last broadcast from country music's Mother Church of Country Music, Nashville's Ryman Auditorium.Well, at least they thought it would be the Ryman's last Opry show.The night was Friday, March 15, 1974. Throughout its history, the Grand Ole Opry broadcast only on Saturday night. So its final staged broadcast at the Ryman was the Friday Night Opry. One night later, on Saturday, March 16, 1974, the Grand Ole Opry staged its first show at the Grand Ole Opry House, which was then a part of the now-defunct Opryland amusement park.History swirls like cream in the blackest of coffee at the Opry and the Ryman.Built by Thomas Ryman and originally named the Union Gospel Tabernacle, the church opened in 1892. Unofficially named the Ryman Auditorium upon Thomas Ryman's death in 1904, the name became official 40 years later.The Opry lived at the Ryman from 1943 until 1974. Its first night there, on Saturday, June 5, 1943, began a 31-year golden era run for the Opry.Country music thrived. Those 31 years witnessed the coming of bluegrass, the emergence of the Hillbilly Shakespeare, the birth of rock 'n' roll, the Coal Miner's Daughter and more.While its wooden planks creaked and its original wooden pews provided little comfort, fans made the Ryman's walls swell. It was cold in the winter and hot in the summer, but neither mattered when audiences gathered inside the Mother Church of Country Music.In those days, its balcony wrapped around so that its ends were directly on top of the sides of the stage.Loretta Lynn spoke to me about that."Honey, there was no air conditioning in the summer," Lynn said. "People would drink cold Cokes in their seats. And sometimes they spilled some. I can still feel that sticky Coke dripping from the balcony and ending up in my hair."Those were the days of the Opry at the Ryman. Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs made their Opry debut as members of Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys in December 1945. Hillbilly Shakespeare Hank Williams made his Opry debut there in June 1949. Johnny Cash, Maybelle Carter, Patsy Cline and even Elvis Presley (for just one song in 1954) all performed at and helped make famous the Ryman Auditorium through the Grand Ole Opry.Announced in 1969, the Opry moved from the Ryman in 1974. By then, and particularly for about two decades thereafter, much of downtown Nashville eroded into dereliction. For instance, as late as the mid-1990s, there was a peep show on Broadway within sight of the Ryman's roofline.The Ryman looked like a diamond dragged through a coalfield.For 19 years, the Ryman remained closed. On occasion, Hollywood came to call. Seven movies were at least in part filmed at the Ryman. They included 1980's Loretta Lynn biopic "Coal Miner's Daughter" and Clint Eastwood's "Honkytonk Man" in 1982.And yet, the actual destruction of the Ryman appeared imminent. After community leaders and lawmakers banded together with such country singers as Emmylou Harris, the owner of the Ryman, National Life, decided not to demolish its hallowed property.Renovations began in 1989. Under its new owner, Gaylord Entertainment Co., extensive repairs restored the Mother Church of Country Music. Two years later, Harris championed the Ryman's return when she recorded a live album and documentary, "Live at the Ryman." It officially reopened as a live venue and museum in 1994. In 2001, the Ryman was designated as a National Historic Landmark.Through a lens of taut retrospect, the very thought of replacing the Ryman Auditorium with a parking lot — or anything else — seems as unlikely as kisses and hugs between Israel and Hamas. Well, pucker up. Because it nearly happened; the Ryman — much like the Paramount in downtown Bristol a decade or so later — nearly fell to the wrecking ball.Nonetheless, the Ryman survived and thrives. The Grand Ole Opry staged a benefit show at the Ryman on Oct. 18, 1998, its first return to the building since its 1974 exit. In November 1999, the Opry moved its Friday and Saturday night shows to the Ryman from the Grand Ole Opry House for three months. The Opry maintained the winter visits for more than a decade.Nowadays, the Opry returns to the Ryman much more sparingly. However, when President Richard M. Nixon appeared on the Opry for its first show at the Opry House in 1974, most if not everyone thought the Opry's days at the Ryman were done.Roy Acuff cried. So did Minnie Pearl.Yet today visitors to the Ryman can see one of country music's most beautiful of sights a few steps inside its doors. Upon an original Ryman wooden pew sits the statues of old pals Roy Acuff and Minnie Pearl, appearing as if deep in animated conversation.Though nearly buried in concrete and pavement, the ghosts of the Ryman Auditorium yet live. And thrive.