Vince Gill Reflects on Opry

Vince Gill and Little Jimmy Dickens on the Grand Ole Opry stage. Photo courtesy of the Grand Ole Opry.

Oct. 8, 2008 — Little Jimmy Dickens’ 60th anniversary as a member of the Grand Ole Opry comes up in November, and one fellow Opry star who’s quite appreciative of Little Jimmy is Vince Gill.

Vince, who joined in 1991, brought his dad, Stan Gill, to see an Opry show — a huge moment for Stan, who grew up a fan of many of the Opry’s top performers. When Stan met Little Jimmy, he mentioned that he was having a hard time locating a copy of Little Jimmy’s 1949 hit "Country Boy." Jimmy got Stan’s address and sent him one.

Vince had no idea at the time how significant that was. But at his dad’s funeral in 1997, he stocked a boom box with some of Stan’s favorite songs, and the first one on the CD was "Country Boy."

"After I played that, I asked my dad’s brother to speak," Vince recalls in the new book Behind The Grand Ole Opry Curtain. "He was kind of in shock. He said, ‘I cannot believe Vince picked "Country Boy" to play. He probably has no idea of this, but when we were little boys, we got a little record player for Christmas, and the first record we ever had was that.’"

Vince’s family connection to the Opry is just one of numerous personal stories in Behind The Grand Ole Opry Curtain, a book by Robert K. Oermann being released on Wednesday. Coming in the midst of Opry Month, the book is filled with stories of such current Opry members as Garth Brooks, Clint Black, Marty Stuart and Trace Adkins — plus tales about such late Opry stars as Patsy Cline, Marty Robbins, Hank Williams and Minnie Pearl. Many of the stories are familiar ones, but the author — recognized as the dean of country music journalists — adds new material or new perspectives to provide a slightly different spin on the people who’ve played a role in the history of a show that’s lasted more than 80 years.

Appearing on the Opry this weekend are Hal Ketchum, Darryl Worley, Kenny Rogers and Lorrie Morgan. You can see them on GAC’s Opry Live, beginning Saturday at 9 p.m. ET.