Johnny Cash, George Jones, Loretta Lynn: History Preserved

Country legend Johnny Cash.

March 25, 2009 — The long-established backdrop for the Grand Ole Opry’s productions has been a red barn, so it’s appropriate that a ton of old concerts, primarily by Opry stars, were preserved in the back of a barn for decades. Now those live recordings — including performances by such legends as Johnny Cash, Roy Acuff, Loretta Lynn and George Jones — may find their way to the marketplace.

According to The Boston Globe, rumors of the tapes’ existence had circulated for years, but it was only when a California actor and producer, Richard Pittman, took the legend seriously that they were tracked down. Ken Alexander, a now deceased sound engineer, had recorded hundreds of shows in the Northeast from the 1940s through the early ‘70s and left them in a building on his farm. The current owner hesitated for about a year after Pittman tracked him down before finally selling off the reel-to-reel tapes, which required two pickup-truck loads to remove them from the property. All told, there were more than 1,000 concerts documented, though many of the tapes were in bad condition — mangled, wrinkled, spliced. Many of the boxes didn’t even notate who had been recorded, or when, or where.

Among the collection are 1940s performances by Country Music Hall of Famers Roy Acuff and Grandpa Jones, Porter Wagoner duets with Dolly Parton and a Loretta concert in which Crystal Gayle appears on background vocals the night before Crystal started recording her first album.

And then there’s Jerry Lee Lewis.

"He shows up late, tries to hide the fact that he's drinking onstage and finally says, 'Screw it, I'm drinking,' forgetting lyrics along the way," engineer J Franze told The Globe. "It's great, just him doing his thing."

Thus far, only 50 of the tapes have been restored completely. The producers still don’t even know all they’ve got in their hands. But they’re convinced there’s an audience for the music.

"Somebody," J said, "is in for a big treat."

In the meantime, some of country’s standards get rolled out with the unveiling of a new Opry Country Classics show on Thursday. The first edition of the weekly series features Loretta, Lorrie Morgan, Mandy Barnett and Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers Band, who host the performance. The honor is timely for the Gatlins: March is the 30th anniversary of the recording session that yielded their signature hit, "All The Gold In California."