The Steel Guitar Forum

Stonewall wins in federal court, to persue his fight against Pete Fisher and Gaylord intertainment for age discrimination...Good luck Stonewall.

Way to go Stonewall. Jody.

Hey Bill,this here is a good point(Stonewall Jackson) to watch about Brotherhood.You'll see which walls stand up & I am sure it won't be Stonewall Jackson in the winner circle at the end.He(Stonewall) Just won his day in Court to be heard,that's all. I'm for Right not Wrong,but,will see out of this about who stands with him. Leo J.Eiffert,Jr. & Pigeons

I'm so proud of you Stonewall, way to go

I don't know if he will win this battle but win or lose I think he it will help the classic country movement. With that said I think we should all be behind him on this. If I had the bread I would pay his lawyer fee's. Thats how deeply I feel about this movement. You go Stonewall.

I too am in Stonewall's corner all the way. As one of the few living classic country legends left his victory in court will help to preserve the tradition of classic country and bluegrass music being played at The Grand 'Ol Opry.

There are probably others who can better express what I am trying to say but I think you get the idea.

Donny

Is there any possibility that a petition could be started to help in his cause?

I wish Stonewall the best on his day in court, but I don't see it changing things much industry wise regarding the state of traditional country music. OK, so I am the "Nay Sayer" here, but I just don't see the recording industry or anyother portion of the music media taking an interest in producing and promoting traditional country music or the artists that perform it. But I will say this, no one would be any happier than me, if just a half dozen artists could get on major labels and be promoted as traditional country music performers.

I'd say he has already won a victory by proving someone treated wrongly and pushed aside by the Opry crewless, by showing backbone strong enough to stand up to broken promises.. The fact it got this far is a victory..However he can't count on too much support from those that never stand up for anything. Stonewall in a sense is making it possible for them not to be bent over like he was..fisher is at the think twice mode now..Age discrimination should not be ignored for only Musicians..

Some Good observations there Joe.

He sure hasn't got a lot of support from the other senior members of the opry cast. Afraid of losing their jobs , maybe.

I remember Pete Fisher being taken to task on this very forum for the firing of several members of the Opry staff band, a few years ago.

Funny thing, they were senior Musicians, about the same ages as the senior opry cast members. They hadn't lost any of their ability, as a matter of fact Leon Rhodes sounds better now than he ever has. So much for the age factor.

Fisher needs to be put on the firing list and they (Gaylord) need to get someone with some knowledge and talent to take that mess over they call the Grand Ole Opry these days and clean it up.

I nominate Eddie Stubbs, but it seems a few years ago that Gaylord was trying to reduce his airtime, and move him over for some young bright personalties. He knows the Heritage of the opry and the music.

I think that the Opry started to slide downhill when it and WSM were bought by Gaylord.

The Opry ran sucessfully for years with WSM radio personel moving up into the Top management spot. It started with the Solemn ole Judge George D. Hay and ended when Pete Fisher was installed. Pretty good recipe for sucess, having someone who knew the music industry to move up and take over.
Now why would anyone try to fix something that wasn't broken.?

Just a few observations of mine over the years.

John Floyd

This is great,There are a FEW decent shows on the tv portion of the opry,the key word is FEW,I saw a post awhile back that listed the line up of the non tv sets,and yes there were some of the REAL country artists[the few that's left]But the TV shows that millions see is mostly a rock and roll show,so they can promote the [what ever it is]they call country,I would'nt doubt if Paris Hilton recorded a version of Cold,Cold,Heart Mr.Fisher would book her on the opry in a heartbeat,And she would proberly be the host of the next CMA awards.For millions of us we can't make it to the opry to see the non tv portion.DYKBC.

I hope Stonewall the best. It makes me sick to try and watch the Opry, and it's a bunch of wanna be rock and rollers.

Well i'm in Stonewalls corner on this .
We were at the Opry in September...enjoyed Porter..Ricky Scaggs...Jimmy C Newman and Little Jimmy Dickens and all the musicians....but as I had some kind of 'flu I had to walk out on the last two acts which were blaring loud rock....my head was fit to bust !!!!!
Tony

Seems like the only time I post anything, it's in the defense of country music and to put down this crap on the radio and the Opry. Makes me fighting mad!!!

I saw Stonewall, Jack Greene and Jeannie Sealy this past Friday night in Knoxville. Enjoyed it for the most part. They had a steel on stage but he couldn't be heard much...They never gave him a kick-off and maybe 3 breaks in the entire show. I don't know who he was or why he was held back. The elect. guitar and piano (keyboard) did 98% of the back-up. The entire show could have been much, much better. I sometimes think even the older, traditonal singers will not do it like it use to be. Get rid of that elect. bass and bring back the old dog-house bass. I know I'm the only one in the world that loves that crying music....could listen to it all night long

Sorry for getting off the subject here. I get carried away sometimes.

Now back to the regular scheduled program.

Seems like the only time I post anything, it's in the defense of country music and to put down this crap on the radio and the Opry. Makes me fighting mad!!!

I'm with You Dennis, I think people are starting to forget what Country Music is supposed to sound like.
Theres one Thing for sure, This is real country, get in touch with Ray Harrison on this forum and he will let You know how and where to buy it.

This is the last Project that John Hughey worked on , I think. Has the great Guitarist, Al Bruno who worked with Wynn Stewart for years too. Ray Harrison is an OLD Navy Buddy of mine and sings his Butt Off. This is not the actual label, I made this one, maybe Ole Ray will send me a real copy.
John

Another vote for Stonewall.