George Dewey Hay (November 9, 1895, Attica, Indiana - May 8, 1968, Virginia Beach, Virginia) was the founder of the original Grand Ole Opry radio program on WSM (AM) in Nashville, Tennessee, from which today's country music stage show of the same name has evolved. November 9 is the 313th day of the year (314th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Attica is a city located in Fountain County, Indiana. ... May 8 is the 128th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (129th in leap years). ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the 1968 Gregorian calendar. ... Location in the Commonwealth o Virginia. ... The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly Saturday night country music radio program broadcast live on WSM radio in Nashville, Tennessee, and televised on Great American Country network. ... WSM is the callsign of a 50,000 watt AM radio station located in Nashville, Tennessee. ... Nickname: Location in Davidson County and the state of Tennessee Coordinates: Country United States State Tennessee Counties Davidson County Founded: 1779 Incorporated: 1806 Government  - Mayor Bill Purcell (D) Area  - City  526. ... This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ...

In Memphis, Tennessee, after World War I, Hay was a reporter for the Commercial Appeal, and when the newspaper launched its own radio station, WMC, in January 1923, he became a late-night announcer at the station. His popularity increased and in May 1924 he left for WLS in Chicago, where he served as the announcer on a program that became National Barn Dance. For other uses, see Memphis (disambiguation). ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... A Female Reporter A reporter is a type of journalist who researches and presents information in certain types of mass media. ... The Commercial Appeal is the predominant daily newspaper of Memphis, Tennessee. ... As an acronym, WMC usually refers to the Winter Music Conference, held every March in Miami. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... WLS (Worlds Largest Store) is the callsign two broadcast stations in Chicago: radio station WLS AM 890 TV station WLS-TV 7 (DTV 52) WLS (Weight Loss Surgery) see Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery   This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that... Nickname: Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in the Chicago metro area and Illinois Coordinates: Country United States State Illinois County Cook & DuPage Incorporated March 4, 1837 Government  - Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area  - City  234. ... The National Barn Dance was a former country music radio program broadcast in the early period of radio over the facilities of WLS in Chicago, Illinois. ...

On November 9, 1925 he moved on to WSM in Nashville. Getting a strong listener reaction to 78-year-old fiddler Uncle Jimmy Thompson that November, Hay announced the following month that WSM would feature "an hour or two" of old-time music every Saturday night. He promoted the music and formed a booking agency. November 9 is the 313th day of the year (314th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The show was originally named WSM Barn Dance, and Hay billed himself as "The Solemn Old Judge." The Barn Dance it was broadcast after NBC's Music Appreciation Hour, a program featuring classical music and grand opera. One day in December 1927, the final music piece on the Music Appreciation Hour depicted the sound of a rushing locomotive. After the show ended, "Judge Hay" opened the WSM Barn Dance with this announcement: This article discusses classical music in the first sense (see below). ... Grand Opera is a style of opera mainly characterized by many features on a grandiose scale. ... Great Western Railway No. ...

Hay then introduced the man he dubbed "The Harmonica Wizard," DeFord Bailey, who played his classic train song, "The Pan American Blues," named for the crack Louisville and Nashville Railroad passenger train The Pan-American. After Bailey's performance, Hay commented, "For the past hour, we have been listening to music taken largely from Grand Opera. From now on we will present 'The Grand Ole Opry.'" DeFord Bailey (December 14, 1899 – July 2, 1982) was an early country music star and the first African American performer on the Grand Ole Opry. ... Chartered by the state of Kentucky in 1850, the L&N, as it was generally known, grew into one of the great success stories of American business. ... This article is about trains in rail transport. ...

During the 1930s, he was involved with Rural Radio, one of the first magazines about country music, developing the Opry for NBC and working on the movie Grand Ole Opry (1940). He was an announcer with the radio show during the 1940s and toured with Opry acts, including the September 1947 Opry show at Carnegie Hall. Face The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ... NBC (a former acronym for National Broadcasting Company) is an American television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street. ...

In 1945 he wrote A Story of the Grand Ole Opry, and he became an editor of Nashville's Pickin’ and Singin’ News in 1953. He moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he died in 1968. Location in the Commonwealth o Virginia. ...

He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1966. This official history of the Country Music Hall of Fame skirts the scandals well-documented by veteran Music Row historian Stacy Harris. ...

External links

• Opry.com: History of Judge Hay and the Opry
• Hay's bio at the Country Music Hall of Fame
• Hay bio at Virtual Country Music Heritage Museum