The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville is a must. I don’t care if you don’t even like country music – if you’ve ever listened to the radio, you’re going to find something relevant and interesting. Not to be missed.
There’s a special room dedicated to Patsy Cline, who was only 30 when she died, and I cried reading the letter she wrote to her mother-in-law about how she couldn’t pay the phone bill. She seemed so normal, despite her fame and incredible talent. Such a loss.
They’ve got a fascinating exhibit about the Bakersfield sound, featuring Buck Owens, Merle Haggard (who I was surprised to learn is still alive – Sorry, Merle!), and Dwight Yoakam. There’s also a ton of archival video footage, audio clips, photos, and artifacts.
The real shoes Carl Perkins wore! Would I be excited to see someone else’s smelly old shoes? No. But they’re THE blue suede shoes.
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A re-creation of Owen Bradley’s office. Notice the pile of cassettes. Nice.
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The original lyrics to Dolly Parton’s song, “Jolene.” The museum had a lot of lyrics, and some seemed written without any revision, like this, while others were scratched out and rewritten all over the place. Note the “Jolene Jolene etc.” at the top right.
Like any journalist worth no salt at all, I completely forgot to take notes, so I’m not sure who the next couple items belonged to. Maybe someone out there knows?
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I’m not a gun enthusiast but when I saw this I thought, wait, you could have guns for door handles? Sign me up for that NRA membership right now!
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Also! My dream suit: corn cobs on the knees, and farm boys carrying pails of water to my crotch. I’d never wear anything else.
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