This was going to be a long day as we had tickets for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Studio B tour in the morning and for the 9:30 pm show at Opryland, Up early to get downtown and then up late after the show.
A number of buildings in downtown Nashville have interesting architecture and the Country Music Hall of Fame is no exception.
This wall had the gold and platinum records for hundreds of artists. In the two floors of the Hall of Fame there are permanent exhibits as well as exhibits for some performers that run for a specific period. Kenny Rogers, Miranda Lambert, Buck Owens and others as well as exhibits for specific eras.
One exhibit featured Elvis Presley, his "Solid Gold" Cadillac and his Gold Piano.
We just took in all the exhibits, films, and didn't try to take pictures of most of it.
Next we went on the Studio B tour where many famous artists recorded their records. One example is Elvis who recorded on Sun Records in Memphis but only 5 records there. All of the rest were recorded here. Studio B put Nashville on the musical map.
Just some of the famous artists that have recorded here.
The Everly Brothers.
The wall shows the Elvis hits recorded in Studio B.
Marge at the piano that Elvis played for some of his hits. One in particular was "Are You Lonesome Tonight" which he insisted on recording in the dark at 3 am. Yes, he had some quirks. Many others have used this piano over the years and its beautiful Steinway sound can be heard on many records.
We finished up the morning with lunch at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Restaurant.
Don suggested strongly that we take the shuttle from the campground to Opryland to avoid the hassle of driving and parking and then getting out after the show. It was a good choice.
The set is different from the Ryman but the musicians were the same.
He was not on the program but Little Jimmy Dickens came out and told some jokes and sang a song. He is almost 94 and is still preforming some. Opry was celebrating its 89th year so he has been around longer.
The featured artist was Trace Atkins.
These two really stole the show and got rave reviews.
Well, rave reviews from Don and Marge, anyway. This was actually after the backstage tour at the Ryman on Sunday.
We tried again to have lunch at the Loveless Cafe and were successful. It only took waiting an hour and forty minutes. A lot of southern style food. Would we do it again? I don't think so but we can say we have been there now.
We certainly didn't do much sitting around and were on the go seeing things most of the time we spent here. It was a mix of entertainment and history, all interesting and enjoyable.
Tomorrow we move on to Branson, MO for four nights and more shows.
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