- Announcer: The following program
is a Tryout TV production
made possible in part by a special grant
from the Friends of Channel 21, Incorporated.
[bright music]
[country music]
- Good evening.
Welcome to the Wisconsin Opry.
[crowd applauding]
Hee-Hoo!
[country music]
[audience applauding]
Thank you very much and welcome to the show.
We've got a lot of folks we'd like you to meet tonight.
I'm Verge Dickinson.
Let's start off with a nice warm Opry welcome
for Miss Ellie Peters from Madison, Wisconsin.
[audience applauding and cheering]
- Thank you.
Thank you very much.
We have got just a whole bunch of country music
for you this evening, but you know,
I don't think that we could even have a country show
unless we included some Hank Williams.
And I think I hear one coming up right now.
[country music] [Ellie whooping]
* Goodbye Joe, me gotta go, me oh my oh *
* Me gotta go pole the pirogue down the bayou *
* My John, the sweetest one, me oh my oh *
* Son of a gun, we gonna have good fun on the bayou *
* Jambalaya, a-crawfish pie and-a file gumbo *
* 'Cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher amio *
* Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-oh *
* Son of a gun, we gonna have big fun on the bayou *
* Thibodeaux, Fontainbleau, the place is buzzing *
* Kinfolk come to see my John by the dozen *
* Dress in style, go hog wild, and be gay oh *
* Son of a gun, we gonna have big fun on the bayou *
* Jambalaya, a-crawfish pie and-a fillet gumbo *
* 'Cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher amio *
* Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-oh *
* Son of a gun, we gonna big fun on the bayou *
* Have big fun
* Jambalaya, a-crawfish pie and-a fillet gumbo *
* 'Cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher amio *
* Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-oh *
* Son of a gun, we'll gonna have big fun on the bayou *
* We'll settle down far from town get me old pirouge *
* And I'll catch all the fish in the bayou *
* I'll swap my mon to buy my John what he needs, oh *
* Son of a gun, we gonna have big big fun on the bayou *
* Jambalaya, a-crawfish pie and-a file gumbo *
* 'Cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher amio *
* Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-oh *
* Son of a gun, we gonna have big fun on the bayou *
* Hee-Hoo
[crowd applauding]
- Thank you.
- Hey.
Hey.
Hey, I got some cow jokes.
- Ellie: More?
- Yes, more cow jokes.
These are new ones, these aren't last summers.
These are brand new cow jokes.
And the first one is, do you know where little cows eat?
- All: Where?
- In a cafeteria.
- Didn't like that one, huh?
Wait, I have one more. I have one more.
Do you know why ...
Do you know why cows have bells?
- Why? - Why?
- Because their horns don't work.
[ladies fake laugh]
- Ladies and gentlemen, this is Mr. Daniel Sommer
and Daniel's much well known,
more known for being the Wisconsin Opry King of Swing.
[country music]
* My window faces the south
* And I'm almost halfway to heaven *
* The snow is falling and but all I see *
* Bright fields of cotton smiling back at me *
* My window faces the south
* And though I am far from the Swanee *
* I'm never frowning or down in the mouth *
* My window faces the south
- Here's Bill.
[country music]
That's hot.
* Now my window faces the south *
* And I'm almost halfway to heaven *
* The snow is falling but all I see *
* Bright fields of cotton smiling back at me *
* My window faces the south
* And though I am far from the Swanee *
* I'm never frowning or down in the mouth *
* My window faces the south
[audience applauding]
Thank you.
Right now we're gonna bring Ms. Julie Keller up
from Wisconsin's Dells and she's gonna sing
a real pretty country song for you
called "Blue Kentucky Girl."
[country music]
* You left me for the bright lights of the town *
* A country boy set out to see the world *
* Remember when those neon lights shine down *
* That big old moon shines on your Kentucky Girl *
* I swear I love you by the moon above you *
* How bright is it shining in your world *
* Some morning when you wake up all alone *
* Just come on home to your blue Kentucky Girl *
* Don't wait to bring great riches home to me *
* I need no diamond rings or fancy pearls *
* Just bring yourself, you're all I'll ever need *
* That's good enough for this blue Kentucky Girl *
* I swear I love you by the moon above you *
* How bright is it shining in your world *
* Some morning when you wake up all alone *
* Just come on home to your blue Kentucky Girl *
[audience applauding]
- Thank you.
Thank you.
We brought a couple of our own
Wisconsin farm boys with us tonight.
We brought 'em from the Dells.
We have the Reifdeck brothers.
We have Doug back on the drums
and we have Dennis over on the bass.
[audience applauding]
They're gonna get together with Dan and Virgil
and take you on a little barnyard tour.
- That's right. We're gonna start out our tour though,
with a farm folk tale.
It's about your favorite barnyard creature, the hog.
It goes like this.
T'was was a pig fair in September
and a day I shall remember.
I was wandering up and down in drunken pride
when my knees, they turned to butter
and I fell into the gutter and a pig came up
and laid down by my side.
Well, as I lay there in the gutter
thinking thoughts, I would not utter,
I overheard a passing lady say,
"You can tell the man who boozes by the company he chooses."
And with that, the pig got up and walked away.
[audience laughing]
That's ...
[audience applauding]
Thanks, that's just a warm up for more hog humor to come.
This is a hard luck story about a hog farmer
who has problems down in the hog pen.
And Dan's gonna start it out.
Three, four.
[country music] [Dan oinks]
* Well, I met him in a hospital about a year ago *
* and why I still remember him, I guess I'll never know *
* But he'd and he'd cry out in a medicated fog *
* Here I am in this dang bed
* and who's gonna feed them hogs *
* Four hundred hogs, they just standing out there *
* My wife can't feed 'em and my neighbors don't care *
* They can't get out and run around *
* like my old hunting dogs
* Here I am in this dang bed
* and who's gonna feed them hogs *
* His face was lean and his hands were rough *
* His way was hogs and his nature was tough *
* The doctors tried to tell him *
* Boy, you may not live at all
* The only thing that he could say was *
* who's gonna feed them hogs
* Four hundred hogs, they just standing out there *
* My wife can't feed 'em and my neighbors they don't care *
* They can't get out and run around *
* around like my old hunting dogs *
* Here I am in this dang bed
* and who's gonna feed them hogs *
- Volunteers? - Help!
- We need hog help.
- Now you got a big job to feed all them hogs
because they're various sizes and shapes.
From full-grown adult hogs ...
[Dan grunts]
To those smaller, adolescent hogs
[Dan squeaking]
and those little, bitty baby hogs.
[Dan screeching]
Aren't they cute?
But look out for the big boar!
[Dan bellowing]
Mammoth hog.
Now take all those hogs and ship 'em to market.
* And four hundred hogs comes to eight hundred hams *
* And that's a lot of money for a hog-raisin' man *
* Now four hundred hogs comes to sixteen hundred feet *
* The market's up and there are people *
* a-waiting on that meat
* Meat, meat, meat
* Porkchop, spam, bacon, fritters and hog snouts. *
* Now the doctors say they do not know *
* what saved the man from death *
* But in a few days he put on his overalls and he left *
* That's all there is to this small song *
* but waitress, before you leave *
* Would you bring me some coffee *
* and a hot ham sandwich, please *
* With cheese
* Four hundred hogs they're just standing out there *
* His wife can't feed 'em and my neighbors don't care *
* They can't get out and run around *
* like my old hunting dogs
* Here I am in this dang bed
* and who's gonna feed them hogs *
* Four hundred hogs, they just standing out there *
* My wife can't feed 'em and my neighbors don't care *
* Not today
* They can't get out and roam around *
* like my old hunting dogs
* Here I am in this dang bed
* and who's gonna feed them hogs *
* Why don't you feed em
[]
[audience cheering and applauding]
- Well, you know, it seems like the boys
are having a little trouble down in the barnyard down there,
but up on the farm, there's no exception.
You see, they're having a little
marital difficulties up there
and I'm gonna ask Cindy Dickinson from St. Louis, Missouri
to help me and Julie Keller from the Dells.
We're gonna tell you about it
in a Jeanne Pruett song called "Satin Sheets".
* Satin sheets
* Satin sheets to lie on
* satin pillows to cry on
* Still, I'm not happy, can't you see *
* Big long Cadillac, tailor-mades upon my back *
* But still, I want you to set me free *
* I've found another man
* One who gives more than you can *
* Though you've given me everything money can buy *
* But your money can't hold me tight *
* Like he does on those cold nights *
* You see, you couldn't keep me satisfied *
* Satin sheets to lie on, satin pillows to cry on *
* Still I'm not happy, can't you see *
* Big long Cadillac, tailor-mades upon my back *
* Still, I want you to set me free *
- Right now, ladies and gentlemen,
I'd like to meet some of these handsome men up here.
The dashing young man on the piano over there,
his name is David Briles and he hails
from Sisseton South Dakota.
[audience applauding]
The good looking guy on the steel back here,
his name is Smiley Bill Herwick.
And he hails all the way from Wisconsin.
[audience applauding]
* It's not what I have now
* Just one other man
* You see, he gives me so much more than you can *
* Though you've given me everything money can buy *
* But your money can't hold me tight *
* like he does on those cold nights *
* See, you couldn't keep me satisfied *
* Satin sheets to lie on
* satin pillows to cry on
* But still, I'm not happy, can't you see *
* Big long Cadillac
* The tailor-mades upon my back *
* But still, I want you to set me free *
* You know, you couldn't keep me satisfied *
* Satin sheets
[audience applauding]
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
- This next song is by a Canadian composer
named Ian Tyson of Ian and Sylvia,
but you've probably heard it by Judy Collins.
It's called "Someday Soon."
* There's a young man that I know, his age is twenty-one *
* Comes from down in Southern Colorado *
* Just out of the service and he's looking for his fun *
* Someday soon, going with him someday soon *
* My parents cannot stand him 'cause he rides the rodeo *
* My father says that he will leave me crying *
* I would follow him right down the toughest road I know *
* Someday soon, going with him someday soon *
* And when he comes to call
* My pa ain't got a good word to say *
* Must be he was just as wild in his younger days *
* So blow, you old blue northern, blow my love to me *
* He's driving in tonight from California *
* He loves his damned old rodeo as much as he loves me *
* Someday soon, going with him someday soon *
[gentle piano music]
* But when he comes to call, my pa ain't got a word to say *
* Must be he was just as wild in his younger days *
* Blow, you old blue northern, blow my love to me *
* He's driving in tonight from California *
* He loves his damned old rodeo as much as he loves me *
* Someday soon, going with him someday soon *
* Someday soon, going with him
* Someday soon
- Thank you. [audience applauding]
[band squawking]
Well, it sounds like more trouble in the barnyard again.
I guess we could go back to the swing crew.
That's Dennis and Dan.
We'll probably find out what's going on.
[country music] [band squawking]
- Take it away, David.
* We had a chicken
[band squawks]
* But no eggs would it lay
* We had a chicken
* But no eggs would it lay
* And my pa said
* Sonny, we're losing money
* And it isn't very funny
* Because our chicken won't lay *
- This is your part.
* It's butt
* One day a rooster came into our yard *
* And caught that chicken right off it's guard *
* It's laying eggs now, just like it used to *
* Since that rooster came into our yard *
* We had a milk cow
* But no milk would it give
* We had a milk cow
* But no milk would it give
* And pa said
* Sonny, we're losing money
* And it isn't very funny
* 'Cause our milk cow won't give milk *
* One day a rooster
* Came into our yard
* Then caught that milk cow
* Right off it's guard
* It's giving eggnog just like it used to *
* Since that rooster came into our yard *
* We had a gumtree
* But no gum would it give
* We had a gumtree
* But no gum would it give
* And pa said
* Sonny
- You know this one.
* We're losing money
* And it isn't very funny
* Cause our gumtree won't give
* Gum
* One day a rooster came into our yard *
* And caught that gumtree right off it's guard *
* Guess what
* It's giving chicklets just like it used to *
* Since that rooster came into our yard *
* We had a gas pump
* But no gas would it give
* We had a gas pump but no gas would it give *
- Guess what pa said. - This song stinks.
* But Sonny, we're losing money *
* And it isn't very funny
* 'Cause our gas pump won't give *
- Audience: Gas!
* One day a rooster came into our yard *
* And caught that gas pump right off it's guard *
* Guess what
* It's giving shell gas juts like it used to *
* Since that rooster came into our yard *
[audience applauding]
- Wait a minute.
You guys have to do one more verse.
Come on, I wanna hear one more.
- You wanna hear one more?
[audience cheering]
- Okay.
* We had a rooster
* But he was
[country music]
* He's name was Rucy
* We had a rooster
* But he was confused
* And daddy was so upset
* Guess what he said
* Sonny, we're losing money
* And it isn't very funny
* 'Cause our rooster is
- Audience: Gay!
* One day another rooster came into our yard *
* And caught that other rooster right off it's guard *
* Guess what
* It's laying hens now just like it used to *
* Since that rooster came into our yard *
[audience cheering and applauding]
- Thank you.
* I said good morning captain
- He must be sleeping.
Come on, darling, get on up there.
I need that job real bad.
Please.
Pretty please.
[upbeat country music]
* I said good morning captain
* Good morning to you, sir
* Do you need another mule skinner *
* Down on the new road trail
[ladies yodeling]
* Well, I'm a lady mule skinner *
* From Tennessee away and I brought extra *
* Well, I'll make any mule listen *
* I won't accept your can, no
[band yodeling]
[upbeat country music]
* I said hey
* Hey little water boy won't you bring your bucket 'round *
* Come on son, and bring that old bucket around *
* And if you don't like your job *
* Go on and let that bucket down *
[ladies yodeling]
Smiling Bill on the steel.
[country music]
* See, we being working out at the Opry *
* Way up there in Wisconsin, Dells *
* And you know well, we're working really hard *
* For that no good Virgil
* Who spending all of my pay
* And I tell you, I'm tired of it *
[ladies yodeling]
* Come on, now
[ladies yodeling]
* Captain, you gotta give me the job *
* You know the bank is sending me those love letters *
[audience applauding]
- This is a song about the summertime
nightlife in Wisconsin, Dells.
There's a lot more to do there
besides go to the Opry, you know.
You may find me after hours
down in one of those nice, cool air conditioned bars.
And then I roll home about bar time,
feeling single and seeing double.
* Well, I really had a ball last night *
* I held all the pretty boys tight *
* I was feeling single
* Seeing double
* Wound up in a whole lot of trouble *
* But today I'm face the big fight *
* 'Cause I really had a ball last night *
* Well, I came home from work this morning *
* My baby was feeling low
* So asked him what was on his mind *
* Then he told me where I could go *
* Well, I didn't go where he told me to *
* Because the water was cold in the lake *
* Now there's something fishy about this whole deal *
* I don't see where I made my mistake *
* Well, I really had a ball last night *
* I held all the pretty boys tight *
* I was feeling single, seeing double *
* Wound up in a whole lot of trouble *
* But today I'll face the big fight *
* But I really had a ball last night *
* When I woke up this morning
* Like me, the sun was high
* So I started walking the long way home *
* To think of an alibi
* But I couldn't think of a darn dawn thing *
* That hadn't already been said *
* So, I guess I may as well play it by ear *
* 'Cause I'm already dead
* Well, I really had a ball last night *
* I held all the pretty boys tight *
* I was feeling single, seeing double *
* Wound up in a whole lot of trouble *
* But today I'll face the big fight *
* 'Cause I really had a ball last night *
* Today I'll face the big fight *
* But I really had a ball last night *
[audience applauding] - Thank you!
- Thank you.
You know, I want you all to take a little trip
through your imagination with me now, if you would,
and I want you to picture a big old moon
about halfway up in the sky
and then I want you to fill the whole sky in
with just lots and lots of stars.
And if you really believe,
you might see a tired old cowboy
coming in out of the desert.
See, this Cowboy's been around a couple years
and has had to learn a lot of things.
But you see the hardest lesson
that cowboy's had to learn is one that we all do.
And that is when you lie to yourself,
you yourself become ...
* Desperado
* Why don't you come to your senses *
* You've been out riding fences now so long *
* Oh, you're a hard one
* But I know that you got your reasons *
* It seems the things that are pleasing you *
* Can hurt you somehow
* Don't you draw the queen of diamonds, boy *
* She'll beat you if she's able *
* You know the queen of hearts is always your best bet *
* Now it seems to me, some fine things *
* Have been laid upon your table *
* But you only want the things that you can't get *
* Desperado, oh, you ain't getting no younger *
* It seems your tears and your hunger now *
* They're leading you home
* And freedom, well that's just some people talking *
* You see, your prison's really walking *
* Through this world all alone
* Don't your feet get cold in the winter time? *
* The sky won't snow and the sun won't shine *
* It's hard to tell the night time from the day *
* You're losing all your highs and lows *
* Ain't it funny how the feeling goes away *
* It just goes away
* Desperado
* Why don't you come to your senses *
* Come down from your fences now and open the gate *
* It may be raining, but there's a rainbow above you *
* You better let somebody love you *
* Let somebody love you
* Oh let somebody love you
* Before
* It's too late
* Desperado
[audience applauding]
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
- Oh, you know what?
No country show would be complete
without a real hoedown foot stomper.
And Dennis is gonna get his little fiddle out here
and we're gonna play a foot stomper for you
if you'd like to clap along.
And if you'd like to sing along,
your part goes, "Turkey in the hay."
[country music]
* As I was a-goin' on down the road *
* With a tired team and a heavy load *
* I cracked my whip and the leader sprung *
* I says day-day to the wagon tongue *
* Turkey in the straw
* Turkey in the hay
* Turkey in the straw * Turkey in the hay *
* Roll 'em up and twist 'em up
* A high tuck a-haw
* And hit 'em up a tune called Turkey in the Straw *
* I came to the river and I couldn't get across *
* So I paid five dollars for a blind old horse *
* Well, he wouldn't go ahead
* And he wouldn't stand still
* So he went up and down like an old saw mill *
* Turkey in the straw
* Turkey in the hay
* Turkey in the straw
* Turkey in the hay
* Roll 'em up and twist 'em up a high tuck a-haw *
* And hit 'em up a tune called Turkey in the Straw *
* Well, I jumped into the wagon and I gave a little yell *
* And the horse took off like a bat outta hell *
* There was sugar on the ground *
* Flour in the corn
* Haven't seen so much since the day that I was born *
* Turkey in the straw
* Turkey in the hay
* Turkey in the straw * Turkey in the hay *
* Roll 'em up and twist 'em up a high tuck a-haw *
* And hit 'em up a tune called Turkey in the Straw *
[lively country music]
[audience applauding]
- Dennis, everybody.
Right now, we're gonna bring Ms. Julie Keller
back up to sing an old Cajun tune for you.
And this is called
"Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight."
* Mary took to running with a traveling man *
* Left her momma crying with her head in her hands *
* Such a sad case, so brokenhearted *
* She say, "Momma, got to go, got to get out of here *
* Got to get out of town, tired of hanging around *
* I got to roll on between the ditches *
* It's just an ordinary story about the way things go *
* Around and around, nobody knows *
* But the highway goes on forever *
* Oh, that old highway goes on forever *
* She never would've done it if she hadn't got drunk *
* Hadn't started running with a traveling man *
* If she hadn't started taking those crazy chances *
* She said daughter, let me tell you *
* 'bout the traveling kind
* Everywhere they go such a very short time *
* He'll be long gone before you know it *
* Oh, he'll be long gone before you know it *
* She say, never have I seen it went it looked so good *
* Never have I knew it when I knew I could *
* Never have I done it when it looked so right *
* Leaving Louisiana in the broad daylight *
* This is down in the swampland where anything goes *
* It's alligator bait and the bars don't close *
* It's the real thing down in Louisiana *
* Did you ever see a Cajun when he really got mad *
* When he really got trouble like a daughter gone bad *
* It gets real hot down in Louisiana *
* The stranger better move it or he's going to get killed *
* He's going to have to get it or a shotgun will *
* It ain't no time for lengthy speeches *
* There ain't no time for lengthy speeches *
* She say, never have I seen it when it looked so good *
* Never ever knew it when I knew I could *
* Never have I done it when it felt so right *
* Leaving Louisiana in the broad daylight *
* It's just an ordinary story about the way things go *
* Around and around nobody knows *
* But the highway goes on forever *
* That old highway goes on forever *
* There ain't no way to stop the water *
- Thank you. [audience applauding]
- You know, Dan here likes singing those cowboy songs
and I think better yet, he likes being a cowboy
but you know, there's a piece of each and every one of us
who yearns to be that I think,
and Dan would like a little trip with him
underneath the desert sky.
[slow country music]
* I'm riding along
* Singing the same old cowboy song *
* That's been sung a hundred times before *
* Ain't got nothing but my name *
* And I'm the only man I know to blame *
* But I'm living, I'm happy and I'm free *
* Just listen to the wind blow
* You let it blow, let it blow what you are *
* Sand over my trail
* I got my saddle on the ground *
* And that old moon, he can still be found *
* Just hiding in the desert sky *
* I like simple things in life like a prairie breeze *
* A good stout horse between my knees *
* And I'm all alone, I'm just being me *
* And when I die let me die with a dream in my mind *
* A smile on my face and no trouble behind *
* And no cross on my grave to show my resting place *
* You just listen to the wind blow *
* Let it blow, let it blow what you are *
* Sand over my trail
* I got my saddle on the ground *
* And that old moon, he can still be found *
* Hiding in the desert sky
[country music]
* You just listen to the wind blow *
* Let it blow, let it blow what you are *
* Sand over my trail
* I got my saddle on the ground *
* And that old moon, he can still be found *
* Hiding in the desert sky
* Won't you bury me with my chaps on *
* And my six-gun strapped to my side *
* So I can watch the moon a-hiding in the desert sky *
* Swing it home
* Just hiding in the desert sky *
[audience applauding]
- Thank you.
You know, Wisconsin is very fortunate
that they have so much talent
but there are always a lot of people
that we never get to hear from.
And very specially this evening,
I would like to dedicate our next song
"Memphis Moonlight" to one of those unsung heroes,
the author himself, Mr. Tom Belser
from Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin.
* I remember the night and Memphis moonlight *
* The whipper wind
* The sycamore
* The memories of you
* I wish the dawn would never break *
* Oh how my heart aches
* The night the Memphis moonlight turned blue *
* You ran away with them good old Kentucky boys *
* You say that your love would be true *
* Well, then I ran away
* And hid deep within myself
* The night the Memphis moonlight turned blue *
[piano music]
* Love is a funny thing
* You can see it in my veins
* The tears that I cry for you
* Can still be erased
* But the heartbreak inside
* Since you went away
* Here in my heart tucked safely away *
* I remember
* The night in the Memphis moonlight *
* The whipper wind
* The sycamore
* The memories of you
* I wished the dawn would never bring *
* Oh my heart aches the night
* The Memphis moonlight turned blue *
* The whipper wind
* The sycamore
* And the memories
* Of you
[audience applauding]
Thank you, Dennis.
Thank you, Mr. Belser for a beautiful song.
Thank you.
[audience applauding]
- Ellie.
Ellie, did you hear what the, the ...
The really tragic thing that happened
in Madison last night?
A man was killed by a weasel.
- How could a man possibly be killed by a weasel?
- Well, he was walking down the railroad track
and he didn't hear the weasel.
* Hey, look over yonder
* Coming down that railroad track *
* Hey, look over yonder
* Coming down that railroad track *
* It's the Orange Blossom Special *
* Bringing my baby back
- It's getting time to go home tonight.
And the conductor, this is Mr. Dennis.
He's gonna take us home on that Orange Blossom Special
All aboard.
[frantic country music]
What's wrong, Dennis?
Oh, Dennis, you can't stop, you're on TV.
[slow country music]
I don't think you really wanna blow it.
Come on Dennis, now you have to think real hard
when these things happen.
You remember, when you were just a little boy
and you couldn't do something your mama says
you have to think real hard.
You have to think you can.
* I think I can
I think we can, come on.
* I think I can * I think I can
[frantic country music]
[audience applauding]
- Thank you very much.
That was Mr. Dennis.
I'd like to thank all you folks
in the studio audience and everybody at home.
This will be the last number of the evening.
- Announcer: The proceeding program
was a Tryout TV Production
made possible in part by a special grant
from the Friends of Channel 21 Incorporated.