12 | Early TV, Hermitage Hotel, WWII Marriage | ‘Near You’ and Music City USA | March 2019 Issue
Release Date: 03/01/2019
Nashville Retrospect
Veteran reporter Larry Brinton recalls growing up in Nashville, how he became a reporter, and more of this big news stories, including the Janet March murder, President Kennedy’s Nashville visit, and the cash-for-clemency scandal, which led to his portrayal of himself in the 1985 movie “Marie.” This special podcast, on the occasion of Brinton’s recent death, is a continuation of the interview from Episode 01. The contents of the August 2019 Nashville Retrospect are reviewed.
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At 94 years old, Mary B. Williams remembers being a teenager in East Nashville during World War II, dancing at the Hermitage Hotel, and her TV career at the birth of the medium. Historian Don Cusic tells the story of Nashville’s first big hit record, “Near You” in 1947, and the beginnings of Music City USA. And the contents of the March 2019 Nashville Retrospect newspaper are reviewed.
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Bill Carey relates how pervasive the institution of slavery was in Tennessee, as evidenced by ads in newspapers, including runaways and fancy girls. Taneya Koonce discusses the novel “Roots” and African-American genealogy. Also hear “Roots” author Alex Haley speak at the state capitol. And the contents of the February 2019 Nashville Retrospect newspaper are reviewed.
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Dr. Tom Kanon discusses the War of 1812, including: Tennessee’s rise to national prominence, becoming known as “The Volunteer State”; Native-Americans’ loss of millions of acres of territory in the Creek War; Gen. Andrew Jackson becoming president after a lopsided victory in the Battle of New Orleans; and how a comet and earthquakes helped launch the war. Also hear U.S. Congressman Richard Fulton’s country music record. And the contents of the January 2019 issue are reviewed.
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A woman jumped off the Shelby Street Bridge on Christmas Eve, 1956, with a baby in her arms. Interviews with Harold Hogue, Anne Knox, and Judy Hunt Charest about the tragic yet heroic event and its aftermath decades later. Also, Tennessee folk singers Dee and Delta Hicks discuss the lost tradition of Old Christmas. And the contents of the December 2018 issue are reviewed.
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Dr. Lisa Budreau discusses World War I relics in the Tennessee State Museum, including a German cannon and Sergeant York’s medals. Allison Griffey relates stories from the Gold Star Records, as well as stories about women factory workers, the influenza epidemic, and the Mexican village at the Old Hickory gun powder plant. Dan Pomeroy tells the history of the Military Branch Museum. And the contents of the November 2018 issue of The Nashville Retrospect are reviewed.
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Fletch Coke tells the history of Nashville City Cemetery (established in 1822) and the stories of the people buried there. Jeff Thompson and Larry Underwood discuss Nashville legendary TV horror hosts Dr. Lucifur and Sir Cecil Creape. And the spooky contents of the October 2018 Nashville Retrospect newspaper are reviewed.
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In 1957, the desegregation of Nashville public schools involved protests by white supremacists, political stalling, and a school bombing. Hear interviews with people who were there, including Lajuanda Street Harley, Sorena Street, Debi Oeser Cox, Joe Casey and Larry Brinton. Dr. Bobby Lovett explains Brown v. Board of Education. Also hear excerpts of desegregation hearings, and a review of the contents of the September 2018 Nashville Retrospect newspaper.
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Paul Clements relates stories about the first settlers to arrive in the Nashville area in the late 1700s, including why they came and why Native Americans attacked them. Hear Elvis Presley speak to the Tennessee legislature in 1961. And the contents of the August 2018 Nashville Retrospect newspaper are reviewed. (This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence.)
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Betsy Thorpe tells the stories from the 1918 Dutchman’s Curve train wreck in West Nashville, the deadliest in U.S. history. Also hear excerpts from humor columnist Elmer Hinton’s 1968 album “Down to Earth.” And the contents of the July 2018 Nashville Retrospect newspaper are reviewed.
info_outlineDancing at the Hermitage Hotel. Being at teenager at the start of World War II. Confronting Jim Crow injustices. Host Allen Forkum (editor of The Nashville Retrospect newspaper) interviews 94-year-old Mary B. Williams, who also recalls her career as a presenter in the early days of Nashville television, when commercials were performed live and occasionally made for humorous bloopers. (Segment begins at 04:40)
(Special thanks to Tom Vickstrom)
Mary Binkley Williams and her husband, Thurman P. Williams, are pictured at the time of her marriage in 1942 when she was 18 years old. She grew up at 1509 Russell St. in East Nashville before going with her husband to Virginia the day after their marriage. (Image: Mary B. Williams)
The Hermitage Hotel, Nashville’s first million-dollar hotel, opened in 1910 and is pictured here on a vintage postcard. Mrs. Williams has fond memories of the hotel, from fraternity dances, to sorority lunches, and even her honeymoon. (Image: Mike Slate)
Mrs. Williams landed a job modeling clothes for a N.Y. designer at Tinsley’s, a women’s clothing store in downtown Nashville. These advertisements appeared in the Jan. 21, 1945, Nashville Tennessean. (Image: Newspapers.com)
Original caption from the Aug. 13, 1950, Nashville Tennessean: “Behind the Camera’s Eye—Shelton Weaver, WSM-TV studio engineer, makes an adjustment on one of the station’s expensive television cameras. A single tube used in the camera costs $1,300.” In the podcast, Mrs. Williams recalls her career as at presenter in live commercials at WSM-TV. (Image: Newspapers.com, photo by Robert C. Holt Jr.)
Mrs. Williams today lives in the Green Hills area of Nashville.
Also hear Don Cusic, Curb professor of music industry history at Belmont University, tell the story of Nashville’s first big hit record, “Near You” in 1947, and the beginnings of Music City USA. Hear Donia Dickerson recount the origins of the song, written by her father, Francis Craig, a famed Big Band leader in Nashville. (Segment begins at 46:00)
(Special thanks to Beth Odle)
Francis Craig and His Orchestra are picture at a performance at the Hermitage Hotel. (Image: Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room)
Original caption from the Aug. 28, 1947, Nashville Banner: “Francis Craig, Nashville orchestra leader, is shown with the first record of ‘Near You,’ the song written and recorded by him and which is now the most popular choice on the juke boxes of America. Craig has broken an all-time record by being the first Southern man to write, play, and record a song in the South and see it make the Hit Parade.” The record would go on to sell millions of copies and start Nashville on the road to being a recording center. (Image: Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room)
This sheet music for Francis Craig’s “Near You” is part of his collection of papers at the Nashville Public Library, which was donated by his daughter, Donia Craig Dickerson.
And finally, Allen Forkum reviews some of the contents of the March 2019 issue, including Vanderbilt University first women’s basketball team in 1897, the death of Daniel Boone in 1809, and an obscenity case against homosexual movies in 1979. (Notice: The mentioned Clover Bottom Massacre should have been 1780, not 1870.) (Segment begins at 02:00)
SHOW NOTES
A list of articles relating to this episode that you can find in archive issues of The Nashville Retrospect (archive issues and be orderd by clicking here or on the issues links below):
• “Craig’s ‘Near You’ Tops Hit Parade,” Nashville Banner, Aug. 28, 1947 (The Nashville Retrospect, August 2011)
• “Artifacts: Francis Craig photo and record” by Clinton J. Holloway, The Nashville Retrospect, July 2015
• “Francis Craig’s Orchestra To Play For WSM Opening,” Nashville Banner, Oct. 4, 1925 (The Nashville Retrospect, October 2009)
Links relating to this episode:
*My Cup Runneth Over,” by Mary B. Williams
Nashville Sound: An Illustrated Timeline by Don Cusic
“Hermitage Hotel” at Wikipedia
Audio excerpts: “Near You/Red Rose” 78-rpm record and Donia Craig Dickson interviewed by Ken Berryhill (WRVU, 4/13/2000) from the Francis Craig Papers, Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room.
Music: “Near You” by Francis Craig and His Orchestra (Bullet, 1947); “Quiet Outro” by ROZKOL (2018); “Covered Wagon Days” by Ted Weems and His Orchestra; and “The Buffalo Rag” by Vess L. Ossman