Goin’ to the Grand Ole Opry cover

Goin’ to the Grand Ole Opry

Stringbean

Album · 1976 · Ovation OV-1726

Goin’ to the Grand Ole Opry is a 1976 LP of recordings by Stringbean, David Akeman, issued on Ovation Records (OV-1726) three years after his death. Brien Fisher produced and compiled the album, and K&F Records holds the copyright. The ten songs are the title number, which Akeman arranged, “Cold Creek March,” “Banjo Convention,” “Two More Years and I’ll Be Free,” “Little Maggie,” “John Henry,” “Short Life and Trouble,” “The Big ‘Un Got Away,” “Old Cumberland Gap” and “Ruby, Are You Mad?,” the last credited to Cousin Emmy.

Akeman was born in Annville, Kentucky, in 1915. He played banjo with Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys until 1945, joined the Grand Ole Opry, and became a protégé of Uncle Dave Macon, who gave him one of his prized banjos near the end of his life. Akeman did not record as a solo artist until the early 1960s, when he signed with Starday, and he was a cast member of the television series Hee Haw from 1969. He and his wife were shot and killed by burglars at their home near Ridgetop, Tennessee, on 10 November 1973.

Tracklist

  1. 1 Goin' to the Grand Ole Opry 1:53
  2. 2 Cold Creek March 2:36
  3. 3 Banjo Convention 2:00
  4. 4 Two More Years and I'll Be Free 2:29
  5. 5 Little Maggie alt version 2:44
  6. 6 John Henry alt version 3:12
  7. 7 Short Life and Trouble 2:49
  8. 8 The Big 'Un Got Away 2:17
  9. 9 Ruby Are You Mad alt version 2:16
  10. 10 Old Cumberland Gap 1:29

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