Jeannie Seely
Jeannie Seely never had a number one record, yet she was a Grand Ole Opry stalwart for 57 years. See, country music didn't discard people. They might now, and it's true that record labels are notorious for cutting former million-selling artists loose. I suppose the Opry is different. Instead of rejecting the past, it embraces it. I like the past; I'm very fond of it. The past doesn't deserve to be forgotten, because if we forget the past, we're throwing away our humanity. I wasn't into country music in 1966. I was about to be, but not quite yet. My parents just listened to "music" on the radio; there was no delineation between styles, no genre stations. Whatever was popular got played — "Strangers in the Night" one minute, "Paperback Writer" the next, followed by Buck Owens' "Open Up Your Heart". So, I heard Jeannie Seely's #2 single: I'll admit, I didn't appreciate it at the time. "Last Train to Cl...
