Roy Acuff

by Frank M. Roberts

November 2016

Joe Hoppell, Southeastern Virginia's top country deejay (50 years on WCMS) liked to brag about having dinner with Reba. In the interest of one-upmanship, I had to tell about spending a week at Roy Acuff's house. Well, it was a guest house for family and friends visiting him. One of his friends was 'Squirrel' - a sweet gentleman named Earl Wilkins.

I was told his license plate read - 'Opry 1' - which should have belonged to a Music City USA bigwig and, it probably did but Earl lived in Windsor, VA. Like Mr. Acuff he, too, was a pleasant, friendly, warm gentleman. That's not hearsay (Judge Judy's least favorite word). It comes from personal experience.

It happened waay back in 1988. Earl and his mom, and my wife, Valeria and myself, spent a week in Nashville, dividing our time between living in his townhouse (Kitty Wells lived across the street) and hangin' out backstage at the Opry. The country legend lived in a brick house, a few feet from the Opry stage. He was the only person allowed to live on the Opryland grounds, a tribute to the respect given him. He moved there after his wife died.

Acuff died of congestive heart failure. He was 89; Wilkins, who worked for a farm supply company, was asked to attend the invitation-only memorial service at the - yep - Roy Acuff Theater next to the Opry House.

He was surrounded by the 'true' country performers such as Porter Waggoner, Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs, Chet Atkins, Connie Smith, Bill Monroe (all right - bluegrass), Garth Brooks, Eddy Arnold and baseballer, Tommy Lasorda. Most of them knew Wilkins who visited Nashville four or five times a year. He had a permanent backstage pass to the GOO, (Grand Ole Opry).

Wilkins and Acuff had been friends for 27 years. They talked often on the phone (ye olde dial instrument), Wilkins said. He often conducted bus tours of Nashville - knowing more about that city than many of its natives.

He and Acuff were introduced by Jackie Phelps of Suffolk, VA., next door to Wilkins' home town. Phelps used to play in Acuff's band, toured with him for a decade, and later became a 'Hee Haw' fixture. He and his partner - this is tough to describe - clap hands, move around as if they had the heebie-jeebies, and mouth Martian-like gobbledeegook which not even Mars residents could decipher.

An illustration of Acuff's consideration of others was the daily phone calls he made to be sure we were comfortable, and that there was enough food in the house. His daughter-in-law kept it clean.

One of the most interesting things for me was the memorabilia there - old movie posters, books, and so on - vital reminders of the man who became a revered (not Paul) country music institution.

Wilkins explained why his friend was so highly loved and respected: "He was forthright, down-to-earth, loyal, and had a very strong sense of values.

"We talked about baseball." (Acuff almost became a professional player. An injury put the kibosh to that dream). He was an unabashed cheerleader for the University of Tennessee football team.

"And, he liked to talk about politics, if you were a Republican," Wilkins said. In 1948, the performer was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for governor of Tennessee.

Most of the conversation took place in the star's dressing room, a few feet from the Opry stage, its walls covered with pictures of himself and his many friends - including Squirrel. Squirrel wasn't even sure about the origin of the name but, he did have a painting of that nut-gathering animal on his mailbox.

A great many of the pictures in Acuff's backstage bailiwick were taken by Les Leverett, the highly respected photographer who worked with Acuff, Eddy Arnold, Chet aAtkins, Gene Autry, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Connie Smith plus Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Tony Bennett, Ray Charles, and a host of others.

I have a picture of Acuff and Wilkins taken by the noted Nashville photog. I was there when it was snapped. The camera guy is the official photographer for Marty Stuart. Many of his pictures are featured in books about country music. Speaking of pictures, Wilkins had a valuable collection of photos featuring himself and his country music friends. He also had beaucoup photographs of well-known baseball players. That sport was also one of his favorite things.

He loves to show off his vast collection, and visitors love to look at them - something he had been unable to do as of a few years ago when he lost his sight. I tried to re-connect with him recently, but was unable to. His phone was disconnected, and area officals were unresponsive to my queries about his whereabouts.

But, talking to Acuff and becoming his friend has remained a warm memory.

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The Acuff era: In 1962 he became the first artist elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame while still alive; The singer-showman was known as, "The King of Country Music." His buddy, ballplayer, sportscaster, character Dizzy Dean called him, "King Of the Hillbillies."; Acuff's father was a preacher, became a lawyer, then a judge. Acuff's sister studied to become an opera singer; The performer won his spot on the Opry by singing, "Great Speckled Bird," once the official hymn of the Church of God. The title comes from Jeremiah 12:9; Other major Acuff hits were "Wabash Cannonball," "Night Train To Memphis," "Fireball Mail," and "Wreck On the Highway."; An early Acuff recording was a saucy thing called, "When Lulu's Gone." And, he was an accomplished fiddle player and fiddle juggler. Usually, during his performances, he would balance his fiddle on his snoop. (nose, to you).

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Gotta close with a musical 'note' (music? note?). It's about the true musician who, when he hears a girl singing in the bathtub, puts his ear to the keyhole.