George Dewey Hay (November 9, 1895 – May 8, 1968) was an American radio announcer and journalist. He was the founder of the original radio series ''

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

'' on WSM-AM in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, from which the

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

stage show of the same name developed.

Early newspaper and radio career

Hay was born in Attica, Indiana, United States. In

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he was a

reporter A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

for the newspaper '' Commercial Appeal''. While performing a reporting assignment in Mammoth Spring, Arkansas in 1919, Hay was invited to a hoedown in a local cabin. There, a fiddle player, a guitar player, and a banjo player performed until dawn. Hay was impressed, and that may have inspired his later efforts. When the newspaper initiated its own radio station, WMC, in January 1923, he became a late-night announcer for the station. His popularity increased and in May 1924 he quit for WLS in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, where he served as the announcer for a program that became '' National Barn Dance''.

Beginning The Grand Ole Opry

On November 9, 1925, Hay's 30th birthday, he relocated to Nashville and began work for station WSM. Getting a strong listener reaction to 78-year-old fiddler Uncle Jimmy Thompson that November, Hay announced the next month that WSM would feature "an hour or two" of old-time music every Saturday night. He promoted the music and formed a booking agency. The show was originally named ''WSM Barn Dance,'' and Hay billed himself as "The Solemn Old Judge", though he was only 30 years old and not a judge The ''Barn Dance'' was broadcast after NBC's program ''Music Appreciation Hour'', featuring

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

and

grand opera Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterized by large-scale casts and Orchestra, orchestras. The original productions consisted of spectacular design and stage effects with plots normally based on o ...

. One day in December 1927, the final music piece on the ''Music Appreciation Hour'' included the sound of a rushing

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

. After the show ended, "Judge Hay" began ''WSM Barn Dance'' with this announcement: Hay then introduced a man he dubbed "The Harmonica Wizard," DeFord Bailey, who played his classic train song, "The Pan American Blues," named for the

Louisville and Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of ...

passenger train ''The Pan-American.'' After Bailey's performance, Hay commented, "For the past hour, we have been listening to music taken largely from Grand Opera. From now on we will present the ''Grand Ole Opry''."

Newspaper, announcing, touring and film appearance

During the 1930s, he was involved with ''Rural Radio'', one of the first magazines about country music, and working on the movie ''

'' (1940). He was an announcer with the radio series during the 1940s and toured with ''Opry'' acts, including the September 1947 ''Opry'' show at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

. He was featured in '' Hoosier Holiday'', a 1945 movie from

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures is currently an acquisition-only label owned by Paramount Pictures. Its history dates back to Republic Pictures Corporation, an American film studio that originally operated from 1935 to 1967, based in Los Angeles, California ...

, in a cast that also included Dale Evans.

Publication and legacy

In 1945, Hay wrote ''A Story of the Grand Ole Opry'', and he became an editor of Nashville's ''Pickin’ and Singin’ News'' in 1953. He was inducted into the

Country Music Hall of Fame The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amass ...

in 1966.

Death

Hay relocated to

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the most populous city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeastern Virginia. It is the sixth-most populous city in the ...

, where he died in 1968. He was interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery on 8100 Granby Street, Norfolk, Virginia 23505.

References

External links

Opry.com: Judge Hay and the OpryHay's bio at the Country Music Hall of FameGeorge D. Hay at WLS-AM Chicago
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hay, George D. American country singer-songwriters American magazine editors American writers about music Radio personalities from Chicago American radio show creators Country Music Hall of Fame inductees Grand Ole Opry members Radio personalities from Memphis, Tennessee Radio personalities from Nashville, Tennessee People from Virginia Beach, Virginia Radio and television announcers Tennessee culture 1895 births 1968 deaths People from Attica, Indiana Journalists from Mississippi Singer-songwriters from Virginia Journalists from Virginia 20th-century American singer-songwriters Country musicians from Tennessee Country musicians from Illinois Country musicians from Indiana 20th-century American journalists American male journalists Singer-songwriters from Indiana Singer-songwriters from Tennessee Singer-songwriters from Illinois