A little bit Country, a little bit Rock and Roll at the Hall of Fame
Written: Jun 21 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Educational, fun, enlightening, well done exhibits.
Cons: none
The Bottom Line: Although a bit pricey for 2 floors, it is jam packed with great "stuff." In my opinion, a gem.
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| jo.com's Full Review: The Country Music Hall of Fame |
I never thought I would be a fan of country music. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum has changed me forever!
Details:
The Country Music Hall of Fame is located at 222 Fifth Avenue South in Nashville, Tennessee. You can reach them by phone at 800-852-6437. We went on a Sunday in late May and found free parking on the street. There are parking lots if you go during a busier time such as after Memorial Day or school vacations.
The cost is $15.95 for adults. There is a 2-day ticket for $24.95. Children 6-17 cost $7.95 and $12.95 for the 2-day ticket. Children under 5 are free. For an additional $5.00 you can rent a wand for an audio tour. Various displays are numbered to correspond to the narration of Eddie Stubbs. This is a 70 minute tour. You’ll hear Dolly Parton, Vince Gill and Trisha Yearwood helping out Eddie. We didn’t rent these. We usually do but once we got to the 3rd floor, which is where we started it seemed unnecessary. The Museum is a bit pricey as it is and another $10.00 didn’t seem like it would add to the experience. There were many people with them, though, so it is a personal decision whether you want the audio tour or not.
The Museum is open daily 10:00AM-6:00PM Memorial Day through Labor Day and until 5:00PM other wise. They are closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
You cannot take a camera in with you. There is a Guest Services area where you will be asked to check that as well as items such as backpacks and umbrellas. The Museum if wheelchair accessible; in fact you can use one they have if need be.
I really don’t think you need 2 days to see the museum. The AAA book says to give yourself a minimum of 2 hours. We spent 3 here and certainly if we had spent the whole day we would have read every word in the building. The only reason to buy a two day ticket is if you think you only have time to squeeze in an hour or so one day. Then you will want to come back the next.
What you will see:
There are 3 floors in the Museum. We spent much of our time on the top 2 floors. The building is beautiful and I can guarantee you will want to get a couple of pictures of the outside, especially one unusual part which I will tell you about later. It is a new $37 million building in downtown.
It is suggested that you can either start in the Ford Theater or end your tour there. I recommend starting in the very beautiful Ford Theater with a 28- minute video giving you an overview of country music. As I said this whole Museum was an awakening for us and it started with this video. Don’t pass it up whether it is before or after your tour.
After seeing the video we headed to the 3rd floor. You can either walk up or use the elevator. This floor took us through the beginnings of country music. Some of the very special highlights on this floor include one of Elvis Presley’s Cadillacs. It is surrounded by Plexiglas so you can’t touch it but there is a great description of how it was made – with crushed gold paint, you can see the television inside and a recording panel. Another treat of Elvis’ is his piano which was, until recently, in his Museum in Memphis. Priscilla had this piano restored for Elvis for their first anniversary – in gold plate!
You will also see the car of Webb Pierce. This is quite a site. He had silver plated guns put on as handles, the pedals are in the shape of horseshoes and the front seat has a horse’s saddle in the middle!
The Museum is packed with “stuff.” It isn’t so packed, though that I felt overwhelmed. It is laid out really nicely from the nineteenth century beginnings of country music through current times. You’ll learn everything there is to know through photographs, instruments, costumes and listening to the music. You will also be able to use touch screen interactive computers that allowed us to listen to various musicians and learn more about them. Throughout the 3rd floor there are areas in which you step into and can hear a recording from a name from the past, such as Patsy Cline. Under the video there is a little history about the recording. On this floor is a Children’s Activity Center where kids can draw. There were many children there the day we went. In spite of them not perhaps understanding what they are seeing unless you explain each item to them (then you need the 2 day ticket!) I think children will enjoy this Museum.
The Museum was crowded. Take note of this because we went before the busy season started. I would suggest coming here early if you are visiting between Memorial Day through Labor Day to avoid some of the crowds.
I liked the costumes. I’m not one for historical items such as clothes but the Hall of Fame does this really well. They don’t over do it. You won’t see Dolly Parton’s entire wardrobe. You’ll see an item or two with an explanation of when she wore it. There is also a display of new items received in 2004. I got a kick out of watching a video of Dolly Parton in 2004 singing with the dress that was hanging next to the video. Since it was from this year I wondered if she sang and immediately had the dress taken over to the Museum!
I enjoyed seeing “chicken scratchings” of performer’s songs. There are many of these including personal items such as a letter written to one performer’s mother.
On this floor the video is called “Changing Channels: A Look at Country Music on Television. “ We saw Loretta Lynn selling Crisco, Glen Campbell, Hee Haw and the Beverly Hillbilly’s in this video. The seating is unusual. Rather than having chairs or benches there are round wood platform type seats. They may not be the most comfortable on which to sit but you won’t be sitting on any one of these for more than 20 minutes unless you want to. That’s about how long this particular video was.
Some of the stars you’ll hear and learn about include Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Reba McEntire, The Judds, and The Dixie Chicks. You’ll see the guitar Garth Brooks smashed onstage, Alan Jackson's "Chattahoochee" water-ski and Travis Tritt's 20-foot-long guitar.
There are 3,000 items related to country music history. I was amazed at the wall from the 3rd floor to the 2nd of gold records. Some of them you could open (like a book) and hear music from Bing Crosby or Willie Nelson. Other exhibits include "Songs and Songwriters" "Country Music and the Movies," and "Country Music Backstage," featuring memorabilia from country music artists Willie Nelson, The Judds, Keith Whitley, and K.T. Oslin.
As you enter the 2nd floor you see the special and not permanent exhibit called Night Train to Nashville: Music City Rhythm & Blues, 1945-1970. This is a revival of Nashville's heritage and relationship to the greatest era of Rhythm & Blues music. You’ll hear in the background a 2-CD collection of R&B sounds made mainly in Nashville studios for local labels like Bullet and Excello. Here we learned the role people of color had. We learned how the music changed with Elvis, We learned the difference among Bluegrass, Rhythm & Blues and Rock and Roll. (Rockabilly!) We learned that singers such as the Grateful Dead (there are several photos and informational displays on Jerry Garcia) and the Allman Brothers are all part of this culture.
We really enjoyed this exhibit. We sat and watched a video of the TV show Beat for about 20 minutes. Next to it are exhibits and if you read one of them carefully you’ll read to look at one of the guitar players playing backup to a group. This young man is Jimi Hendrix!
I must admit I fell in love with Tim McGraw. On this floor the 25 minute video is his music, background and life. You'll watch this in a small, comfortable auditorium not on wooden table. We see him many times on stage and it felt as if we were at one of his concerts. He talks on this film just like a “regular person.” There is no resemblance to the Tim on stage with his cowboy hat and sleeveless shirt with Faith tattooed on his arm. You’ll see him with a baseball cap turned backward, you’ll see him playing basketball with his crew while waiting for his tour to begin, you’ll see him playing and talking to and about his two little girls; about being a dad and husband and you’ll see Tim and Faith singing together on stage. This was worth the price of admission. I could have sat there for a couple of hours watching him.
The 2nd floor has an area where you can make your own CD. You scan your ticket at this CD Burning Station, select up to 12 songs and then pay for it in the store. It’s really unique. We fooled around with it, listening to various songs but didn’t make one. We ended up buying a compilation in the store.
The last room on the 2nd floor is the Hall of Fame, featuring bronze plaques commemorating every member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. This is a beautiful room with a pointed sculpture coming down from the middle. There are a couple of unusual features about this room which I alluded to above. This same sculpture is seen from the outside but pointed up rather than down. In addition this circular room has the words of the song “Will the Circle be Unbroken” engraved around the top of the room. What is really interesting is that you’ll read, then go outside to look, that the notes to this song are on the building. This Rotunda has what looks like huge wooden vertical rectangles on lines around this part of the building. The rectangles are on the lines that correspond to the note on a scale. It’s really well done.
You can have something to eat on the first floor at the Sorbo Grill and stop into the Museum Shop where you’ll find a huge array or CDs, memorabilia, t-shirts and souvenirs.
Jo’s Final Thoughts:
I think you can feel my enthusiasm for The Country Music Hall of Fame. Although it is not a gem in the AAA book it was a gem in my eyes (and my husband’s). I enjoyed every minute in this Museum. It was informative, fun, educational, and inspiring. It taught me about a huge part of our culture and country that I knew little about. To me music represents our world. I don’t need a Museum of History to learn about the U.S. I learned about much of it right here at the Country Music Hall of Fame!
If you would like to follow along on this 3-month coast to coast journey with me, I am posting my reviews:
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Bicentennial Mall State Park in Nashville, TN
Recommended:
Yes
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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