The Louisiana Hayride radio program premieres on KWKH-AM Shreveport
Even the most ardent non-fans of country music can probably name the weekly live show and radio program that is regarded as country musics biggest stage the Grand Ole Opry out of Nashville Tennessee.Yet even many committed country fans are unfamiliar with a program that during its 1950s heyday eclipsed even the Opry in terms of its impact on country music itself.From its premiere on this day in 1948 to its final weekly show in 1960 The Lousiana Hayride out of Shreveport Louisiana launched the careers not only of several country-music giants but also of a young genre-crossing singer named Elvis Presley the future King of Rock and Roll.In many ways The Louisiana Hayride was a straightforward knock-off of the Grand Ole Opry but with two key differences.
While both programs focused on country music and targeted the same geographic area with their 50000-watt signals The Louisiana Hayride embraced new artists and new musical innovations that the staunchly traditionalist Grand Ole Opry would never consider.While the Opry would rarely if ever feature a performer who had not yet had a hit record the Hayride often featured up-and-coming artists who had yet to find an audience.And while the Opry banned the electric guitar the Hayride embraced the instrument that would help transform one strain of hillbilly music into the new hybrid form called rock and roll.The Louisiana Hayride was the brainchild of Horace Lee Logan who first became a radio host on Shreveports KWKH-AM in 1932 at the age of 16.
Because most of the talented country artists who got their first breaks on the HayrideHank Williams Kitty Wells Webb Pierce Faron Youngwould eventually move on to Nashville it was common to hear The Lousiana Hayride referred to as the Grand Ole Oprys farm team.Logan however always referred to the Opry as the Tennessee branch of the Hayride.In addition to giving Hank Williams his first wide radio audience in 1949 and then welcoming him back after the Opry fired him for drunkenness in 1952 Logan and The Louisiana Hayride also gave 19-year-old Elvis Presley a crucial break in October 1954.After a lackluster single-song debut on the Grand Ole Opry failed to garner him a return invitation Elvis gave a knockout performance of Thats All Right (Mama) and Blue Moon of Kentucky on The Louisiana Hayride that set him on his path toward stardom.An interesting footnote to the story of The Louisiana Hayride involves the origin of a famous Elvis-related phrase.
In gratitude to Horace Logan for the boost hed provided when Elvis was an unknown back in 1954 Presley gave a return performance on the Hayride in December 1956 at the very peak of his popularity.Midway through the show thousands of young Elvis fans abandoned their seats after the Kings performance noisily chasing after him in the wings while the live broadcast continued.It was then that Logan took the microphone and coined a famous phrase Please young peopleElvis has left the buildingplease take your seats.
