Ralph Emery

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Ralph Emery
Background information
Birth nameWalter Ralph Emery
Born(1933-03-10)March 10, 1933
television host
Years active1955–2015
LabelsLiberty, RCA Records

Walter Ralph Emery (March 10, 1933 – January 15, 2022) was an American country music disc jockey, radio and television host from McEwen, Tennessee.

Emery promoted numerous stars on his radio and TV shows, and was called the

Dick Clark of country music.[1]

He gained national fame hosting the

syndicated television music series, Pop! Goes the Country, from 1974 to 1980 and the nightly Nashville Network television program, Nashville Now, from 1983 to 1993.[2] From 2007 to 2015, Emery hosted the weekly program, Ralph Emery Live, on RFD-TV
, a satellite and cable television channel devoted to rural American culture.

Life and career

Walter Ralph Emery worked as an usher in a downtown Nashville movie theater and as a Kroger stock boy as a teenager, saving money to attend the Tennessee School of Broadcasting under the instruction of Nashville radio legend

truck drivers, who were often fans of country music. The all-night show was a mecca for country music stars of all kinds, many of whom were personal friends of Emery. One in particular was singer and movie star, and Nashville resident, Tex Ritter, who co-hosted the show with Emery for a while. Well-known stars, most notably Marty Robbins, would often drop in unannounced. Emery later wrote several best-selling books chronicling his memories of the many Nashville singers and musicians that appeared on his various radio and TV shows. The second of Emery's three wives was Opry star Skeeter Davis.[citation needed
]

He hosted a late-afternoon program on

African-American singers such as J.P.Netters, who was included as a part of his studio band in the early 1980s.[4]

The song

The Grand Ole Opry. In that performance, the Byrds attempted unsuccessfully to convince traditional country music fans that their sound was a legitimate part of the country rock tradition but were met with jeers and catcalls. Years later, there was some reconciliation and even convergence of the opposing styles in the "Outlaw" movement, popularized by the likes of Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings.[citation needed
]

In 2001, Emery attempted a television comeback on Nashville Fox affiliate WZTV, with a show called Mornings with Ralph Emery, but only spent seven days on the air before being sidelined first by continuing coverage of the September 11 attacks and then an illness. The show continued with replacement host Charlie Chase, using the title Tennessee Mornings. In October 2005, Emery launched The Nashville Show, a free weekly webcast with Shotgun Red as co-host. He then returned to television on the RFD-TV cable network in mid-2007, conducting interviews on the show Ralph Emery Live. The show aired live every Monday evening at 7:00 PM Eastern.[3] The show ran for eight years, at some point changing its name to Ralph Emery's Memories, ending its run in October 2015.[citation needed]

Honors

Emery was among the 2007 inductees to the

National Radio Hall of Fame.[3]

Death

Emery died at a hospital in Nashville on January 15, 2022, at the age of 88, after a brief illness.[1]

Albums

Singles

Year Single US Country
1961 "Hello Fool" 4

References

  1. ^
    ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  2. ^ "Nashville Now host Ralph Emery to leave show". Daily Times. Portsmouth, Ohio: AP. July 18, 1993. p. B4. Retrieved November 9, 2010.
  3. ^ a b c Thompson, Richard (January 20, 2022). "Ralph Emery passes".
  4. ^ "RALPH EMERY | Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum | Nashville, Ten…". archive.ph. August 11, 2007. Archived from the original on August 11, 2007.

External links