Question One: The Grand Ole Opry celebrates 80 years this year. Who was the first African-American member of the Opry?

Answer: DeFord Bailey DeFord Bailey was the Opry's first African American member. He made his Opry debut June 19, 1926 and was billed as "The Harmonica Wizard." He was a regular on the show until 1941, and his signature tune, "Pan American Blues," often would open the broadcasts. Bailey was born in 1899 at Carthage, Smith County, Tennessee. Stricken with polio at the age of three years, he was given a harmonica as a means of amusement. His skill with the harmonica and his musical talent gained Bailey renown in the field of country music. Bailey was instrumental in naming of the "Grand Ole Opry." In 1926, the WSM Barn Dance followed an hour of symphonic music. Bailey opened the country music program with his rendition of "Pan American Blues." The difference in the musical genres caused the director, George D. "Judge" Hay, to observe, "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.'" During his travels throughout the South in the 1930s, he was well received by the country music public, although racial segregation laws caused Bailey problems in hotels and restaurants. To get a hotel room, on some occasions either he posed as a baggage boy for the white performers or pretended to be Uncle Dave Macon's valet. During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, Bailey appeared on the syndicated blues television show, Night Train, and in 1965 he made a rare concert appearance at Vanderbilt University. On December 14, 1974, Bailey celebrated his 75th birthday by appearing in the new Grand Ole Opry House and playing several of his old tunes and played for the homecoming show on April 3, 1982. DeFord Bailey died at the age of 82 on July 2, 1982. On June 23, 1983, the country music industry inducted him as the first African-American member of the Grand Ole Opry.

Question Two: Fats Domino is one of the best known artists from New Orleans.      A) What was his first record?      B) What was his last single to enter the Billboard charts?

Answer A: "The Fat Man" was released in February, 1950, and reached #6 on the R&B chart. Answer B: "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking" was released in September, 1962, and peaked at #79. ntoine "Fats" Domino was born in the Crescent City, LA, in 1928. Although he never had a #1 hit on the pop charts, Domino sold more records (65 million) than any Fifties-era rocker except Elvis Presley. Between 1950 and 1963, he cracked the pop Top Forty thirty-seven times and the R&B singles chart fifty-nine times. Fats Domino's highest-charting Top 40 hit, "Blueberry Hill," reached #2 (and topped the R&B chart for 11 weeks). It was held back from the top pop spot by Guy Mitchell's "Singing the Blues." His other hits include "Ain't That a Shame," "I'm Walkin'," "Blue Monday" and "Walking to New Orleans." ats Domino was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the first induction dinner, in 1986. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 29th annual Grammy Awards in 1987 and had been called "one of the most important links between rhythm & blues and rock and roll." fter hurricane Katrina, Fats was missing for several days before being identified by his daughter, Karen Domino White, from a photograph. He was brought to the Superdome and put on a bus to a triage center in the Louisiana State University basketball arena, where he was reunited with his family.

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