First of all, this is actually a review of the 2002 DVD Louisiana Hayride: Cradle of the Stars. The Hayride was a radio program and later a TV broadcast from the Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium using KWKH-AM as its flagship station. The Hayride considered by some as second fiddle in terms of importance to Nashville's Grand Ole Opry. From 1948 to the late 1950's, Horace Logan produced Louisiana Hayride and it was emceed by an affable Frank Page. The Hayride featured talented artists needing greater exposure. Over the years the legendary Hank Williams tried resurrecting a damaged career on the Hayride; the program was also influential in the careers of Webb Pierce, Sonny James, Slim Whitman, Johnny Horton, Faron Young, Kitty Wells, Jim Reeves, George Jones, Lefty Frizzell, Johnny Cash, Hank Thompson, Billy Walker and yes, the teenage truck driver from Memphis...Elvis Presley. When the TV version of the program was carried by KSLA-TV; Elvis made his first television appearance in March 1955, although no footage survived. This DVD is a treasure for fans of early C&W music. LOUISIANA HAYRIDE: CRADLE of the STARS documents the magic that took place on that still revered stage through vintage film clips and old photographs.
2 Reviews
I saw this show on public TV in the 1980s
space-5770715 May 2019
At least a dozen hour-long episodes survive, all in color but without sponsor messages and plugs. KOPB in Portland, OR, gave it a weeknight run for a while. I watched 2 or 3 for its historic significance, though I had no interest in the country genre or any decades-old music. Surprisingly, the show looked and sounded so pristine it seemed to have been originally made using a 35mm film camera, yet it played like a live broadcast. It did not look like a kinescope, nor like a colorized film, but rather like a broadcast-quality videotape of a new print made fresh from a well-kept original negative.
The radio show of Louisiana Hayride went on for eleven years, enough to justify a TV series -- for who knows how may seasons? It was either live and caught on film, or filmed for a broadcast print, and either all color, all black and white, or in color for a season or more. The state of Louisiana likely had no color TV stations, if not one or two. Very likely the TV show has more surviving episodes in black and white than in color. Have other local TV stations around the US made and preserved shows as well as this one?
If the Louisiana Hayride that appeared as far north as Oregon was just a kinescope that was colorized, then it had the best quality of its kind. Fans would be happy to have this show available to watch, again or for the first time.
The radio show of Louisiana Hayride went on for eleven years, enough to justify a TV series -- for who knows how may seasons? It was either live and caught on film, or filmed for a broadcast print, and either all color, all black and white, or in color for a season or more. The state of Louisiana likely had no color TV stations, if not one or two. Very likely the TV show has more surviving episodes in black and white than in color. Have other local TV stations around the US made and preserved shows as well as this one?
If the Louisiana Hayride that appeared as far north as Oregon was just a kinescope that was colorized, then it had the best quality of its kind. Fans would be happy to have this show available to watch, again or for the first time.
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