Ralph Emery (born March 10, 1933, McEwen, Tennessee) is a Nashville televison and radio personality who made his mark covering The Grand Ol Opry beat for WSM Radio & TV, and later was syndicated nationally. His fame came through his 60’s era late night radio show which featured drop ins from Opry stars like Tex Ritter and Marty Robbins. In the 70’s his syndicated TV show Pop Goes Country was seen nationwide, and in the 80’s he hosted a show via cable’s Nashville Network into the early 90’s. Hr recorded several childrens’ albums with his puppet sidekick Shotgun Red. His 1961 comedy single “Hello Fool” hit #4 on the country chart, and was a good natured answer song poke at Willie Nelson’s “Hello Walls”, then a popular cut for Faron Young. The Byrds song, “Drug Store Truck Drivin’ Man” co-written by Gram Parsons details a moderately unpleasant on-air exchange between Emery and Roger McGuinn, concerning the Byrds 1968 appearance at The Grand Ole Opry. Singer/Songwriter Mickey Newbury remembers Ralph Emery on his 1979 album, The Sailor, in the song, “The Night You Wrote That Song”. Emery, a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, also was married to country singer Skeeter Davis, from 1960-64 time. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
