he had many debates for congress here in the ryman. and when joe burns died, his funeral was in nashville, and fdr came to that. so the legacy of the ryman is tied with the legacy of the opry. today the opry is heard worldwide because of the internet and still because of wsn. the grand ole opry is the oldest radio show in the world, is and we're fortunate that although the opry has a new home, it comes back here in the winter for a few months, and you can still see the grand ole opry where it was famous, in the ryman auditorium. ♪ ♪ [cheers and applause] >> you're watching booktv on c-span2. this weekend we're in nashville with the help of our local cable partner, comcast. next, tennessean columnist gil hunt will tell us about the abrupt removal of governor ray blanton in 1979. >> seek the people's wisdom and we hear the people's wisdom. our days of agony can soon go forward to days of pride. i ask for the prayers of the people. mr. chief justice, i am ready to take the oath of office. >> will you place your left hand on the bible? rais

and they came to the ryman auditorium. was the most interesting place to hear a speech for music in america. home of the grand all opry, museum, today it is a thriving concert venue, in the last 5 or 10 years people like diana ross, paul simon, aretha franklin, mumford and sons, the list goes on and on. some people normally play arenas of 15,000 or 20,000 play the ryman because it is such an interesting building people want to perform in. the acoustics in the ryman are the best in america. most people think the mormon tabernacle in utah have better acoustics. the reason people like the ryman auditorium is it is unique, a small venue, not a bad seat in the place. the great thing about seeing a concert is, they get to see them in a much smaller space. when you go to a concert now most performers think their bands are fans. when you walk across the state to the ryman you pay homage to the building. most people the first words out of your book is saying something about the building and how wonderful it is to be here. i talked

on book tv, david ewing talks about his book "the history of the ryman auditorium." how it became a place for civil rights events and political rallies. >> the civil rights movement was very important in nashville, tennessee. a few blocks from here, students all did the lunch counter sit in's. they got arrested here, they system of what was going on in nashville, tennessee. on american history tv, visit .hem at taj -- hermitage learn about the properties history and how it grew from a two-story cabin into a presidential residence. and, tour the dylan national exhibit at the country music hall of fame. they talk about the relationship between bob dylan and johnny cash, the political clash between the genres and how with the help of the musicians known as the nashville cats, music bridged political differences. >> their french and had with changing perceptions of rollille, bringing rock 'n people here appear the establishment of nashville as the social establishment in nashville didn't really accept country music could ever a lot of people that want to pretend that the

differentround to at the finally arriving ryman not a dream downtown. the performers here and now you need some songs for them to sing and places for them to record. magnet andecame a that led to it being music city. that, music city could be cincinnati, ohio. ♪ instrument heard on the grand ole opry was a harmonica played by an african-american guy named the ford bailey. ♪ growing up in middleton, he was a sickly child and he would lay on his bed and mimic the sounds he heard through the window, the train or the fox chase, and he could replicate those sounds on his harmonica. that was in the trick for the radio, even in days of stark and segregation, he could be a radio star and became a key member of the early grand ole opry, traveling through this aggregated south on package tours with white performers. he was extremely popular former. a lot of people of a certain age will talk about their musical upbringing and say the grand ole opry on saturday night was a gathering point for them and was onemily, if there radio in the neighborhood, people would ga

on book tv, author and historian david ewing talks about his book, the history of the ryman auditorium detailing how this nashville venue began a place for political gatherings and was the original home of the grand old opry. >> is very important nashville tennessee. a few blocks from here, young students from university, tennessee state university all did the lunch counter siddons including congressman john lewis they got arrested here, they challenged the system of what was going on in nashville tennessee and the conscience of the country. >> >> there were a lot of people that would pretend the grand old opry was not here. people if you can imagine at the '60s counterculture with divisions between the al long hair hippie culture coming out at the time and the more conservative element>> mr. president, for 40 hours and 15 minutes beginning wednesday morning ending thursday morning the junior senator from connecticut not the least of which discourage a number of cos things he stood 14 hours and we talk a lot about a filibuster the scented -- senator happen very often i have led more th

on book tv author and historian david ewing talks about his forthcoming back "the history of the rymana place for civil rights events and political rallies and was the former home of the grand ole opry. >> the civil rights movement was very important in nashville, tennessee. a few blocks from here young students from fisk university, tennessee a & i, now tennessee state university, all did the lunch counter sit-ins, including congressman john lewis. they got arrested here. they challenged the system of what was going on in nashville, tennessee in the conscience of the country. >> and on american history tv visit the hermitage, andrew jackson's home from 1804 until his death in 1845 and learn about the property's history and how the home grew from a two-story log cabin into a presidential residence on par with mount vernon and monticello. and then tour the dylan, cash, and the nashville cats exhibit at the country music hall of fame and museum. co-curators michael gray and pete finney talk about the relationship between 1960s folk music icon bob dylan and country music star johnny cash.

on "book tv," and author talks about his book, the history of the ryman auditorium. have this became a place for civil rights events and political rallies and the home of the grand ole opry. >> the civil rights movement was very important in nashville, tennessee. a few blocks from here, young students from fisk university, tennessee ami, now tennessee state university, all did the lunch counter statement -- citizens. they got arrested here, challenge the system of what was going on in nashville, tennessee and the conscience of the country. announcer: and on "american history tv, visit the hermitage, jackson's home from 1804 to 1805. how the home group right to store log cabin into a presidential residence. and then, tour the country hall music museum. they talk about the relationship between the 1960's music icon bob dylan and johnny cash. the political clash between the two music genre is, and how the help of museums -- musicians helped bridge political differences. >> they had a lot to do with changing perceptions of nashville, bringing rock 'n roll people here. the

built the ryman auditorium, and it opened at first in 1892 as a tabernacle.'s the church part of the history. the music part of the history, the country music part, deals with the grand ole opry which came near 1943 after being in many different homes in nashville and stayed here until