Stacy’s Music Row Report- Music Row Report

You're reading it here first: VICTORIA HALLMAN and DIANA GOODMAN, best known as the Hee Haw Honeys, are now my fellow authors.

Hallman and Diana have written a book titled Hollywood Lights, Nashville Nights: Two Hee Haw Honeys Dish Life, Love, ELVIS, BUCK and Good Times in the Kornfield. ROBERT REYNOLDS has contributed a short and sweet blurb to the work: "My first crushes were the Hee Haw Girls [sic]."

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From the emailbag, ICEBERG-FAQ #21 writes, "Hi, Stacy, We met many years ago on a Southwest flight to Tampa. Am also an avid reader of your Nashville Scene posts.

"With the developers circling the wagons around Bobby's Idle Hour, just the latest apparent of casualty of Music Row 'redevelopment,' I thought this song might help drum up awareness about what we've lost, AND, what we stand to lose if the wrecking balls keep reeking havoc on our beloved Music Row."

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A famous jingle to the contrary, there was no love lost between JIMMY DEAN and SARA LEE after Dean sued the company in February, 2004 in response to its dumping him in May, 2003 as its commercial spokesman for the eponymously-named sausage company Dean founded in 1969.

(The Jimmy Dean Meat Company was originally overseen by Jimmy's younger brother, DON DEAN . Don remained as president of the company until he and Jimmy had a falling out; so serious that the two only spoke once in the last 15 years before Don died of cancer. Sara Lee, then known as Consolidated Foods Corporation, purchased The Jimmy Dean Foods, a the growing company came to be known, in 1984 for $15 million.)

Jimmy's lawsuit argued that, having given him the boot (no pun intended) Sara Lee continued to use his name, signature and image on its products without Dean's consent, violating the severance agreement by invading his privacy with the misappropriation of Jimmy's name, thus unjustly enriching Sara Lee.

Sara Lee had already removed Dean's personal quality guarantee from the packaging of the products bearing Jimmy's name, but, as a result, of a 2005 federal district court ruling barring Sara Lee from continuing to indicate that its Jimmy Dean products carried the singer's endorsement, for the next decade Sara Lee cooled it even as Jimmy Dean held on to one share of stock in what had once been his company alone, just so he could attend the Sara Lee shareholders' meetings (though Jimmy's presence at the annual meeting in 2003 made for an unusually tense presentation).

A year after Jimmy Dean's death on June 13, 2010, Sara Lee split into two units and its North American operations (including the Jimmy Dean product line) took the Hillshire Brands corporate name and in 2014, Tyson Foods acquired Hillshire and Sara Lee, thus the Jimmy Dean brand.

One wonders what the sausage king would have thought of Tyson's Summer 2018 ad campaign for its Jimmy Dean product line. Evidently, Tyson has fashioned a lucrative agreement with Dean's widow, DONNA MEADE (who married Jimmy in October, 1991 following [MARY] SUE, Dean's wife of 40 years, suing Jimmy for divorce, on grounds of adultery, in 1990) since Tyson's ad campaign features Dean's voice, photo and cursive signature.

The series of TV ads, all voice-overs, appear to have been culled edits of past ads and perhaps other Dean snippets. Here are transcripts of three ads currently running:

"I'm Jimmy Dean and, uh, isn't a sunrise something? I honestly feel that way about Jimmy Dean Sausage. Get yourself a large chunk of that good mornin' feelin,' Oh, that smells good! Umph!"

"I'm Jimmy Dean and, uh, Mother Nature sure doesn't cut any corners when she paints a morning like that. And we know there is no shortcut to quality. And that's why we use nothing but the very best sausages money can buy. Paint yourself a beautiful mornin.'"

"I'm Jimmy Dean and, uh, I wish I could tell you how I feel about a morning like this. And that includes a good, hearty breakfast. You need something to warm the whole body up and get it going. It's a great way to kick off your day."
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Flag Day or, more specifically, the evening of June 14, 2018, seemed to be an appropriate time for the Mary Hong Gallery to host a Tribute to TROY GENTRY. SHELLY MULLINS coordinated the remembrance, occurring less than three months before the first anniversary of Gentry's untimely death.

GUY GILCHRIST, (whose Nancy Loves Nashville and The Muppets Take Music City opened June 2nd and will remain on display through the end of the month at the gallery) came up with the idea to honor Gentry, with a series of Gilchrist's hand-painted string instruments, original pen and ink drawings, comic strip panels and other limited edition cartoon memorabilia, serving as a backdrop for an evening of music (featuring, Gilchrist, Halfway to Hazard and surprise guest JIMMY PAYNE).

'Troy's widow, ANGIE was on hand to speak of the work of the newly-announced Troy Gentry Foundation, which will raise money for the causes dearest to Gentry's heart, such as music education, homeless military veterans and the eradication of cancer.

Foundation funds were kicked off with the auction of one of Gilchrist's hand-painted guitars, which Guy was able to secure a $1,000 winning bid by tossing in some of his artwork once the bidding reached $600.

Kids of all ages enjoyed the fun that included the appearance of Batman, one of Gentry's favorite costumed characters of print, stage and screen.

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There was a time when observers wondered when CONWAY TWITTY's estate fight, bitter as it was, might end.

A quarter-century following the singer's death, the way has been cleared to put many of his personal effects up for sale.

Apparently, Twitty's heirs would rather have the cash than, any longer, to hang on to Conway's 1934 Martin 0-17 acoustic guitar, his Greatest Hits: Volume 1 gold record, a one-of-a-kind Hello Darlin' oil painting, Conway's stage clothes and more.

Interested? Place your bids here.

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TRACE ADKINS was the featured entertainer at President DONALD TRUMP's May 29, 2018 rally at Nashville's Municipal Auditorium.

JARED SMALL handled media credentialing and it was fun to mingle with my national and local print and broadcasting peers as we heard the president give (and update) his stump speech, speaking for about an hour after a retiring GOP congressman, Republican midterm candidates, LARA TRUMP, a minister, a Republican party official and Trace served as the chief executive's "opening acts."

Taking the stage to perform the first of three songs for a crowd that carried placards with phrases like I Love The Dow (there was a guy, who did not appear to be transgender, as far as I could tell, hoisting a Women For Trump sign) Trace began by praising THE ISAACS' for their performance of The National Anthem, calling it "The best rendition of The National Anthem I've ever heard!," before launching into Still A Soldier, followed by Arlington and Ladies Love Country Boys.

When President Trump took the stage he complimented the former Celebrity Apprentice explaining, "I don't know how he knew this, but [Ladies Love Country Boys] is IVANKA's favorite song."

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BEN RUE discusses life after a type 1 diabetes diagnosis with BAILEY McGRATH in the Summer, 2018 issue of Diabetic Living. (Ben learned he was diabetic at age 14.)

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Sad news for fans of CMT's Nashville. The parents of series stars LENNON STELLA and MAISY STELLA are splitting up. The real-life teenaged sisters' mother, MARYLYNNE filed for divorce from BRADLEY PETER STELLA in Davidson County Circuit Court on April 25, 2018.

Brad has 30 days from the date of service in which to respond. Once a response has been filed, the case will be assigned to one of the "two Phils:" Judge PHILIP SMITH or Judge PHILLIP ROBINSON.

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I'm not passionate about Christian Music, for obvious reasons, but if you are, and would like "to serve songwriters and publishers as a Publishing Administrator," do I have a job for you!

If selected, you'll "work with VP of Administration and Corporate Affairs to assist with royalty administration tasks for HoriPro Entertainment Group. The position will also assist [sic] with some licensing and copyright duties."

Qualified applicants will have three to five years of music publishing administration experience, be Microsoft Excel proficient, extremely detail-oriented, highly organized, skilled researchers able to "self-prioritize multiple workloads and maintain a positive attitude under the pressure of deadlines," be quick-learners able to "master new software and technology applications," and draw on "solid analytical and mathematical problem solving abilities." They will also need to be "excellent writers" and skilled verbal communicators.

If you're interested in this full-time job (including benefits), email your r�sum�, including references, to Carrie.

For a list of other current Music Row job openings, go premium.

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Thanks to KATHERINE FARRELL, organizer of the Music Notes track, for the offer of Collision 2018 media credentials. The annual conference is set for April 30- May 3rd at the ERNEST N. MORIAL Convention Center in New Orleans.

Further information on the event click here.

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