Nashville Trip: Day 3--Daytime

The third day began with a tour of Belle Meade Mansion which served as the hub of operations for Belle Meade Plantation during most of the 1800's. The Plantation once consisted of a 5400 acre farm, and was the home of the best thoroughbred race horses in the country.

During the Civil War many horse farms saw their horses taken over by the armies, but Belle Meade managed to keep theirs. The farm was known for race winners and fine bloodlines. It was also the first place where horses were sold at auction.

We were treated to a food demonstration of some good  Southern Cooking. Our instructor was excellent! We learned about making biscuits--which they did every morning! In the photo you can see that Rick Lingle got put to work helping with this project.

There was a winery and gift shop on the grounds, and most of us came home with some samples of delicious peanut brittle, Caramel Apple Honey Jelly, wine, special aprons, nifty measuring devices, etc.

The "glory days" of Belle Meade ended in the early 1900's as the economy faltered and the family got deep into debt. There are no horses there now, and most of the land has been sold off. However, we did enjoy a delicious lunch in the Carriage House before leaving for the Country Music Hall of Fame.

 There are so many things to see in the Country Music Hall of Fame that one almost needs a full day for that. There is a great video that tells much of the history of Country Music, and the museum is full of collectibles from all of the big name stars--both past and present. This is the interior of Webb Pearce's car which shows the saddle lined with silver dollars as the console. In many cases the stories of the stars include the climb from rags to riches. It was very interesting to learn more about the lives of these famous people.



Another highlight was a visit to RCA Records Studio B. It was built in 1957, and became the home of the "Nashville Sound." It helped establish Nashville, TN as an international recording center. Over 35,000 songs were recorded there, including 1,000 hits. At least 40 of the records became million selling singles. Elvis Presley recorded over 200 of his songs there.

Our tour leader was Lisa Wilkerson, and she did an outstanding job of sharing insight into the music of the day and the people that recorded it. We learned about the "X" on the floor which indicated the spot in the room where the acoustics were the very best. And there was the light fixture with bulbs of every color so that the one needed to establish the mood of the song could be used.

Studio B is the only one remaining from the "Nashville Sound" era. It is really amazing that such good music could be made with the limited equipment and facilities they had available. Newer hi-tech studios are used now. Studio B was closed for recording in 1977. It is now owned by a Foundation which leases it to the Country Music Hall of Fame.