On April 28, 1976, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band played the Grand Ole Opry, located at what was then Opryland. While some may believe that Springsteen was the first rock act to perform at the Opry, he was actually the first in eight years.
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Previously, in 1968, The Byrds were the first rock band to perform at the storied venue. This was back when the Opry was located at the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville. In 1974, the legendary country institution moved to the newly built Grand Ole Opry House.
While Opryland itself has come and gone, the venue and the Opry remain. Springsteen and his band weren’t the first rock act to play the Opry itself, but they were the first ones to play the new venue. According to reports, Springsteen played hits from Born To Run, which had been released the year before.
According to a report from The Tennessean, Springsteen performed to around 3,000 fans, with the Opry House able to hold a total of 4,500. Not a bad turnout, but nothing like the numbers he’s doing today. Allegedly, Springsteen had trouble selling tickets in Nashville, according to a newspaper report included in a Springsteen forum. He was scheduled to perform at the Opry House in the fall of 1975, but was forced to cancel due to low sales.
Bruce Springsteen Was Allegedly Too “Big City” According to Nashville Residents in 1976
During his first tour of the American South, 26-year-old Bruce Springsteen and his E Street Band took the Grand Ole Opry stage on a Wednesday evening in 1976. Nashville welcomed him. As much as they were going to, anyway. According to the newspaper clipping, audience members were into the performance, but there were some who thought he didn’t quite fit their southern ideals.
“DJs have given him a hard time in this town,” said concert-goer Dale Heddleston, interviewed by the Nashville Banner at the time.
Another attendee, Robert Chick, said that “he was too ‘big city.’ Down here, what’s big is Charlie Daniels.”
However, the report continued, Bruce Springsteen’s PR manager expected this from the Nashville crowd.
“We knew he wasn’t going to sell the way he did in Phoenix and Houston, L.A., Philadelphia, Boston, and New York,” said Glen Brumnar.
“The intensity of the reaction is the same in smaller as in the bigger markets,” he said. “The only difference is he’s not drawing as big a crowd.”
The paper also states that the Grand Ole Opry managers and executives weren’t initially sure about having Bruce Springsteen in their institution. “There were some questions whether he’s too loud, too rock-and-rollish,” Brumnar added.
While Springsteen last had a crowd of 14,684 in Nashville, that was still out of a total capacity of 16,550. Add this to the fact that he hasn’t played in Music City since 2014, and it’s clear that Tennessee just might not appreciate The Boss.
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