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 Reba McEntire, Jean Shepard, Bobby Braddock Enter Hall of Fame
Garth Brooks, George Jones, Blake Shelton and Billy Currington Among Tribute Performers
The Country Music Hall of Fame was enriched Sunday night (May 22, 2011) by the addition of two native Oklahoma trailblazers and a Florida-born songwriter who's equally adept at triggering tears or chuckles with his lyrics.
Reba McEntire, Jean Shepard and Bobby Braddock were accorded country music's highest honor (and awarded medallions to mark the occasion) in ceremonies held at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's Ford Theater in Nashville.
Sweetening the event considerably were musical performances by Shepard, Braddock, Vince Gill, Garth Brooks, George Jones, Bill Anderson, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, Trisha Yearwood, Martina McBride, Tracy Lawrence, Billy Currington, Ranger Doug Green, Elizabeth Cook, Susie McEntire, Kelly Clarkson and the McCrary Sisters.
Anderson inducted Braddock, Jones officially welcomed Shepard and Dolly Parton opened the door for McEntire.
As customary, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum director Kyle Young served as master of ceremonies, explaining to the overflow crowd the virtues and track record of each inductee. His remarks this year were briefer and pithier than usual, which allowed more time for music.
Once the guests had settled into their seats, just after 7 p.m., the organizers opened the program by playing a country classic, Jimmie Rodgers' recording of "Blue Yodel No. 9," which featured Louis Armstrong on trumpet. The record was selected from the museum's extensive Bob Pinson Collection.
After that, Vince Gill and the McCrary Sisters came to the stage and rocked the house with a hip-swaying, hand-clapping rendition of "Down by the Riverside."
"I'm out of breath," Gill gasped when he finished the song and stumbled to his seat in the front row.
Young then moved to the podium to cite the 70-year-old Braddock's achievements, among which was writing or co-writing No. 1 songs in each of the past five decades, ranging from "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and "Golden Ring" to "He Stopped Loving Her Today" to "Texas Tornado," "I Wanna Talk About Me" and "People Are Crazy."
He traced Braddock's performing career from his clubs days with a rock band in Florida to touring with Marty Robbins out of Nashville to having his own record deals. And he noted Braddock has been a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame since 1981.
To illustrate Braddock's musical reach, Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert emerged to sing the doleful and cautionary "Golden Ring," the George Jones-Tammy Wynette hit that provided an ironic counterpoint to the fact they had been married for only a few days. At one point in the song, Lambert flashed her wedding ring as if to say, "This is not about us."
"I love you, Bobby," Shelton exclaimed when he'd finished the song. Braddock "discovered" Shelton, secured him a record deal and produced his early albums.
 Tracy Lawrence came next to sing his Braddock-penned 1996 hit, "Time Marches On." Turning to Braddock before he left the stage, Lawrence said, "Thank you, Bobby, for the biggest song in my career, brother."
Billy Currington followed with "People Are Crazy," Braddock's most recent No. 1. He told the crowd that Braddock has nine songs to his credit that have logged between 1 million and 3 million plays each on radio. He further noted that 1 million plays amounts to six and a-half years of around-the-clock playing.
Bill Anderson came forward to induct Bobby Braddock and began by telling a few stories about his fellow songwriter's personality and character.
He recalled getting into a discussion with Braddock about fellow songwriters. That led to a few words concerning the late Roger Miller, who Anderson declared was a "genius" for accomplishing all he had with just an eighth-grade education.
"This is the guy," Anderson enthused to Braddock, who wrote "the last word in lonesome is me. Can you imagine that: The last word in lonesome is me."
To which Braddock instantly responded, "Yeah, and the last word in Kroger is Roger."
On another occasion, Anderson said, Braddock decided that instead of buying the people who pitched his songs a Christmas present each, he would take them all to lunch at a fancy Nashville restaurant.
"So they all showed up -- except Bobby," said Anderson. "He slept through it. His excuse was that he'd stayed up all night writing a song."
Anderson said Braddock keeps a daily journal of his activities and that on the day he and Curly Putman completed "He Stopped Loving Her Today" -- arguably the finest country song ever written -- Braddock jotted down in his journal, "I finished a song with Curly today. I don't know."
Read the Rest of this interview on CMT>>
View All the photos from the Medallion Ceremony>>
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