{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"The News Journal","provider_url":"https:\/\/qa.thenewsjournal.net","title":"Out and About Kentucky Style: Joel Ray Sprowls &ndash; The News Journal","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"8HGai2lDlz\"><a href=\"https:\/\/qa.thenewsjournal.net\/out-and-about-kentucky-style-joel-ray-sprowls\/\">Out and About Kentucky Style: Joel Ray Sprowls<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/qa.thenewsjournal.net\/out-and-about-kentucky-style-joel-ray-sprowls\/embed\/#?secret=8HGai2lDlz\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;Out and About Kentucky Style: Joel Ray Sprowls&#8221; &#8212; The News Journal\" data-secret=\"8HGai2lDlz\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/* ]]> *\/\n<\/script>\n","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/qa.thenewsjournal.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Gary-West-mug.jpg","thumbnail_width":417,"thumbnail_height":316,"description":"Joel Ray Sprowls Lincoln Jamboree in Hodgenville is about as old school as it gets. It\u2019s a throwback to days gone by in the entertainment world even in Kentucky. Although it has never attained the global status of Nashville\u2019s Grand Ole Opry, it has left a deep footprint in the small town where Abe Lincoln was born, Hodgenville, Kentucky. Several years ago I had an invitation from Joel Ray to visit and spend a couple of hours talking about how he turned a \u201cyou\u2019ll never make it\u201d country music show into one that has lasted 67 years. \u201cSome said it wouldn\u2019t last,\u201d he told me. \u201cWell, I must have done something right all this time.\u201d What Joel Ray was doing right was doing it himself, especially in the beginning. \u201cI personally interviewed all of the acts, listened to their songs, even knew what they would be wearing,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have comedians as part of our show and I make sure I know all of the jokes they will be telling. We\u2019ve built much of our success on being a family show. We have lots of church groups here and I\u2019m making sure nothing is off-color.\u201d For sure the thousands and thousands of visitors going to the Jamboree are not expecting a Las Vegas act. What they are getting are individuals and groups performing in an 850 seat venue, some hoping Hodgenville is only a stopping off point on their way to a bigger stage and brighter lights. But for others, they are content singing a song or two as part of a \u201ctribute\u201d show to stars who have, in fact, made it. George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Garth Brooks Roy Or-bison and Elvis are just a few patrons will hear the \u201csoundalikes\u201d honor with their songs. Today the Jamboree and Joel Ray have been sidelined. First it was Sprowles back in December 2018, when he suffered a series of mini strokes. The 92-year-old is still rehabbing in a nursing home in Hodgenville. Without the legendary host, the Lincoln Jamboree continued until March 2020 when the coronavirus caused the venue to shut doors. \u201cI stepped in and tried to do it like Joel Ray wanted,\u201d offered Jay Henderson who has assumed the role as emcee and joke teller. Henderson over the years has been a jack-of-all trades at the Jamboree. \u201cI actually got involved back in 1999. I\u2019ve been a behind-the-scenes worker, lead guitar and fiddle player,\u201d he said. Henderson, who lives in Irvington, Kentucky, has become the designated man-ager of the show, once it starts up again. Ronnie Benningfield will be celebrating fifty years with the Lincoln Jamboree this July when and if the doors open back up. \u201cThere\u2019s been some remodeling, cleaning up and new flooring,\u201d the long time keyboard player says. \u201cThe restaurant no longer operates, but there\u2019s plenty of concessions.\u201d In the heyday of the 70s and 80s sellouts were the norm in the 850-seat building, but now a crowd of 400 is considered good. \u201cOur biggest draw now is the impersonator acts,\u201d says Benningfield. But it wasn\u2019t always that way. Over the years the likes of Bill Anderson, Billy Grammer, Grandpa Jones, String Bean, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Oak Ridge Boys, Ernest Tubb, Cowboy Copas, and Lori Morgan have been introduced by Joel Ray Sprowles. One time a talented 13-year-old named Patty Ramey took the stage. Later she changed her name to Patty Loveless. There was one talent Joel Ray passed on and lived to regret it. \u201cIn July 1960, a booking agent called about a female singer he said was pretty good,\u201d recalled Sprowles. \u201cHe said I could get her here for $100. Female singers were not a good draw back then and $100 was a big risk. I told the agent I\u2019d pass. Her name was Patsy Cline and that\u2019s the biggest mistake I\u2019ve made.\u201d Eddie Miles, the Elvis tribute artist from Bardstown got a jumpstart to his decades long career at the Lincoln Jamboree in 1973. \u201cI heard a radio ad that an Elvis guy was going to be performing at the Lincoln Jamboree and I wanted to see him,\u201d said Miles. \u201cHe came out with blond hair, a Beatle haircut, and wiggled around a lot. He looked nothing like Elvis and the crowd went crazy. I knew I could do better.\u201d Joel Ray was impressed enough with Miles that he had a fringe-laced costume made for his new star. Years later Miles laughed that he made more money selling pictures than Joel Ray was paying him. No one knows when anything in Kentucky will open again and that includes the Lincoln Jamboree. \u201cWe don\u2019t know what the future holds,\u201d Ronnie Benningfield adds. \u201cWhen you think about it Joel Ray made a successful stage show without a dance floor and no alcohol. And his jokes were corny . . . but clean.\u201d Even though Joel Ray has tried to keep things just like they were back in 1954 when it all started, one thing that has changed is the ticket prices. \u201cI think the first few shows it was 25 cents for adults and 10 cents for children,\u201d said Henderson. \u201cNow it\u2019s $10.50 and for impersonation shows, $12.50.\u201d Joel Ray Sprowls has let it be known that even when he\u2019s gone, the show must go on. \u201cRenfro Valley didn\u2019t close when John Lair died,\u201d Joel Ray told Henderson. \u201cSo the Lincoln Jamboree will not close when I die.\u201d Other than Benningfield and Henderson, the \u201cJoel Ray Jamboree Gang\u201d today is made up of Wayne Sexton, Lou Bingham, Ron Browning, Camille Bingham, Jeanne Flanagan and Donna Richardson. No excuse, get up, get out and get going! Gary P. West can be reached at westgarypdeb@gmail.com."}