KC Opry founder passes
Fred Black, who opened the KC Opry in 1978, passed away on August 3rd.
Black and his wife Ruby operated the KC Opry in the historic Englewood Theater until musician and band leader Tuffy Williams took over the venue when the Blacks relocated to Oregon.
“We worked very hard to make it a place for everyone to gather and have a lot of fun at the Englewood Theatre on Saturday night,” Ruby commented in a note about the passing of her spouse. “All the customers became family to us and were very sad to see us move on.”
“We took a very big chance in starting the KC Opry,” Fred shared in February. “Our 15-year-old son Jeff Black controlled the sound system and the lighting. He also took most all of the photos and developed them in the dark room he had built upstairs in the projection room.”
“We and our bands have many stories to tell … And after rehearsal on Wednesday, there were major water fights.”
Fred attended William Chrisman High School, served in the Air Force, met and married Ruby and returned to Independence. He worked at Kansas City Power and Light (now Evergy).
The Blacks relocated to Oregon when Fred took a job with a power company there.
“They really do need the credit for starting up the KC Opry business,” said Karen Williams, spouse of the late Tuffy Williams. “It was their creative energy that founded it and gave it the family-friendly, ‘Come on in!’ spirit in Englewood that Tuffy was able to continue through the 1980s. They were great folks!”
The KC Opry became a significant performing venue for country music as musicians booked “pass-through” concerts when touring. 30 musicians who performed on its stage are now in the Country Music Hall of Fame. An alphabetical list reads like a who’s-who of the genre:
Bill Anderson, John Anderson, Garth Brooks, Jim Ed Brown, Little Jimmy Dickens, Tom T. Hall, Ferlin Husky, Sonny James, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Brenda Lee, Jerry Lee Lewis, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Montana, Bill Monroe, Webb Pierce, Ray Price, Charlie Pride, Jerry Reed, Ricky Skaggs, Connie Smith, George Strait, Hank Thompson, Mel Tillis, Randy Travis, Ernest Tubb, Conway Twitty, Porter Wagoner, Kitty Wells and Tammy Wynette.
Other musical acts, including Weird Al Yankovic, played the KC Opry as well. Signatures of many of the musicians are on the back walls behind the stage of the Englewood Theater.
The theater, closed for decades, is now owned by the Friends of Englewood Theater, a nonprofit working to reopen it as a “cultural hub” for Eastern Jackson County. The renovated venue will be a gathering spot to showcase performing arts, movies, and events for the community that Fred Black and his family loved and served so well.
The Englewood Theater is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, its history enriched and deepened by the vision, energy, and love of music that Fred Black brought to the community.
