By Deborah Evans Price

© 2008 CMA Close Up News Service / Country Music Association, Inc.

Like most grand adventures, it began with a small group of visionaries, unafraid of hard work and totally willing to devote their time and resources to a common goal. The year was 1958, and that goal was the advancement of Country Music. Thus the Country Music Association was born.

"Country Music was in trouble," recalled former CMA Executive Director Jo Walker-Meador. "Rock 'n' roll was taking over the airwaves, and so the radio stations were dropping Country Music and changing the format."

To address these developments, a group of professionals met in Miami to launch an organization that would promote Country Music. At this meeting, hosted by the Country Music Disc Jockey Association, attendees included CMDJA President Connie B. Gay, Grand Ole Opry manager Dee Kilpatrick, talent agent and booker Hubert Long, publisher/producer Wesley Rose, the Wilburn Brothers and other key players in the Country Music community.

The late Ken Nelson, a legendary producer who headed Capitol Records' Country division for many years, recounted this meeting in his book, My First 90 Years Plus 3. In discussing the travails suffered by the CMDJA at the time, he wrote, the conference members "concluded that the problem was the CMDJA was only one segment of the industry and that in order to be successful the organization must encompass all segments of the industry - radio and television, music publishers, record companies, artists, managers, bookers and trade papers. It was decided to form a Country Music Association with headquarters in Nashville."

Nashville attorneys Dick Frank and Ward Hudgins donated their legal services to the fledgling organization, to which the State of Tennessee granted its charter in 1958. CMA began with 37 lifetime members, 160 annual members and a Board of Directors. Gay and Rose were elected President and Chairman, respectively. Eddy Arnold and Harold Moon were Vice Presidents, Hubert Long was named Treasurer and Mac Wiseman was chosen to be Secretary. Initial funding stemmed mainly from the sale of lifetime memberships - at that time, $100 - and collection of dues; an additional influx came from the CMDJA, which shut down in 1969 while giving its entire treasury, totaling $1,250, to CMA.

Nelson, who served as CMA Board President in 1961 and 1962, designed CMA's first logo, a musical note with a world map imprinted on it, emblazoned with the words "Best Liked Worldwide." "Country Music Association" was inscribed on the large flag on the note. In his book, Nelson recalled that Marvin Schwartz, who worked in the art department at Capitol Records, made the drawing.

CMA's first organizational meeting took place in November 1958. Shortly after, on Dec. 8, Walker-Meador became CMA's first employee. "The pay was very low, much lower than I had been earning. But the more he talked about it, he sold me on it real well," said Walker-Meador, recalling the phone call she got from Kilpatrick, who was trying to persuade her to take the job. "It just sounded like a challenge."

"Even though the treasury was skimpy, the CMA Board voted to hire a secretary," said Nelson, recalling how Walker-Meador was hired. "I don't know who suggested Jo Walker, but whoever did deserves a medal. She was hired for a salary of $375 a month. Without her aptitude, devotion and dedication, I don't believe CMA would have survived."

The Board also hired former Grand Ole Opry Manager Harry Stone to serve as CMA's first Executive Director. Stone helmed the organization for nearly a year; after his departure, Walker-Meador continued to run day-to-day operations before being installed formally as his successor. She would hold the office of Executive Director until her retirement in 1991.

In its early days, CMA faced numerous challenges. Though money was scarce, the organization had to battle ceaselessly against preconceptions concerning "hillbilly music." The stigma was so widespread, Walker-Meador recalled, that during the first CMA meetings there was talk about replacing the name "Country Music" with alternatives such as "Cosmopolitan" or "America's Music."

According to Walker-Meador, there was also some confusion during the early days as to what exactly CMA was dedicated to promoting. "When CMA was formed, it was misunderstood by a lot of people as to what its purpose was," she said. "There were a lot of other live shows around the country - weekly shows that did quite well, like the Big D Jamboree in Dallas, the Old Dominion Barn Dance in Richmond, the Wheeling Jamboree and the Louisiana Hayride. These were well known and important shows. They all thought that CMA was organized to promote the Grand Ole Opry, and the Grand Ole Opry thought that CMA was going to be promoting all these other shows. The Opry, of course, was the granddaddy, but the others were important, so that was something we had to overcome. We had to let people know that CMA is to promote Country Music, and the goal of it was to help everybody involved with it."

The early CMA Boards made this clear by meeting in different cities. "We would have meetings in those places to let them know we're here for you and we're not just a Nashville organization," said Walker-Meador. "We also met in various cities because we were working to increase the number of radio stations. We were looking at stations in markets that weren't doing well. Everybody couldn't be a Top 40 station or a rock station, so we were looking at stations and we had people who were willing to go out on their own expense because we didn't have the money to pay them. We developed what we called a radio kit to sell them on switching to a Country format; they helped them to not only format the station but program it and also sell it. I remember one year [when] five stations in major markets switched to Country Music. That was a real cause for celebration."

CMA tackled another major challenge by aggressively educating Madison Avenue advertisers on the appeal of Country Music. "Country Music was sort of persona non grata in most of the major markets in the U.S., like New York City and Chicago," recalled former BMI President and CEO Frances Preston, who became the first woman to serve as Chairman of the CMA Board in 1964 and 1965 and served also as President in 1973. "We knew there were fans in those markets because people used to write in and say they'd sit in their car to pick up WSM and the Grand Ole Opry. So there were fans all over, but when it came to the advertisers, they weren't interested in Country Music because the demographics just were not there and there were not that many Country stations.

"Now we think about promoting Country Music worldwide," she continued, "but at that time, you thought about promoting Country Music just to get anybody you could to play it and to be interested in it. I can remember when we used to take shows to advertisers in Detroit, Chicago and New York. I remember we gave away a Tennessee Walking Horse and cases of Jack Daniel's [whiskey] to get the advertisers to stay to listen to a Country Music show."

The Walking Horse was offered as a door prize when CMA presented "The Sound of Country Music" at the Sales Executive Club of New York in 1963. Gene Autry, Flatt & Scruggs, Don Gibson, Leon McAuliffe and Tex Ritter performed at the event. "I don't know what anybody in New York City was going to do with a Tennessee Walking Horse, but we gave one away," recalled Preston with a laugh. "Our goal was to get into these marketplaces and get Country Music heard."

Efforts paid off, to the extent that in 1967 the first Country Music nightclub in New York City opened for business at the New Yorker Hotel.

Walker-Meador noted as well that during the early '60s, CMA put together the first Country Music compilation album, Country Music Hall of Fame Volume One, and followed it with a Volume Two. "We got songs that were hits, and the artists, songwriters, publishing companies and the record companies all gave the rights to those tunes for a period of 18 months," she said. "They were sold on television and by mail order. It sold a million or more. We actually got 12 cents per album for the first half million and then 11 cents for over that number of sales."

Many milestones were planted during that first decade of operation. In 1961, the CMA Board approved the establishment of the Country Music Hall of Fame; six years later, in 1967, CMA opened the first home of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, on Music Row. "I give Frances [Preston] a lot of credit for her faith that we could build a building," said Walker-Meador. "A lot of the Board members thought we could never raise enough money to build it. Of course, the sale of the albums helped a great deal, but it was Frances who pushed it through."

In 1967, the very first CMA Awards ceremony took place at Nashville's Municipal Auditorium, with Bobbie Gentry and Sonny James as hosts. Eddy Arnold was named the first Entertainer of the Year. Jack Greene was named Male Vocalist and Loretta Lynn took the prize for Female Vocalist. "There Goes My Everything" earned songwriter Dallas Frazier Song of the Year honors as well as Single and Album of the Year distinctions for Greene. Awards were given to The Stoneman Family for Vocal Group, Chet Atkins for Instrumentalist which later changed to the Musician category and in now discontinued categories, Don Bowman for Comedian and the Buckaroos for Instrumental Group.

In 1968, Dale Evans and Roy Rogers hosted the second CMA Awards from the Ryman Auditorium. The show was taped and broadcast a few weeks later by NBC, making the first time a music awards show was televised nationally.

As CMA's first decade drew to a close, much had changed. Headquarters had moved from the Exchange Building in Downtown Nashville to office space on Music Row, in the newly opened Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. From Main Street USA to Madison Avenue, the world was learning that Country Music was more than the music of rural America; it was the soundtrack for American life.

Preston credits the dedication of Walker-Meador and the early CMA Board members for these accomplishments. "CMA has been the only organization that has been successful in promoting one kind of music," she said. "Others have tried, but they just have not been successful. Somehow CMA was very successful in bringing in the top executives from the record companies, the publishers and from the performing rights organizations, and getting these people to work together. A lot can be said for that first Board and the Board in the early years because everybody gave. Everybody gave with hard work and they all worked together. It was a very cohesive Board. We were making things happen."

Highlights from CMA History
PART 1: 1958-1968

1958
    . CMA launches with Connie B. Gay as CMA Board President and Wesley Rose as CMA Board Chairman serving two-year terms in 1959 and 1960; 37 lifetime members; and 160 annual members.  First CMA Board of Directors included nine directors and five officers.

    . Jo Walker, hired as secretary, becomes first salaried employee at CMA.  She advances to office manager and then becomes CMA Executive Director in 1962, a position she held until she retired in 1991.

1961
    . CMA Board approves plans to create Country Music Hall of Fame.

    . Homer & Jethro, The Jordanaires, Wanda Jackson and Hank Thompson perform at CMA anniversary celebration.

1963
    . CMA gives away Tennessee Walking Horse, named "Country Music," as door prize during "The Sound of Country Music" event at Sales Executive Club of New York City. Gene Autry, Flatt & Scruggs, Don Gibson, Leon McAuliffe and Tex Ritter provide entertainment.

    . CMA creates promotional kit, "The Wonderful World of Country & Western Music," to document and expand awareness of Country Music throughout radio industry.

    . Richard Frank receives first Connie B. Gay Award from CMA.

    . CMA offers Group Accidental Death and Dismemberment insurance plan to members.

1964
    . Frances Preston becomes first woman to serve as CMA Board Chairman.

    . Gene Autry, former CMA Board President, hosts CMA Board meeting at his Melody Ranch.

    . CMA spearheads celebration of National Country Music Month.

    . Judge Robert Jay Burton, BMI President, appointed to lead fundraising efforts for CMA Hall of Fame building.

    . CMA issues an album, A Visit with Tex Ritter and Roy Acuff, to promote membership recruitment.

    . CMA furthers case for Country Music as advertising resource by presenting "The Sound of Country Music" before Ad Craft Club of Detroit.

    . Joe Allison receives the CMA Connie B. Gay Award.

1965
    . CMA Close Up encourages expansion of Country format in broadcasting through series profiling individual radio stations and offering promotion and sales ideas.

    . CMA issues first-ever compilation of multiple-artist Country Music hits, with sales eventually topping 1 million and proceeds donated to construction of Country Music Hall of Fame. Subsequent second volume also generates impressive sales and earnings.

    . CMA launches annual "Music City USA Pro-Celebrity Golf Invitational," co-sponsored by Nashville Junior Chamber of Commerce.

    . CMA adds "Walkway of Stars" to design plans for Country Music Hall of Fame.

    . CMA holds third presentation of "The Sound of Country Music" before 750 sales and marketing executives during Advertising Age workshop in Chicago, complete with performance by Leroy Van Dyke and second Tennessee Walking Horse giveaway.

    . Robert J. Burton receives the CMA Connie B. Gay Award.

    . President Tex Ritter gives the first CMA Board President's Award to C.L. Leo Fender.

1966
    . CMA hosts groundbreaking ceremony for first Country Music Hall of Fame building.

    . CMA stages first of many presentations at annual National Association of Broadcasters conventions.
. CMA membership tops 1,500.

    . United States Library of Congress receives complete collection of CMA Close Up.

    . Pack Ackerman receives the CMA Connie B. Gay Award.

1967
    . CMA opens first home of Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum at 16th Avenue South and Division Street in Nashville; number of visitors paying admission - not counting school children in tour groups - exceeds 70,000 by year's end.

    . CMA stages first CMA Awards ceremony at Municipal Auditorium, hosted by Sonny James and Bobbie Gentry, with Price Waterhouse tabulating first year's ballots.

    . CMA becomes first trade association to stage presentation at National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) convention.

    . Nashville Chapter of Advertising Federation of America presents Diamond Award for best industry promotion to CMA film, "What's This Country Coming To?" Film is used by Country radio stations to help sell advertising.

    . CMA develops "Code of Ethics" for use by artists.

    . Gen Nash and Leroy Van Dyke receive the CMA Connie B. Gay Award.

1968
    . CMA Awards taped at Ryman Auditorium before capacity crowd and televised by NBC-TV as first nationally broadcast music awards ceremony, sponsored by Kraft. Nielsen Ratings for Awards program hit 20.9 with 32 share; in comparison, Kraft Music Hall show from previous week drew 19 share.

    . CMA releases album as tribute to United States military and intended for sale at base exchanges and ship stores.

    . Hospital Family Money Plan made available exclusively to CMA members.

    . Membership in CMA climbs above 2,000.

    . Owen Bradley receives the CMA Connie B. Gay Award.