Ken Berryhill helped get WRVU started, now regarded as living legend of radio

A gutsy 22-year-old from Jackson, Tenn., once relayed an ambitious idea in a one-page letter to Vanderbilt University’s top officials.

“I had a lot of nerve,” said Ken Berryhill, 81. “I went to the chancellor’s office with my letter saying that we needed a radio station.”

WRVU 91.1, which he helped start in 1952, has forever changed despite its ambitious start and droves of fans. Berryhill, who now lives in Bellevue, said he is saddened by the news. The Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame-nominated disc jockey is one of many WRVU fans who were outraged by the news that WPLN, Nashville Public Radio, purchased the versatile campus radio station from Vanderbilt Student Communications Inc. with plans to transform it into an all-classical music format. WRVU volunteer DJs, usually Vanderbilt alumni and students, will no longer be heard on the radio airwaves. However, WRVU’s music format, which ranged from classic country to 1980s rock, will now air on auto-rotation at www.wrvu.org .

“Three point three five million dollars to take over an established radio station to satisfy a special group of listeners — snobbery at its best,” Berryhill said outside of the WRVU studio this month. “Like everything else, this isn’t about broadcasting; it’s about money, money, money.”

Though WRVU 91.1 will reach its listeners in a new way, Berryhill said he holds on to hope that the industry he loves is not dead. He also remains proud of the fans and DJs who cemented the station’s legacy.

“It was great to see what the station became,” he said. “It was far more professional than I ever thought it would be, because there were all these students on the air who weren’t radio professionals. That impressed me.”

Berryhill had a love for radio before he arrived on Vanderbilt’s campus in 1950. At 16, he was interviewed for a Memphis teenage radio program. Though he suffered from mic fright then, within a year he was broadcasting on his own phono oscillator, a short-range AM transmitter.

Within a couple of miles of his home, Berryhill could be heard telling jokes and making sound effects. His knack for radio broadcast landed him a job at Memphis’ WDIA playing hillbilly records. For a short time, the 18-year-old worked alongside blues legend B.B. King.

“My parents let me work part time on Friday and Saturday nights,” Berryhill said. “I met so many people, and at the time, I had people like Bob Hope to look up to.

Funk and Soul music in Nashville... - Nashville Music Pros

&Amp;lt;a href="http://ads.nashvillemusicpros.com/openx/www/delivery/ck.php?n=a04d70a7&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE" _mce_href="http://ads.nashvillemusicpros.com/openx/www/delivery/ck.php?n=a04d70a7&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE" target='_blank'><img src="http://ads.nashvillemusicpros.com/openx/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=1&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE&n=a04d70a7" _mce_src="http://ads.nashvillemusicpros.com/openx/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=1&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE&n=a04d70a7" border='0' alt='' /></a> <a href="http://ads.nashvillemusicpros.com/openx/www/delivery/ck.php?n=a3579164&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE" _mce_href="http://ads.nashvillemusicpros.com/openx/www/delivery/ck.php?n=a3579164&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE" target='_blank'><img src="http://ads.nashvillemusicpros.com/openx/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=2&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE&n=a3579164" _mce_src="http://ads.nashvillemusicpros.com/openx/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=2&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE&n=a3579164" border='0' alt='' /></a> come and see Jimmy Hall and The Prisoners of Love. This Friday at 3rd and Linsley 7pm. We have Jack Pearson playing guitar. The Prisoners have been playing together right here in Nashville for almost 30 years. You wont hear Sly or James per say but you will hear all of the influences in the original songs we are playing. Plus maybe the best southern rock and soul singer on the planet it should be soul satisfying even for the purest. It may sound like hype but its the truth and its the funk!...and the blues.

There's a sort of collective of younger folks who just relocated to Nashville, running a small label called GED Soul, with their own studio. They play in several configurations; they rock pretty hard when they bring out vocalists, as in SkyHi and DeRobert and the Half Truths. I also love The Coolin' System, who I got to work with a little last year. They usually release 45s with download cards.

Seen the Wootens a few times..  Steve and Nioshi are great.  liked the GED soul group too when i saw them a while back and remember talking to their guitar player (forget his name).. he was like "they just want me to play chords- COOL."  i've also seen the bb kings house band and they're good (mostly older soul standard repertoire).  yeah, there needs to be more of this in Nashville.  preferably without the dredged-out funk standards (i.e. kiss, superstition, tepid versions of the funky chicken, etc...).  i can do without hearing/playing those ever again.  more suggestions/finds?  post 'em and i'll do the same! <a href="http://ads.nashvillemusicpros.com/openx/www/delivery/ck.php?n=a86818ba&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE" _mce_href="http://ads.nashvillemusicpros.com/openx/www/delivery/ck.php?n=a86818ba&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE" target='_blank'><img src="http://ads.nashvillemusicpros.com/openx/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=3&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE&n=a86818ba" _mce_src="http://ads.nashvillemusicpros.com/openx/www/delivery/avw.php?

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