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 I was sorry to hear of the passing of the great Porter Wagoner, he of the Nudie suits, pompadour of the century, and great musical integrity. He was a great performer, songwriter, and all-around entertainer. He discovered many other talented performers, most notably Dolly Parton. He was a Grand Ole Opry star since 1957, and brought Jame Brown on to the Opry Stage for the first time.
What I remember most was his extremely funky TV show on Saturday afternoons. It was down-home and as authentic as a music program ever got on TV. I saw his touring show in 1974 (his last tour with Dolly) at the cavernous Sacramento Memorial Auditorium. It wasn't a sellout, and folks on the main floor all moved close to the stage. It had the feeling of being in a rural school auditorium, filled with true believers. The music was great, no-compromise, down-home country, with few concessions to the more commercial aspects of the business. I'll always remember as an honest and thoroughly engaging performer.
How traditional was he? How many groups can you name that still had a bass player (Speck Rhodes) who filled the traditional comic relief function, with blacked-out teeth, that harks back to the days of medicine shows? He wrote many classics, like "The Green, Green Grass of Home," and stories of desperate men caught in moral dillemas, like "The Carrol County Accident."
One more missing brick in the real heart of American music, he will be missed.
We split over creative differences. I was creative, and Porter was different.
-Dolly Parton
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