It's hard for a lot of people to remember this, but country singer Porter Wagoner had a syndicated variety show, The Porter Wagoner Show, that lasted for 21 years. It came on the air in 1960 and ended in 1981. That's a lot of television.
He wore rhinestone suits all the time, but somehow he didn't become the Liberace of country music. He still looked real, and when you're wearing a rhinestone suit that's not easy to do. His hits included "Company's Comin," "Carroll County Accident," and "Green Green Grass of Home." He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame five years ago, and he helped launch the career of Dolly Parton, among others. He released his last album this past June.
Wagoner died over the weekend of lung cancer. He was 80.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-29-2007 @ 4:38PM
jeff said...
first
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10-30-2007 @ 4:27PM
Jim Kosmicki said...
Here in Central Nebraska, the Porter Wagoner show was a long-time favorite, next to Lawrence Welk and Hee-Haw (especially for the older generation). I never really cared much for Porter's part of the show, but he had a lot of great guests on. The show itself was cheesy and low-budget, but you watched it for the music, and that was usually top-notch.
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10-29-2007 @ 6:25PM
Cincinnati Mike said...
Saturday nights, early-mid 70s. The killer CBS block of All in the Family, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart and Carol Burnett. But in my house, the couch potato-ism began even earlier with Hee Haw, Pop Goes the Country and, of course, Porter and Dolly. It was torture for an 8-year-old, but now I look back on it as a fond memory of family togetherness. Thanks Porter!
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10-30-2007 @ 5:08AM
Will said...
I'll have to check my dates, but he was just on tv on Letterman, I think it was sometime this summer, within the last 6 months (if memory serves) and he wore the whole rhinestone suit thing. I found it amusing because it just seemed so out-of-place in terms of today's country singers. My Dad was a huge country fan, I grew up hearing all the old-club guys like Buck Owens, Roy Clark and Hee-Haw every Satuday night (that's why I can't stand country music, enough constant exposure to make it unbearable to me). But Dave greeted him warmly after his song. He was certainly one of the legends of country music, I'll give him that.
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