Comments on: It's good to touch the green green grass of home

It's good to touch the green green grass of home

smartyboots — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:47:02 -0800

Porter Wagoner has gone to his reward.

Known for his flashy suits and lurid songs, Porter Wagoner was a force in country music for decades. As the rhinestone studded host of the Porter Wagoner show, he brought us performances by young up-and-comers like Waylon Jennings, Jerry Reed and Merle Haggard, and introduced the Dolly Parton. The acrimony following her departure from the show inspired her classic song I Will Always Love You. Although he was in ill health, he released Wagonmaster last year, which became his critically best received album.

By: sleepy pete

sleepy pete — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:50:39 -0800

He led a long full life. I can remember watching the show at my grandma's house on Saturdays (yeah, she watched Hee Haw afterward). He was a wonderful showman in wonderful Nudie suits. RIP.

By: The Card Cheat

The Card Cheat — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:53:29 -0800

By: pracowity

pracowity — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:57:52 -0800

"One of Porter Wagoner's signature Nudie suits."

By: horsemuth

horsemuth — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:58:58 -0800

Reruns of the Porter Wagoner Show still appear on the RFDTV network (on some US satellite providers).

By: jonmc

jonmc — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:04:29 -0800

"The Cold Hard Facts Of Life" is one of the most chilling songs I've ever heard. RIP, Porter.

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:07:54 -0800

Every Saturday. Next to my Grandfather on the couch. 6:00--Hee Haw at 6:30. I ended up being a bigger Buck Owens fan, though.

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:16:45 -0800

As mentioned in the post, Porter gave the world Dolly Parton, who had, prior to joining his show, floundered in an almost career of penning songs and recording bubblegum pop that didn't crack the top 100, and that alone would have gained Mr. Wagoner access to heaven.

By: smartyboots

smartyboots — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:17:39 -0800

D'oh! That should be "introduced the nation to Dolly Parton". I watch The Porter Wagoner Show on RFD tv every week. The man was a great entertainer.

By: Floydd

Floydd — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:19:39 -0800

"Where'd ya git them tals, Porter?"

By: bobot

bobot — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:31:10 -0800

Last night, after watching the Sox win the Series, I checked CNN before I went to bed and saw this. The moral of the story: go to bed on a high note. RIP, the Thin Man from West Plains.

By: bobot

bobot — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:31:43 -0800

er, that should be "Don't check the news. Go to bed on a high note."

By: First Post

First Post — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:32:19 -0800

RIP Porter. Here's one of his last tunes, penned by Johnny Cash: Committed to Parkview

By: echolalia67

echolalia67 — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:33:53 -0800

By: jquinby

jquinby — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:39:35 -0800

. The newspaper here in Nashville had been reporting on it all week. Last thing I saw was "hospice" in an article, and that was about it until this morning's headline.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:46:30 -0800

DAMN IT! I remember my dad used to send us reel to reel tapes from Vietnam rather than letters. Occasionally loneliness and sentiment would get the better of him and you could hear it in his voice (that, and the whiskey) and when it would get to be to much for him he would break out in a spontaneous rendition of "The Green Green Grass of Home." We would giggle becuase we thought, as kids, he was being silly. My mom would shoo us out of the room. And she would sit there and pet the side of that tape player and cry. .

By: vronsky

vronsky — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:01:53 -0800

He was interviewed by Borat on his HBO show. But Porter came off looking great. Too cool for you Borat. FAIL!

By: kuujjuarapik

kuujjuarapik — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:08:15 -0800

By: Sailormom

Sailormom — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:09:31 -0800

Hes wearing rhinestone in the great Rubber Room in the sky. Goodnight Porter. .

By: 3.2.3

3.2.3 — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:29:15 -0800

No Videos found for 'halo of flies rubber room'

By: UseyurBrain

UseyurBrain — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:39:08 -0800

""I Will Always Love You" was first released as a single in 1974 by Dolly Parton who composed this song to her singing partner, Porter Wagner. At the time Porter and Dolly were splitting and Dolly was going to go solo, she wrote this song as a final goodbye to Porter. People play this song at weddings and use it to express their love for someone, when in reality this song is about separation." Rest in Peace .

By: Ethereal Bligh

Ethereal Bligh — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:41:52 -0800

"...and that alone would have gained Mr. Wagoner access to heaven." Or more likely, denied him entry.

By: telstar

telstar — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:46:32 -0800

I hope you realize your post lead to a cascade of watching old time country music videos on youtube. Another day claimed... Oh, and .

By: F Mackenzie

F Mackenzie — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:48:02 -0800

Rest easy, Porter. A Missouri boy who done good-- I'll be thinking of you the next time I drive down Porter Waggoner Boulevard in West Plains. .

By: vronsky

vronsky — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:49:41 -0800

I wonder if they will bury him in one of his famous Nudie Suits ?

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 15:08:13 -0800

Ethereal Bligh, pistols at dawn.

By: p3t3

p3t3 — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 15:24:06 -0800

By: FelliniBlank

FelliniBlank — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 15:34:37 -0800

The first time I saw Porter, I was a little tot, and he and Dolly were hawking laundry detergent: "You can't buy 'em. You can only get 'em in boxes of Breeze." What a beautifully surreal sight they were in all those spangles, waxing poetic about cheap hand towels in the gulch of local daytime TV.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 15:38:34 -0800

Aaah, that's too bad. He should've made it to at least 90 or so, and made another 5 albums. RIP, Porter.

By: wsg

wsg — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 16:00:34 -0800

Coincidentally, his old guitarist, Benjamin H. "Benny" Williams<>Here's a vid of some of his fine picking. I love this bit of the obit. One (tabloid headline) asserted that Mr. Wagoner's wife had found him and Ms. Parton in bed and shot both. "There wasn't nothing to that," Mr. Wagoner said "with a wink" in an interview with The Tennessean in 2000. "She didn't even hit Dolly."

By: wsg

wsg — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 16:04:20 -0800

Man, I screwed that post up. Sorry about that. It was supposed to say: Coincidentally, his old guitarist, Benjamin H. "Benny" Williams died earlier this month on Oct. 16. Here's a vid of some of his fine picking.

By: dirtdirt

dirtdirt — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 16:22:41 -0800

The ONLY thing I miss about DirecTV is that RFD-TV, "Rural America's Television Network" was on it and showed old episodes of the Porter Wagoner show. So good. Oh so good. I've never done this before, but .

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 16:23:03 -0800

Brief analysis of and lyrics to Porter's infamous ballad, The Rubber Room.

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 16:23:26 -0800

I always thought getting to nail a young Dolly Parton was his reward. Ah, well. .

By: vronsky

vronsky — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 16:28:05 -0800

Flowers On The Wall The Statler Brothers on the Porter Wagoner show.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 16:43:03 -0800

My mom grew up outside Poplar Bluff, Missouri, so she's a big fan of Mr. Wagoner's "40 Miles From Poplar Bluff."

By: vronsky

vronsky — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:09:28 -0800

That comment actually choked me up a little tk. OK a lot. (My dad wasn't in Vietnam but he travelled overseas often and he sent us reel to reel tapes too.)

By: timsteil

timsteil — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 18:32:40 -0800

Every Saturday. Next to my Grandfather on the couch. 6:00--Hee Haw at 6:30. well....it was Porter at 5:30, Hee Haw at six, and then down to the basement to light a fire in the Franklin and listen to the Opry on as many AM radios I could muster....but same boogie. ,

By: Tube

Tube — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:22:24 -0800

A special feature on most was the word "Hi!" in foot-high letters on each side of the lining. He would throw the jacket open when he saw somebody snapping his picture. Much more classy than so many of today's celebrities, whose reaction is "the finger".

By: alicesshoe

alicesshoe — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 20:23:34 -0800

Run That By Me One More Time, to make sure that I heard you right, I hope you don' expect me to believe that lie. Dang. Thanks for the tuneage Porter and for the most memorable duets with Dolly. Those were truly the best. So many I won't start... Although this summer, I played The Carroll County Accident for my 17 yr old niece, she liked it. Too cool.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 07:39:38 -0800

"The Cold Hard Facts Of Life" is one of the most chilling songs I've ever heard. Amen, brother. A guy gets home from a business trip a day early, heads to a store to get a bottle of wine to surprise his wife, and... A stranger stood there laughing by the counter He said I'll take two bottles of your best Her husband's out of town and there's a party He winked as if to say you know the rest I left the store two steps behind the stranger From there to my house his car stayed in sight But it wasn't till he turned into my drive that I learned I was witnessing the cold hard facts of life It's the screaming and crying as he kills them with his knife that really gets you. He had so many great songs, with Dolly and without. .

By: scody

scody — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 18:20:04 -0800

Yep, Porter Wagoner at 6:00, then Hee-Haw at 6:30. Those were the Saturday nights of my youth at my grandparents' house, too. Great songwriter and a fine country gentleman. .