Sign up for our mailing list Real artists creating records on their own terms
Close

Sign up for our mailing list

News

Wednesday, April 25th, 2007

Amazon.com Review of Porter Wagoner

Amazon.com One of the major problems with modern country revolves around the fact that--save George Jones, Merle Haggard, and Loretta Lynn--almost all the characters who poured the foundation for post-World War II hillbilly culture are dead or no longer recording. Which brings us to the miracle of Porter Wagoner's new album, Wagonmaster, produced by Marty Stuart. Wagoner, who kept his corn-yellow pompadour piled high, wide, and handsome, was as wild as Johnny Cash in his prime, but hid most of his sins behind his smooth, pitch-man persona. You can hear it in the music all along the way, though, particularly in the weird "Rubber Room" era of the '60s and '70s. Now nearly 80, Wagoner--the man who brought James Brown to the Grand Ole Opry--is still as theatrical and out-there as ever, even if his once-strong and well-modulated baritone has crumbled to a husk. Stuart, who loved Porter's old syndicated TV show, frames the album with an opening and close that recalls those halcyon days, a Mac Magaha-style fiddle dancing behind it all. In between, the thin man from West Plains, Missouri, moves through a riveting collection of Southern Gothic numbers, starting with "Be a Little Quieter," in which a man is so haunted by memories of his lover that he imagines her walking the halls, taking a bath, ratting the pots and pans. But that's kids' stuff compared to "Committed to Parkview," which Cash sent to Wagoner nearly 25 years ago on learning they'd both spent time in the Nashville mental hospital/drug treatment center. Wagoner opens his spoken-word introduction as if he's playing for laughs, but quickly turns poignant, and the bloodletting hardly lets up: Running through the album are a couple of Bible beaters ("Brother Harold Dee," "Satan's River"), a reprise of "My Many Hurried Southern Trips" (a song about a bus driver's slice-of-life that Wagoner wrote with former singing partner Dolly Parton), and an affecting word portrait of a man from Wagoner's childhood ("Albert Erving") who was so isolated and loveless that he conjured an imaginary companion. Wagoner takes time for a quickie instrumental tribute to his old banjo sidekick Buck Trent, but he's too mired in pathos to highlight the humor in Shawn Camp's "Hotwired." Yet who's to quibble? Much of this is wonderfully creepy ("The Late Love of Mine") and underscored with the kind of weepy pedal steel that fell out of favor when Nashville set its sights on crossover gold. Stuart, his own generation's premier hillbilly throwback, deserves kudos for getting this to the marketplace. And Wagoner, virtually forgotten after Dolly moved on, is to be revered for hanging in there when so many rhinestoned rednecks who put the "path" in Music City's patented brand of pathology chose to check out. --Alanna Nash

Facebook | Twitter
 

Browse by Artist

2075All Artists 99Tom Waits 73Mavis Staples 59Neko Case 51Lost In The Trees 50Sean Rowe 48Dr. Dog 45The Milk Carton Kids
41Jolie Holland 40Bettye LaVette 37Man Man 36Son Little 35Tinariwen 33DeVotchKa 33Tim Fite 31Grinderman 31Islands 29Glen Hansard 28Saintseneca 27Galactic 27Wilco 26Andy Shauf 24Michael Franti and Spe... 24Xenia Rubinos 24The Drums 24Delicate Steve 22William Elliott Whitmo... 22Bob Mould 22Doe Paoro 21The Frames 21Nick Cave & The Bad Se... 20Christopher Paul Stell... 20Joe Henry 19Booker T. Jones 19Cass McCombs 19Yves Jarvis 19Sage Francis 18Deafheaven 18Calexico 18Gary V 17John K. Samson 17Yann Tiersen 16Ramblin Jack Elliott 16Danny Elfman 16Jason Lytle 16The Antlers 14Jeremy Ivey 14Daniel Lanois 13Billy Bragg 13The Dream Syndicate 13Madi Diaz 12Xavier Rudd 12Combo Chimbita 12Girlpool 12Peter Silberman 11Rain Machine 11Ryan Pollie 11Glitterer 11Purr 11The Weakerthans 11Mose Allison 11Jade Jackson 11Leyla McCalla 11Lyrics Born 11Roky Erickson 10Alfa Mist 10The Swell Season 10The Melodic 10Darrin Bradbury 10Half Waif 10High Pulp 10So Much Light 9Moor Mother 9M. Ward 9Hey, King! 9Curtis Harding 9N.A.S.A. 9Lido Pimienta 9Marianne Faithfull 9Cameron Avery 9Josiah Johnson 9Wynonna 8Slow Pulp 8Cadence Weapon 8Christian Lee Hutson 8Solillaquists of Sound 8Greg Graffin 8The Coup 7Katy Kirby 7Kelly Hogan 7Title Fight 7Beth Orton 7Eddie Izzard 7Kate Davis 7Ben Harper 7Dead Man's Bones 7Alec Ounsworth 7Ben Harper and Charlie... 7Japandroids 7Richard Reed Parry 7Elliott Smith 6A Girl Called Eddy 6Rafiq Bhatia 6Broken Twin 6Kate Bush 6Os Mutantes 6Deradoorian 6Busdriver 5Jasmyn 5Bonny Doon 5Scott McMicken and THE... 5Kristine Leschper 5Keaton Henson 5The Field 5The Tallest Man On Ear... 5Art Moore 5Beat Connection 5One Day As A Lion 5Ezra Furman 5James Brandon Lewis 5Foxwarren 4Ersi Arvizu 4Jackson+Sellers 4sunking 4The Good Ones 4Sparklehorse 4Pops Staples 4Marketa Irglova 3Walter Wolfman Washing... 3Sierra Leones Refugee... 3Marc Ribot 3Plains 3Mavis Staples & Levon... 3Waxahatchee 3Petra Haden 3Mothers 3MJ Lenderman 3Danny Cohen 2Sam Akpro 2Fleet Foxes 2Various Artists: RANGO 2Jeff Tweedy 1ANTI- Records 1Blackalicious 1Taylor Vick 1Porter Wagoner 1Simian Mobile Disco 1Tricky 1Rogue's Gallery 1Youth Group 1Solomon Burke 1Antibalas 1Various Artists: ROGUE... 1Merle Haggard 1Lightman Jarvis Ecstat... 1case/lang/veirs 1Kronos Quartet with Br... 1The Locust 1Joe Strummer And The M...
See Full List+