After the Thin Man

R.I.P., Porter Wagoner.

Others are going to know way more than me about his best writing and singing, about his role in spreading country music via the TV (21 years!), how he fought to give Dolly Parton a career, how he fought to keep her shackled long after her star had eclipsed his.  About that amazing, awful, rhinestone jumpwear.

But it was an honor to see the man live at Madison Square Garden a few months back in what must have been one of his last performances.  Jack White had invited Porter to join him and Meg and Nick Cave's Grinderman on their sold-out bill.

The showiest thing about Wagoner was his suit, but music's not about getting fancy.  He got you to listen to the words.  I'd heard "Green Green Grass at Home" before, of course, but had never bothered past the treacly homecoming story to learn it was all a death row inmate's daydream.  I'd never heard "The Cold Hard Facts of Life," found myself gasping, then chuckling, when its sad-sack cuckold hero turned killer.

Eighty-year-old Wagoner released a well-received new album on Anti-, this year.  Wagonmaster.  The two tracks below are from that.

Porter Wagoner - A Place to Hang My Hat (mp3) (buy)

Porter Wagoner - Men with Broken Hearts (recitation)/(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle (Hank Williams) (mp3) (buy)

tags: porter wagoner  rip  

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