Wagonmaster

Porter Wagoner | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 5, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: ANTI
• ASIN: B000OQF37A
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,879 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

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

Product Description

In a world where the term is overused, Porter Wagoner is a true legend. He kicked out hard-hitting honky-tonk anthems in the 50s; pioneered music television with the amazingly long-running "Porter Wagoner Show" 1960-1980, where he discovered Dolly Parton; started the Nudie suit craze; influenced everyone from Johnny Cash and Dwight Yoakam to the Byrds & Gram Parsons; and recorded seminal concept albums in the early 70s, populated with the lonely, addicted, and mentally ill, capturing the imagination of nascent punks like Alex Chilton with songs like "The Rubber Room." Last year, Marty Stuart, longtime Johnny Cash sideman and torchbearer of traditional country music, approached his longtime hero with a song Johnny Cash had written for Porter, called "Committed to Parkview." In the tradition of Porter's haunted ballads, "Committed to Parkview" is the first-person account of a tenant of Nashville's legendary sanitorium, listening in on the tormented cries of his fellow inmates. Porter and Marty decided to build an album, Wagonmaster, around the song, revisiting the classic feel of his chilling concept albums, interwoven with stomping barroom honkytonk that rides with the best of Hank Williams and Ernest Tubb. The results are magnificent, a record of raw beauty capturing a proud, ragged man looking back unflinchingly at his life. At 79, and celebrating his 50th anniversary at the Grand Ole Opry, Porter has never been more vibrant and relevant.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Wagonmaster's comin', August 12, 2007

By 

DanD - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Wagonmaster (Audio CD)

Note the key component of the the word Wagonmaster: "master." It implies someone who knows his/her craft better than anyone else. There are three masters present on this record, who contribute equally to its artistic creation.

On the surface, you have Porter Wagoner: a vertan of country music, both good and bad, who's seen just about all there is to see, and somehow lived to tell about it. He sings the songs, he writes most of the lyrics; they are haunting lyrics, deep and painful--even when they are upbeat, even on the gospel numbers, they are haunted by a sense of forboding. Make no mistake: this is not a happy album.

Behind the scenes, you have Marty Stuart, who picks on all the songs and produced the album. Stuart's production values have long been lauded (from personal experience, I can say he damn-near changed my life with his work on Billy Bob Thornton's debut record, PRIVATE RADIO), and here they earn every bit of praise they've been given. This is a traditional country record, with fiddle and steel on every track, with lyrics that are as honest as they are bitter. It is a cohesive effort that flows together like molasses...or Satan's river.

The culminative point on the album is the final, unlisted track: Stuart and Wagoner in the studio, discussing and singing Hank Williams. You don't think of it on your first listen; but when you get to that hidden track, you realize that this is, indeed, a Hank Williams record--hence the third master. The voice and poetry of Porter Wagoner, produced and played by the incomparable Marty Stuart, channeling the poetry of Hank Williams. If that doesn't equal a classic country record...then, damn it all, nothing does.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is what country music is about., September 2, 2007

By 

Tim Martin (South Bend, Indiana United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wagonmaster (Audio CD)

In this album, Porter Wagoner sings of moments of clarity in lives filled with desperation and struggle. Loves lost and lost lives fill this album that is sure to bring further resurgence to an illustrious career. Here, set against a beautiful background of classic country accompaniment , Porter Wagoner brings us back to the era of classic country with its ballads that bring sadness and consolation. The song "Albert Ervin" is an incredible accomplishment.

No need for a long review. If you like country music, you must buy this album. If you want to see if you would like country, you must buy this album.

Another star is set in the firmament.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars PORTER'S BEST ALBUM!!!!!!, June 5, 2007

By 

James S. Hunnicutt "www.myspace.com/jamesabilly" (Washington State USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wagonmaster (Audio CD)

I run Porter Wagoner's "Official" myspace page and was lucky enough to receive an advanced promo-copy of WAGONMASTER which is nothing short of amazing!!! The album features the track "Committed to Parkview" which was penned for Porter by The Late, Great Johnny Cash but as great as this song is the album has even better works written by Porter himself! 17 tracks in all ranging from Honky Tonk & Blue Grass to Macabre Ballads & Gospel Recitations. Porter does it all on this album! WAGONMASTER provides an eclectic mix of all Porter's Stylings in a way that no other album in his catalogue does! ...and to think that "The Thin Man From West Plains" will turn 80 this August while in the midst of celebrating his 50th (Yes, 50th!!!) year on The Grand Ole' Opry!!! Marty Stuart deserves great credit for allowing Porter to make the greatest album of his career! Buck Trent(Original Wagonmaster band member) even appears on electric banjo to help deliver that classic 60's honky tonk sound that Porter was & still is 2nd to none at doing!!! Ok, that's enough...
Just buy it!!! You'll be glad you did!!!!