Porter Wagoner (1927-2007)

October 29, 2007

Porter Wagoner has lost his battle with lung cancer. This article in the Washington Post gives a summation of his career and also points out that Mr. Wagoner did a lot of things that were outside the box of Nashville music establishment like inviting James Brown to perform at the Grand Ole Opry and producting a soul record for Joe Simon.

Sympathies to Mr. Wagoner’s friends and family. The Opry will sure miss his dynamic personality and flare. He was a great ambassador for country music. Although there is a lot of talk around here about not liking anything “new”, the sort of new that Porter Wagoner brought to country music is fine by me. His brand of innovation was to do things that had never been done before, not just rehash pop stuff from a few years ago. All the things I’ve read this morning about his new album, which was produced by Marty Stuart, have convinced me to check it out. The title is Wagonmaster, and it came out in June 2007.

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