Porter Wagoner

Got the new Porter Wagoner record in the mail today. I had been skeptical; the music press falls all over itself pretty much anytime an oldster puts a new record out, and, beyond his weird writing, I'd never been all that convinced of The Thin Man from West Plain's legendhood. And Johnny Cash is gone and there's no one to go all soft and reverent about. Well, I have to say that Wagonmaster, produced by the often blindly enthusiastic Marty Stuart (that's mean--the fucker loves pure country music and pushes it every time he has a chance), is a strong offering from end to end. Porter never had a fantastic voice--often, he was more moving talking than singing. And here he's actually written some new ones that are as weird as the old ones, covered a Cash song that is like a precursor to Wagoner's legendary "The Rubber Room," and carried off the vocalizing and talking as good if not better than the other recent senior citizens (Charlie Louvin, George Jones, Bobby Bare) who've been resurrected. I expected 4-5 cuts would be dead in the water, but actually, I liked every one of 'em. Now...if they can get Jones in the studio with someone tough and imaginative and get one great record out of him before he finally drops...I myself can die in peace.