"Til The Right One Comes Along" genre: Country General
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	This is all Porter!
	CD: The Best I've Ever Been   Label: Shell Point/echo music
	Story Behind the Song "The bottom line is the songs," Porter Wagoner says. "When I got the songs for this new CD, I thought, 'This is country music here'." Wagoner is referring to The Best I've Ever Been, his Shell Point Records debut which is also his first album of all-new material in 20 years. "I didn't want to go back in with a bunch of junk just to say I recorded an album," Wagoner explains. "I don't want to turn back the other way. I don't want to be successful and then go back to the beginning again. To me, that's not how you ought to set up your life." Now celebrating his 43rd anniversary as a Grand Ole Opry member, the West Plains, Missouri native charted 81 singles, including country music classics such as "Green, Green Grass of Home," "The Carroll County Accident" and his first No. 1, "A Satisfied Mind." Before the era of 24-hour country music video channels, Wagoner's weekly syndicated television show enjoyed a two-decade run, ending in 1981. Wagoner was one of the first country singers to produce his own records, as well as his duets with Dolly Parton and much of Parton's work on RCA. And as much as anyone, Wagoner's flashy rhinestone suits remain a part of country music's very identity. Eleven of the 12 songs on the album were written by Wagoner's longtime friend, Damon Black. "I met Damon probably 25 years ago when he came to Nashville to be a songwriter," Wagoner says. "He was a farmer from Missouri who owned a farm that had been handed down through their family." Despite his songwriting talent, Black found limited success as a songwriter during the '70s and returned to his Missouri farm. A newfound financial independence sparked Black's renewed interest in songwriting after he sold a tract of his farm to Wal-Mart for a reported $3.5 million. Remembering the singer's prior encouragement, Black eventually called Wagoner to tell him that he'd written an entire album of new material. Wagoner admits that he was skeptical about hearing the songs, noting, "I've had people tell me, 'I wrote this song especially for you. It'll sell 3 million copies and you're the only one who can do it'." When Wagoner received Black's 22-song tape, he put it on the shelf for a few days before finally deciding to listen to it one night at 8 p.m. "At four o'clock the next morning, I was still listening to the tape and starting to memorize the songs because they impressed me so much," Wagoner says. "They just hit me right in the heart -- every one of them. Every one of them was so unique and so different. I don't know if it's because I haven't heard any great songs in a long time, but the songs just absolutely built a fire under me." After producing the instrumental tracks, Wagoner took the tapes to his home studio, waiting until the right moment to add his vocals. "I did them when I felt good about singing them," he says. "When I wanted to sing a particular song, I'd just go into the studio and record them. That's why the vocals are the best I've ever recorded in my career. On the my hits like 'Carroll County Accident'" and 'Green, Green Grass of Home," I didn't sing nearly as well as I sing on this album. I got to do these my way." The title, The Best I've Ever Been, says it all. However, if you're looking for a second opinion, consider Dolly Parton's observation: ""This is truly the best he's ever been, and these are some of the best songs I've ever heard," says Dolly Parton. "I was even knocked over -- and I thought I knew how good Porter could be."

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