Artist description "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.

Music Style country

Artist History A fixture of the Grand Ole Opry, singer and songwriter Porter Wagoner has one of the most distinguished careers in country music, from his early Top 10 hits in the'50s through his late-'60s and early-'70s duet sides with Dolly Parton. Unfortunately, much of the non-country audience knows him through covers done by the likesof the Byrds ("Satisfied Mind") and Tom Jones ("Green, Green Grass of Home"). Their smooth, crossover accessibility cheats Wagoner of much of his power.But if you listen to Wagoner's originals, leaving yourself fully open to the craggy vocals and braying guitar lines of a Southern soul in torment, you realize this guysings the way he must live, refusing to be pushed aside by hardship. The covers of Wagoner's songs suggest someone trying to get somewhere -- or perhaps awayfrom something. The originals convey the feeling of having not only arrived, but, even more important, overcome. -- Colin Fleming

Location Nashville, TN - USA

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