Who Am I? Week #805

Thanks, King! I’ve heard of him, but I don’t know any of his music. I forgot that he tried to sue Dolly. R.I.P.

Can I give this win to "No Winner" so he can be tied with Koop again. :p
 
Channel98 said:
You are not a country music fan, are you, Mister scotch? Ayuh, maybe nobody in Maine is.
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Maine has a fairly big country music fan base. But 99% of the state is a good distance from me. I'm effectively in a north-of-Boston suburb. Plus, I'm from New Jersey. So no, I never followed the country music scene.
 
Wolf said:
Porter Wagoner
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Congratulations, Wolf!

Yes, 98 is right. This week's subject was country music heavyweight Porter Wagoner. Born in 1927 in West Plains, MO, Wagoner worked as a butcher when he began his singing career over local radio station KWPM. By 1955, Wagoner was producing hits such as "A Satisfied Mind" and "Misery Loves Company", both #1s on the country charts.

In 1960, The Porter Wagoner Show debuted, and ran for 21 seasons, with 686 episodes taped. Each 30-minute episode contained Porter and his band performing his hits, plus a special guest musician. Also featured on each show was the comedy of Speck Rhodes, a "pretty girl" singer (either Norma Jean, Jeannie Seely, or most-famously, Dolly Parton) and a hymn.

After the show ended in 1981, Wagoner remained active in the Grand Ole Opry and even had a resurgence in the 2000s with his critically-acclaimed album, 2007's "Wagonmaster". He even opened for The White Stripes at Madison Square Garden.

However, Wagoner, a life-long smoker, died in 2007 at age 80. If there's anything most-important regarding his career is that he helped Dolly Parton with hers. She was a regular on his show from 1967 to 1974. However, she wanted a break from Wagoner, so she wrote one of her signature tunes, "I Will Always Love You" for him. The two later reconciled.

Here's her first appearance on Porter's show from 1967, singing her debut hit, "Dumb Blonde".



We're off for Labor Day. We'll be back the week after!
 
Google Gemini – wouldn't that be a good name for an anime character? – goes into detail about Wagoner's beginnings as a singing butcher:

"Wagoner worked cutting meat at a butcher shop in West Plains, Missouri, after his family lost their farm during the Great Depression. His employer heard him playing guitar and singing, leading him to have Wagoner perform live musical advertisements for the shop. These 15-minute early morning broadcasts on KWMP originated right from inside the butcher shop. The broadcasts helped Wagoner and his band, the Blue Ridge Boys, get noticed by larger regional radio operators. In 1951, KWTO in Springfield, Missouri, hired him as a professional performer. His move to Springfield led directly to his recording contract with RCA Records and eventually his legendary career at the Grand Ole Opry and on television."
 
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