R.I.P. PORTER WAGONER

Only about a week after the news broke about Porter's lung cancer, Porter is dead.

One good thing you can say about it is that instead of dying in pennyless obscurity like so many great artists, Porter went right after releasing his strongest album in years. He might not have been at the top of his game, but as far as thiscritic is concerned, Wagon Master is the best country album this year.

And now more than ever, I'm extremely jealous of my friend Alec, who saw Porter open for The White Stripes in New York a few months ago.

My review of Wagon Master is HERE

My review of The Versatile Porter Wagoner is HERE

An old column about RFDTV, which shows re-runs of The Porter Wagoner Show, is HERE.

I will do a proper musical tribute to this great country singer on The Santa Fe Opry, 10 pm - midnight Friday night on KSFR.

Here is Tabby Crabb's tribute to Porter from the early '80s.