The Porter Wagoner Show No. 228
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 228
The Porter Wagoner Show #228 featuring special guests The Willis Brothers.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 228
Promo for The Porter Wagoner Show #228 featuring special guests The Willis Brothers. Spot opens with the Willis Bros. performing "Six Foot Two By Four," then camera pulls out to reveal powder blue Nudie suit-wearing Wagoner, who announces The Willis Bros. and regulars and invites us to tune in. Fade out over art card with colorful illustration of Porter.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 228
Opening of Porter Wagoner show #228. Standard pre-recorded opening begins with CU of Porter s shiny red boots walking down hallway, which cuts to rear view of Wagoner s garish green Nudie suit festooned with rhinestone wagon wheels and cacti. Montage of smiling Porter happily walking through WSM-TV studio as stage hands and technicians prep show. Don Howser s voice over reads: "Direct from Nashville Tennessee, here s The Porter Wagoner Show!" Quick shots of regulars as Howser announces them: "Starring Porter Wagoner, Dolly Parton, Mel Tillis, Speck Rhodes, Don Howser, The Wagonmasters, and today s special guest star." Momentary pause in VO (presumably left for Howser to read the guest star s name on air), then prerecorded segment ends with Howser s "...and now, here s Porter." Cut to live portion as Porter, wearing dazzling, rhinestone-studded powder blue Nudie suit, plays guitar and sings "I'll Be There If You Ever Want Me" backed by Wagonmasters Buck Trent, Don Warden, Mack Magaha, George McCormick, Jack Little and Speck Rhodes. MCU of Don's steel guitar that pulls out to reveal Porter at mic.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 228
Porter introduces the "stutterin' lad" Mel Tillis, who sings "Who's Julie?" accompanied only by himself on acoustic guitar. The last words of the song are spoken rather than sung, and Mel almost can't spit 'em out. Tillis jokes afterward about the recording of the song: "It took us three hours to cut that, and four days to edit it."
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 228
Mack Magaha fiddles us out of the commercial break on a brief instrumental version of "Leather Britches," backed as always by The Wagonmasters.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 228
Porter introduces the "pretty little lady" Dolly Parton, who plays guitar and sings "Always The First Time" from her LP "In The Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)," backed by The Wagonmasters.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 228
Porter introduces Guy, Skeeter, and Vic, The Willis Brothers. Backed by The Wagonmasters, the brothers perform "Six Foot Two By Four."
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 228
Backed by The Wagonmasters, Porter plays guitar and sings "Bride's Bouquet" from his "Thin Man From West Plains" LP. Nice colored lighting on backdrop evoking sunset.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 228
Porter introduces Speck Rhodes, saying "Now it's time for our weekly visit. Probably very weakly, this weekly." Wearing his trademark checkered suit and bowler hat, Speck calls his fictional girlfriend Sadie on an old-fashioned wall-mounted crank style telephone and asks to be connected with Doc Pullem the dentist. Corny old-fashioned jokes about movie stars ensue. Wonderful reaction shot of two young girls in audience, one of whom wears classic 60s blue horn-rimmed glasses and is caught picking her nose.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 228
Mel Tillis gathers the entire cast around him to accompany his rendition of "Daddy Sang Bass." Clumsy edit from Porter's introduction that cuts off Tillis, then Buck kicks off the Carl Perkins song that Johnny Cash made famous the year before. Everyone including Don Howser takes a turn at the mic. Nice performance that shows off everyone's contribution (except poor unseen Jack Little).
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 228
We return from the commercial break to find Porter in the midst of cracking up over Vic Willis' unseen antics. Vic clowns around with his cowboy hat that turns out to separate into two parts (brother Guy: "he's flipped his lid"). Vic says the Willis Brothers are going to start a new fried chicken business that's gonna make them a million dollars, pulling a rubber chicken out of his pocket as he says it. But the bit doesn't fly, and as it lays there dying Vic keeps working it (even making the chicken kiss Porter) but it just doesn't get any funnier. Finally there's some uncomfortable laughter at poor Vic's expense as you can tell he knows the joke is tanking and just wants to get over it. Finally they get back to what they're best at, performing a lovely rendition of the western classic "I Still Do."
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 228
Porter wraps up the show, waving goodbye as The Wagonmasters play the instrumental show outro, Don Howser signs off, the credits roll, and Mack fiddles and dances us off the air as Porter and the Willis Brothers horse around.