The Porter Wagoner Show No. 130
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 130
The Porter Wagoner Show #130 with special guests Johnny Darrell and Pete Stamper.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 130
Promo for Porter Wagoner Show #130 with special guests Johnny Darrell and Pete Stamper. Spot opens with Darrell singing a verse of "The Wreck of Old 97;" then the camera pans over the reveal Norma Jean, Pete Stamper, and rhinestone-studded blue Nudie suit-wearing Porter Wagoner standing at a microphone. Stamper says "That's Johnny Darrell and I'm Pete Stamper, just made a trip down here from home and I'm looking forward to kinda send back a picture that way in living color." Porter laughs and the title card for the show comes up for a few seconds until the spot ends.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 130
Introduction to Porter Wagoner show #130. Program opens with Wagoner and Wagonmasters Mack Magaha, Buck Trent, Speck Rhodes, Don Warden, and George McCormick as well as Norma Jean onscreen singing "Howdy Neighbor Howdy" in front of a barnyard set painted a glowing lime green. Over brightly colored title card decorated with drawing of Wagoner, announcer Don Howser exclaims: "And now, in color, it's The Porter Wagoner Show, starring Porter Wagoner and The Wagonmasters, with Speck Rhodes and Norma Jean, and special guests Johnny Darrell and Pete Stamper. Bringing you your favorite songs and stars of the Grand Ole Opry!" Howser enters and shakes hands with Porter, who wears his dark blue rhinestone-studded Nudie suit. Howser introduces Porter saying: "Of course all Wagons have got to have a wheel, and here's the head wheel, the star of our show, Porter Wagoner!" Backed by The Wagonmasters (in matching western-themed radioactive red suits of their own), Porter plays guitar and sings "Julie" from his LP "The Cold Hard Facts Of Life." The song as performed here is markedly different than the album version, with a more swinging arrangement (including Porter making an atypically flashy move with his guitar on the instrumental break), and a rewritten last verse that, though dark enough in narrating a first-person descent into madness, is still somewhat less sordid than the murder/suicide scenario described on the LP.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 130
Porter introduces the week's first guest, country comedian and Renfro Valley, Kentucky native Pete Stamper. Stamper makes a joke about the show being in color now, and pulls what he says is a glow-in-the-dark tie from his suit. If it ain't, it might as well be. This segues into an extended bit about TV has changed his hometown, talking for instance about his old girlfriend Nelma Lou Frisbie who he used to "spark," and how the red fishnet stockings Nelma's now wearing look from a distance like a case of "spreading diaper rash." Shot of Speck laughing. Another corny rube joke about fishnets follows, then a joke about a hometown boy who is taking a correspondence course so he mailed in his sign to a protest march. George laughs. Another joke about pollution making birds cough, then Porter comes in and introduces commercial break.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 130
Backed by The Wagonmasters, banjo-twangin' Buck Trent plays us out of the commercial with an instrumental version of "Home Sweet Home." Afterwards Porter tells Buck that was the first number he ever heard him do, and it sounds better all the time.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 130
Porter introduces Pretty Miss Norma Jean, who plays guitar and sings "Go Cat Go" from her 1965 LP "Pretty Miss Norma Jean," backed by The Wagonmasters.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 130
Porter introduces Johnny Darrell, saying that he thinks this next song is going to be a big hit for Darrell. Fade to black, and then fade back up on a wide shot of Darrell alone on the back porch set. Backed by The Wagonmasters, Darrell plays guitar and sings "My Elusive Dreams." Porter returns and tells Darrell what a great career he has ahead of him, and then intros commercial.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 130
Porter thanks us for watching the commercial, then introduces gap-toothed comedian Speck Rhodes, who enters in his trademark outfit of checkered suit with bow tie and bowler hat. Speck tells a corny joke about he and Pete Stamper almost going fishing in Hawaii with a couple hula girls, but "they wiggled out of it." Backed by The Wagonmasters (doing a little call-and-response), Speck sings a novelty song he introduces as "When It's Long Handle Time In Tennessee, It's Cool In Kentucky," about wearing long underwear on cold winter nights.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 130
Porter introduces the week's sacred song as a number written by his old friend Wayne Rainey. Accompanied by The Wagonmasters, Porter plays guitar and sings "Gathering In The Sky," from his 1964 LP "The Bluegrass Story."
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 130
Porter reintroduces Johnny Darrell by plugging (and displaying a copy of) Darrell's album "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town." "I'd like to recommend it very highly to you," Porter says, "in fact I wrote the liner notes for it." Backed by The Wagonmasters, Darrell plays guitar and sings the title track from the LP.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 130
Porter brings Pete Stamper back to help wrap up the show. Porter talks about Pete's work as a radio DJ, then the two of them joke about Pete's tie again and Pete makes a quip about TV shows coming late to Renfro Valley: "Remember the $64,000 question? It was down to $1.98 by the time we get it." Porter wraps up the show, waving goodbye as The Wagonmasters play the instrumental show outro, Don Howser signs off, credits roll, and Mack fiddles and dances us off the air. Howser and George chase Speck around his bass a little bit.