The Porter Wagoner Show No. 129
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 129
The Porter Wagoner Show #129 with special guest Mel Tillis.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 129
Promo for Porter Wagoner Show #129 with special guest Mel Tillis. Spot opens with Wagoner in rhinestone-studded aquamarine Nudie suit singing "Fireball Mail," then Tillis steps in wearing a brown Nudie suit of his own and stutters out: "I'm Mel Tillis, and I'm gonna be Porter Wagoner's special guest in about two or three days, so you stay tuned to this station. Thank you."
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 129
Introduction to Porter Wagoner show #129. 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 guest Mel Tillis. Bringing you your favorite songs and stars of the Grand Ole Opry!" Howser enters and shakes hands with Porter, who wears his glowing aquamarine Nudie suit. Howser says Tillis had prepared an introduction for Porter, but as the show is only 30 minutes long and Tillis has a little speech impairment, they had to rearrange it. Backed by The Wagonmasters (in matching western-themed radioactive orange suits of their own), Porter plays guitar and sings "Fireball Mail." Focus on Mack Magaha's locomotive-like fiddling.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 129
Porter introduces Mel Tillis, a man who "sings the finest country song you'd ever want to listen to." Wearing a brown rhinestone-bejeweled Nudie suit featuring puppy dogs and cacti, and backed by his own five-piece band The Statesiders (wearing matching iridescent red suits and neon green scarves), Tillis plays guitar and sings the Harlan Howard composition "Life Turned Her That Way" from his 1967 LP "Life's That Way." Afterwards Tillis says his band looks like a bunch of carrots in their orange suits, but the Wagonmasters really have the monopoly on the carrot look.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 129
The Wagonmasters featuring fiddlin' Mack Magaha play us out of the commercial break with a feisty but all too brief version of "Orange Blossom Special."
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 129
Porter introduces Pretty Miss Norma Jean, who plays guitar and sings a new Vic McAlpin composition, "Jackson Ain't A Very Big Town," backed by The Wagonmasters. Nice XCU of Don's steel guitar playing.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 129
Porter announces that he'd like to do a Mel Tillis song, then plays guitar and sings "The Snakes Crawl At Night," which he recorded on his 1966 LP "Soul Of A Convict," accompanied by The Wagonmasters.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 129
We come out of the commercial break to find Mel Tillis placing a call on the old-time wall mounted crank telephone usually reserved for Speck Rhodes' weekly call to his fictional girlfriend Sadie, the switchboard operator. "Hello? Sadie?" Tillis stutters. "Yeah... this is uh... this is... (long pause) hey, Speck" Tillis finally spits out as he hands the earpiece to gap-toothed comedian Rhodes, who enters in his trademark checkered suit and bowler hat. "What's the matter?" Speck asks, and Mel says "I cain't say it, cain't say it, chief." Speck talks to Sadie: "What'd you say, who was it? That was ol' M-m-Mel Tillis, he was tryin' to get a date with you. You don't want to go out with him, the night wouldn't be long enough for him to say I-I-I love you." Speck goes on to even less amusing material, telling a bunch of corny old fashioned rube jokes about the gossip from Drawback County that garner barely a chuckle from the audience. Example: "He's been married for 25 years and is still in love with the same woman. One of these years his wife's gonna catch up with him, too."
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 129
Porter returns to perform the week's sacred number, announcing the following song as one of his favorites and saying that it receives many requests. Backed by The Wagonmasters, Porter plays guitar and recites Hank Williams' moralistic "Luke The Drifter" hit "Be Careful Of Stones That You Throw." Porter delivers the number off screen rather than his custom of speaking directly to the camera. He's done this number many times but this one is more compelling than most.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 129
Porter reintroduces Mel Tillis, who talks about what a great time he's been having with Speck and Norma Jean et al. Porter and Mel introduce Tillis' band The Statesiders: Jim Baker on pedal steel, Dick Feller on electric guitar, Earl Richards on acoustic guitar, Jim Ed on drums, and Harley Alsip on bass. A couple jokes during the intro based on Mel's stuttering. Accompanied by The Statesiders, Mel plays guitar and sings "If I Could Only Start Over" from his 1967 LP "Life's That Way."
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 129
Porter returns and asks Tillis to play a little bit of "Ruby Don't Take Your Love To Town" in the little time that's left, and Mel makes it through the first two verses before Porter has to wrap up the show. Tillis plays it almost solo with minimal backing by guitarists Dick and Earl, and it's a beautifully unadorned little moment. Afterwards 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. Mel dances a fancy little step himself, to the audience's applause.