The Porter Wagoner Show No. 116
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 116
The Porter Wagoner Show #116 with special guest Tex Ritter.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 116
Promo for Porter Wagoner Show #116 with special guest Tex Ritter. Opens with Ritter playing guitar and singing a little bit "Boll Weevil," then camera pulls out to reveal Nudie-suit wearing Wagoner who says, "That's mister Tex Ritter, he's our special guest this week on the Porter Wagoner show, home of Miss Norma Jean and all the Wagonmasters... join us on this channel."
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 116
Introduction to Porter Wagoner show #116. 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 star Tex Ritter. Bringing you your favorite songs and stars of the Grand Ole Opry!" Howser enters and shakes hands with Porter, then introduces him by saying: "Here's a young man who's got a great philosophy of life called 'eat drink and be merry, 'cause tomorrow they might take up your credit card'." Wearing a dazzling rhinestone-studded red Nudie suit, Porter plays guitar and sings "Come On In" from 1963's "Y'all Come" LP. Porter is backed as always by The Wagonmasters, who wear equally flashy bright orange western outfits that make them look like radioactive carrots. MS of Buck and Mack as they trade hot licks on banjo and fiddle.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 116
Porter gushingly introduces "one of the great philosophers of our time, and one of the greatest men I've ever met," Tex Ritter. Wearing an understated tan suit, Tex sits on a stool, plucking a guitar and singing "Green Grow The Lilacs" backed by The Wagonmasters as well as his own guitarists Wayne Gray and another fellow whose identity is unknown. After the song Porter returns and talks about buying Ritter's greatest hits record, and Tex talks a bit about how they didn't recut any of the twenty-year-old tracks and says they must sound awfully dated by now.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 116
The Wagonmasters play us out of the commercial with a zesty little breakdown featuring Mack's fiddling. Wide shot of Buck, Mack, George and Speck, with Speck strutting around his bass.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 116
Porter introduces Pretty Miss Norma Jean, saying he and Tex were just talking about how well-received her RCA records have been. Backed by The Wagonmasters, Norma plays guitar and sings "It's A Little More Like Heaven" from her 1964 LP "Let's Go All The Way."
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 116
"I have a new album out titled 'The Soul Of A Convict,'" Porter says, "and it has twelve great prison songs in it." Porter talks about how he made a trip to the Tennessee state penitentiary, and how affected he was by meeting some of men incarcerated there, who made mistakes in life and now have to pay for them. Backed by The Wagonmasters, Porter plays guitar and sings a song from the album, "They're All Going Home But One."
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 116
Porter introduces his good old gap-toothed buddy Speck Rhodes, who enters wearing his trademark checkered suit and bowler hat. Speck says he's started a lipstick company that'll sell lipstick with green persimmon juice, for girls whose boyfriends are slow on the pucker. Speck tells another corny joke, then sings one of his silly rube humor novelty numbers, "How Much Is That Hound Dog In The Window," backed by The Wagonmasters. Afterwards Porter returns and plugs the show's souvenir booklet (the fifth so far), which contains songs and pictures taken right there on the set, and can be yours for just fifty cents by mail in a "en-vellup." Graphic of envelope addressed to Porter.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 116
Porter introduces the week's inspirational number as a classic to be performed by Tex Ritter. Porter talks about how much he loves Tex's "narrations," then describes the following as "one of the greatest ever written." Tex's introduction is made with no musical accompaniment; he then recites T. Texas Tyler's famous "Deck Of Cards," backed again by The Wagonmasters and his own guitarists. It's a long maudlin tale about a soldier who uses his deck of cards as an almanac and prayer book, and Ritter says he knows it's true because "I knew that soldier."
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 116
Porter says he bringing in "our second string, our trio Ike, Mike, and Spike," i.e. Buck, Mack, and George, who perform "Gotta Travel On." In a fairly rare occurrence on the program, all three take turns at the mic. Afterwards Porter wraps up the show as the Wagonmasters play the instrumental show outro and Howser signs off. Wagoner waves goodbye as Magaha fiddles and Speck and George dance around Speck's bass fiddle. Buck plays some rock & roll licks and Porter puts his hand to Buck's forehead as if to say "you feeling all right, boy?"