The Porter Wagoner Show No. 110
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 110
The Porter Wagoner Show #110 with special guests Hank Cochran and Warner Mack.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 110
Promo for Porter Wagoner Show #110 with special guests Hank Cochran and Warner Mack. Spot opens with MS of Mack singing "Sittin' On A Rock (Cryin' In A Creek)," then camera pulls out to reveal Hank and Porter, who introduce Mack and invites us to tune in to the program.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 110
Introduction to Porter Wagoner show #110. 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." Over brightly colored title card decorated with drawing of Wagoner, announcer Don Howser introduces Wagoner and The Wagonmasters, show regulars Speck Rhodes and Norma Jean, and "your favorite songs and stars of the Grand Ole Opry!" Howser enters and introduces "a man who's become so popular as he travels the United States, even his bus driver has become a legend," Porter Wagoner. Wearing one of his trademark garish rhinestone-studded, western-themed Nudie suits, Porter welcomes audience, then plays guitar and sings "Will You Be Loving Another Man?" from his 1964 LP "The Bluegrass Story," accompanied by The Wagonmasters (who wear equally flashy bright red western outfits). CU Mack's fiery fiddling, MS particularly sizzling Buck Trent banjo solo that chimes so hot and sweet, it makes Porter forget the lyrics to the song.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 110
Porter introduces Warner Mack who, dueting with George McCormick and backed by The Wagonmasters, plays guitar and sings "Drifting Apart" from his new album of the same name. Warner even wears the same jacket he sports on the LP's cover, that looks like it was made from upholstery fabric. CU Don's pedal steel. Afterwards, Warner jokes that he'd like to hire George away from Porter, but couldn't meet his salary: "I can tell that by his weight."
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 110
Coming out of the commercial break, we seem to have entered Bizarro World. As they've done many time before, The Wagonmasters play us out of the commercial break with an instrumental version of "Wildwood Flower." Only this time, everyone's pretending to be someone else: first Don takes the lead on Buck's Mosrite guitar, imitating Buck's show-offy playing; then the camera pulls back to reveal Speck sawing on Mack's fiddle, George plucking on Speck's bass and walking around it, Buck sliding away on Don's pedal steel while resting on his knees to look shorter, Mack stomping out chords on George's acoustic guitar, and Porter talking on Speck's phone. Afterwards Porter says "That is the new Wagonmasters band, and ain't they fine? We thought it might be funny to just let everybody play something that they hadn't ever played before, and we did, and it sounded pretty bad, boy." The more of these shows you've seen, the funnier this is.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 110
Porter introduces Pretty Miss Norma Jean, who pulls a little switcheroo of her own: she plays guitar and sings one of Porter's signature songs, "I Thought I Heard You Calling My Name," backed by The Wagonmasters. At the last chorus, Porter steps in and sings a duet with Norma Jean.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 110
Porter asks Norma Jean to introduce Hank Cochran and she jokingly says "Well, I know a lot of things I can say, but I'm trying to think of something good." Porter and Norma Jean introduce the legendary songwriter Cochran, who plays guitar and sings "All of Me Belongs to You," backed by The Wagonmasters. Cochran thanks Porter for having him on his "teleconfusion" show.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 110
Porter introduces gap-toothed comedian Rhodes. Wearing his trademark black & yellow checkered suit with bow tie and white bowler hat, Speck places a call on an old-time wind-up telephone and speaks with his fictional girlfriend, Sadie the operator. Speck tells a bunch of corny old fashioned jokes. Shots of audience laughing, including bespectacled guy in big white cowboy hat guffawing. As part of his routine, Speck plugs the show's fifth souvenir booklet, containing songs and stories and pictures. It can be yours for only fifty cents by mail. Colorful graphic of an envelope addressed to Porter.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 110
Porter introduces hymn time, then plays guitar and sings "Gathering In The Sky," from his 1964 LP "The Bluegrass Story," accompanied by The Wagonmasters.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 110
Porter returns from commercial break and calls back "clean cut Christian" Warner Mack to sing another duet with George, "Sittin' On A Rock (Cryin' In A Creek)," backed by The Wagonmasters. MS Buck Trent guitar solo.
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 110
Porter brings back Hank Cochran, saying "the list of his songs looks like a New York phone directory," and at over 1000 of them recorded, Porter ain't kidding. Backed by The Wagonmasters, Hank plays guitar and sings a great (if all too brief) medley of hits he's written: "I Fall To Pieces," "Make The World Go Away," "Don't Touch Me," and "A Little Bitty Tear."
The Porter Wagoner Show No. 110
Porter wraps up the show. As the Wagonmasters play instrumental show outro and Howser signs off, Wagoner waves goodbye as Magaha fiddles and Speck dances a little number around his stand-up bass.