Porter Wagoner
Porter Wayne Wagoner ( born August 12, 1927 in West Plains, Missouri, † October 28, 2007 in Nashville ) was an American country music singer.
Life
Childhood and youth
Porter Wagoner grew up with his siblings in a poor family on a farm in the Ozark Mountains on. The family heard mostly on weekends Country stations on the radio, on Saturday regularly the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Now and then drove the family also to Country entertainment shows in the nearby town of West Plains, where Wagoner multiply the bluegrass musician Bill Monroe saw live among others.
His father suffered from arthritis and was always working poor. So Wagoner had already helping as a teenager on the field. As then died also the brother gave the family on the farm and moved to West Plains. Here Wagoner earned in various gigs money to support the family. He worked as an assistant to a meat and sausage products dealer. In his spare time he played country songs on the guitar. His boss was aware of his talent as he sang at work and gave it to the local radio station KWPM. Soon, shows his first band, The Blue Ridge Boys were broadcast live from the butcher shop.
The successful years
In 1951, he was then hired by the major radio station KWTO in Springfield, Missouri. The early 1950s, Red Foley became aware of the young talent and gave him a place in his Ozark Jubilee show, which was broadcast by both the radio and the television. 1951 RCA became aware of Wagoner and offered him a recording contract.
Wagoner's first singles were not successful, but producer Steve Sholes showed patience, and so reached Wagoner 1954, Company 's Comin ' and a year later with A Satisfied Mind Top 10 rankings. More hits followed; 1957 Wagoner moved to Nashville, where he was in the same year joined the Grand Ole Opry. His straightforward Honky Tonk arrived, and he was there soon become one of the most popular stars.
His success with the public earned him a 1960 own TV show, the Porter Wagoner Show, which became one of the most popular shows of the 1960s and temporarily transfer of more than a hundred stations throughout North America. His singing partner was Norma Jean, who was replaced in 1967 by the at that time still unknown singer Dolly Parton. The duo had instant success. In 1968, she was at the CMA Awards including " Vocal Duo of the Year " award.
Wagoner, whose record sales were declining for some time, found his way back into the upper regions of the country charts; Parton, who wrote many of the common hits, tried to soon to separate from the getting on in years Wagoner, which resulted in legal disputes. In 1974 it came to the separation, but some years joint plates were still in production.
The years following the success
While Dolly Parton launched an unprecedented international career, Porter Wagoner had without his singing partner and author of no more hits. 1981 ran out of his TV show, a little later he lost his record contract. Trying a new beginning for the label Warner Brothers failed. Meanwhile, he had made himself as a successful businessman and investor a name. He continues to repeat performances and was highly respected in the country scene. He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2002.
Appeared in 2007 that produced by Marty Stuart album " Wagon Master" on the independent label ANTI- Records. It should Wagoner's music, much like the late work of Johnny Cash, close to bring a young, rock -oriented audience. In the summer of 2007 he opened at Madison Square Garden in New York, a concert by the White Stripes.
Porter Wagoner died on October 28, 2007 in Nashville of lung cancer.