[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 166 (Tuesday, October 30, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S13569]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IN MEMORY OF PORTER WAGONER

  Mrs. McCASKILL. Mr. President, there are memories you have of 
childhood, and some of them are good memories and some of them are 
interesting memories and some of them are sad memories.
  I remember as a child being kind of forced to watch a TV program 
that, frankly, probably was not my favorite, but now, as I look back on 
it, I understand why my great-aunt and some of the other friends and 
neighbors I lived with and near in southwest Missouri loved Porter 
Wagoner.
  Porter Wagoner has died of cancer at the age of 80. He lived in 
Nashville, but he is one of Missouri's. He is a Missourian who went on 
to distinguish himself in country music. I know his funeral will be 
Thursday at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry House. When his life is 
celebrated at his funeral, I know hundreds and thousands of Missourians 
will feel the loss of Porter Wagoner.
  Porter Wagoner's life was a country music song. He was born on a farm 
near West Plains, MO. My mother's family has their roots in West 
Plains, MO. This is the heart of the Ozarks in the center of the south 
of Missouri. He was from a family that was very poor, who literally 
lived off the land.
  In fact, Porter Wagoner bought his first guitar for $8. The way he 
paid for that guitar was he trapped rabbits and sold the rabbit skins 
and saved up $8.
  His family fell on hard times, and they had to auction the farm. So 
they had to move into the city, the city of West Plains, MO, where 
Porter Wagoner got a job at the butcher shop. The butcher heard Porter 
Wagoner playing that $8 guitar he had gotten from Montgomery Ward and 
asked him to sing in the commercials for his butcher shop on the 
radio--and a star was born.
  After he began singing in the commercials for the butcher shop, they 
eventually then put him on the radio to sing the advertisements in an 
area where people in Springfield, MO--the big city of Springfield--
heard Porter Wagoner singing in those butcher shop advertisements, and 
he moved to a station in Springfield, MO.
  In 1952, he signed a record contract with Steve Sholes, the very same 
RCA producer who signed Elvis Presley 3 years later.
  In 1953, Porter Wagoner spent $350 to buy his first extravagant 
rhinestone-studded creation that he became known for. He always had 
these incredible outfits that were very sparkly and always involved a 
wagon wheel and maybe had one of his signature items, which was the 
fact he had put, in rhinestones, on the inside lining of the coat, in 
great big letters: ``Hi!'' So when you would meet Porter Wagoner, he 
would flash his jacket, and this friendly ``Hi!'' would beam out at 
you. He ended up buying over 50 of these outfits, and they epitomized 
the style we affectionately call ``hillbilly deluxe.'' They cost 
anywhere from $8,000 to $12,000 apiece.
  He had many successes. He had many ups and downs in his life. In 
fact, recently a record was made that talked about the time he was 
receiving help for his mental issues in a hospital and how he went long 
periods of time without recording. But through the years, he had 29 top 
10 hits, including ``Green, Green Grass of Home,'' ``Skid Row Joe,'' 
and ``The Cold Hard Facts of Life.''
  There was this young blonde who he made famous. He asked her to come 
and sing with him on his show. It is now well known who that young 
blonde was because that, in fact, was Dolly Parton. If it were not for 
Porter Wagoner, Dolly Parton maybe never would have gotten the chance 
she needed to catapult her into the culture of country music in this 
country.
  He never had the kind of fancy success that many of our stars have 
today, but he was like country music. His life went up and down, with 
very hard beginnings in terms of what he came from. He achieved great 
success and had low moments.
  But through it all, his style was very simple--a very simple country 
music style.
  In fact, it was very common for him to use the talking style where he 
would stop singing and actually talk through a song, telling the story, 
weaving the tale, tying the threads together, so the listeners, before 
the song was over, not only found themselves tapping their toe or 
smiling, but they would find that the heartstrings were being pulled. 
They would have an emotional connection to Porter Wagoner's music and 
the lyrics he considered so important to the essence of country music.
  I know everyone in Missouri will miss Porter Wagoner. We have 
tributes to a lot of people on this floor. I know the people in West 
Plains, MO, are so proud of him. In fact, I say to the Presiding 
Officer, right now, if you traveled with me to West Plains, MO, and we 
turned onto the main drag, you would look at the street sign, and it 
would be named nothing other than ``Porter Wagoner Boulevard.''
  He had a band called the Wagonmasters.
  Tonight in Missouri--all across rural Missouri and in the urban areas 
of Kansas City and St. Louis--all the country music fans are proud of 
the fact he was one of Missouri's own. Not only will country music miss 
him, we will miss him in Missouri and what he has meant to our State.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in 
morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is recognized without objection.




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