The Gobblers Knob

As I am sure many of you astute, country lovin’ honky-tonkers already knew, there was a major CD released today (Tuesday). Porter Wagoner’s return to the spotlight is in the form of what must be one of the more haunting CD’s that will come out all year.  You may say, “Wow Knob, sounds like you have  a copy of this important and vital addition to anyone’s collection.”  Well I don’t.  In fact, I have only heard a couple of songs from it: “Committed to Parkview” and “Eleven Cent Cotton.“  Both songs are tales of sorrow, pain, loss,  and the far away hope of redemption and a better life, yet I find myself smiling like the mask from SAW II after listening.  As has been widely reported, Johnny Cash wrote the lyrics to “Committed” after he heard Wagoner’s ”Rubber Room” (the two of them had spent time at Parkview in real life) and gave a tape of it to Marty Stuart (who goes into the “cooler than I’ll ever be” category) to give to Wagoner. He forgot, until, you guessed it, he was producing the album.  Back to why I do not have the album that I seem to be an expert on.  I went to Best Buy today, had the Wagonmaster in my left hand, and the new, live double-CD from The Boss in the other.  I’ll admit it, I couldn’t decide, so I walked out in shame.  I carried the feeling of disappointment deep in my chest as a result of letting both Bruce & Porter down, which is weird because my not wanting to let one of them down was why I didn’t force a decision and place one above the other.  What a freakin’ mess I find myself in now (sounds dramatic, but it is really just normal for me…what, what was that you just said?).  So, there you have it.  I am writing this post as much for you as I am for myself.  GO GET THIS CD!!!!! It’s bad enough that freaking Nashville rejected this disc and that Stuart had to take it to a Punk label to get it done.  Let’s keep him out of Parkview for  a while, shall we?

 Porter Wagoner - Eleven Cent Cotton