More Legends Gone

The past couple of weeks have seen a number of musical legends pass, and I want to take time to mention two that didn't get as much press.

First, was the loss of Porter Wagoner. An institution as host at the Grand Ole Opry, the man of a million sequent suits launched the career of Dolly Parton. As duet partners, they had a number of hits, but the song that i listened to the most on my dad's 8-track, was "Jeannie's Afraid of the Dark". It is easily on of the saddest songs in the history of country music. With his late career spike with Wagoneer and a show opening for the White Stripes at Madison Square Garden this past summer, Wagoner went out of top. It's just a shame, like most older country stars, he was forgotten about for so many years.

Last week, country music lost another legend when Hank Thompson passed. Best know for his hit, "The Wild Side of Life", which led to Kitty Wells. "It Wasn't God Who Made Honkey Tonk Angels" in the early '50's, Thompson was a honkey tonk legend. His band The Brazos Valley Boys, was voted the #1 Country Western Band for 14 years in a row. While he officially retired in 2007, he too had been nearly forgotten for many, many years.

As my late dad used to say, people see to always start dying when the sap is rising or falling. And that's the case this year as well with Norman Mailer and Robert Goulet passing. But they all lived a full life, and in the end, I guess that is all we can really hope for.