RCA Country Legends

1	Company's Comin' 2:45
2	A Satisfied Mind 2:48
3	A Good Time Was Had by All 2:40
4	Midnight 2:52
5	Misery Loves Company 2:36
6	Cold Dark Waters 2:30
7	Legend of the Big Steeple 3:11
8	Green, Green Grass of Home 2:23
9	Everything She Touches Gets the Blues 2:16
10	The Cold Hard Facts of Life 3:15
11	The Carroll County Accident 2:50
12	Confessions of a Broken Man 2:59
13	Howdy Neighbor Howdy 2:15
14	The Rubber Room 2:43
15	The First Mrs. Jones 2:48
16	The Life of the Party 2:33

Barnes & Noble

Porter Wagoner has recorded so sparingly since 1980 that a generation or two knows him best as the upbeat host of the Grand Ole Opry. So this release by RCA, where he logged nearly 30 years of steady hits, should open some ears to one of country's most distinctive voices. His first chart-buster, 1954's buoyant "Company's Comin'," kicks off the album on a joyous note, and there's no resisting the hoedown of "A Good Time Was Had by All" (highlighted by someone working out on wood blocks and Herschel "Speedy" Haworth's rockabilly-style guitar solo) or the fiddle-fired celebration of country folkways in "Howdy Neighbor Howdy." But Porter's expressive baritone is most effective on darker, blues-based material -- the soulful balladeering of his musical suicide note "Cold Dark Waters"; the languorous attitude he adopts on "Midnight" (a country blues co-written by Boudleaux Bryant and Chet Atkins that is a barely disguised rewrite of Ivory Joe Hunter's classic "Almost Lost My Mind"). This versatility is on ample display throughout the 16 landmark tracks here, including the heartfelt reading of 1965's "Green Green Grass of Home"; the cool account of betrayal, confrontation, and murder in 1967's "The Cold Hard Facts of Life,"; his casual unfolding of telling details in the 1968 mammoth hit, "The Carroll County Accident," in which a son uncovers evidence of an adulterous affair in his father's wrecked car; and his most experimental track, 1971's "The Rubber Room," with his voice heavily reverbed at points to highlight his character's mental disintegration in a cut that is a landmark in mainstream country history for its sheer weirdness and audacity. Solid from first cut to last, this entry in the Country Legends series honors a rich body of work and an artist too often underestimated in the history books. David McGee

All Music Guide

The RCA Country Legends series -- previously on the reactivated Buddha label, but as of 2002, showing up on BMG Heritage, since Buddha no longer exists -- stands out because the compilers don't open up Joel Whitburn's Billboard chart books and copy down the 16 biggest songs. Instead, they alter their choices slightly, skewing it to a particular sound or style, usually telling a better story about the actual sound and intent of the artist than if they were just concerned with hits. That's even true with Porter Wagoner's volume of RCA Country Legends -- it may be missing a number of big hits (how could it not be; he was one of the biggest stars of his era, continually hitting the charts for year upon year), but it has the biggest hits, surrounded by selections that give a good idea of who Wagoner was as an artist and entertainer. No, not every big song is here, but no other CD-era compilation gives a better idea of what Porter Wagoner was all about than RCA Country Legends, which is why it's an essential addition to any comprehensive country library. Stephen Thomas Erlewine