Porter Wagoner went into the Country Music Hall of Fame this past fall, and it was about time: From his more than eighty charting singles to his groundbreaking TV show (where he introduced Dolly Parton to the world) to his recent tenure as the primary public face of the Grand Ole Opry, no country singer has been a star longer or with more smarts and élan than the Thin Man from West Plains, Missouri. And his most recent album, Unplugged, proves this 75-year-old is no museum piece. Going "unplugged" is nothing new for Porter Wagoner -- give or take an electric bass or pedal steel guitar, the most electric part of a Wagoner set these past fifty years has been his blinding, rhinestone-studded jackets. Scratch that. His most electric quality has been, and remains, the sheer sincerity of his invitingly rough-hewn voice.
