At his best, Porter Wagoner recorded some of the hardest no-frills country honky tonk sides of the 1960s, and at his worst, he reversed all that and released songs that depended more on cheap sentiment than any kind of musical substance, making him somewhat of an enigma as a country recording artist. This extremely brief budget set (it is just 29 minutes and change in length) at least gets the song selection right and hits just his high points from the 1960s, including endearingly stripped-down takes of "Misery Loves Company," "Green, Green Grass of Home," "Carroll County Accident," and the disturbingly eerie "Cold Hard Facts of Life." Short as it is, this is an almost ideal introduction to the strengths of Wagoner's style. ~ Steve Leggett
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