May the Power of Porter compel you, always and forever

The man who taught me all about the cold, hard facts of life and how to go down swingin' even in the best times has gotten up and left the building, and my rhinestone-studded heart just isn't feeling so sparkly tonight. America has lost one of her last honest-to-God honky tonk treasures in Porter Wagoner, and this'll take a while to get over, since talent of this caliber is always way ahead of its time and doesn't exactly come along to sucker-punch you very often these days.

But I'll never forget the first time I ever tripped balls on Porter, roughly ten years ago when I was smack-dab in the middle of a divorce. Danny - my BFF forever to the rescue with the perfect tune - put on "I'll Go Down Swingin'" from an LP compilation of his mother's. I don't know what came over me, but something just clicked and it went right to my gut, then straight down to my fabled little happy place. We played it over and over again until we knew it by heart, and from that moment on I knew I'd always have a friend in Porter Wagoner. And after getting into the rest of his catalog and discovering the greatness of songs like "What Would You Do (If Jesus Came To Your House)," "Green, Green Grass of Home," "Confessions of a Broken Man," "Julie," "The Cold Hard Facts of Life" and "The Rubber Room," it hit me that this wasn't your usual Nashville fare, about as far from radio-friendly as you could get, and that our Porter had a dark side that could out-black Johnny Cash's at times. And honey, we all know that's no small feat.

So thank you for the music and the memories, Mr. Wagoner. And while Dolly beat me to the punch long ago, well, I'll always love you, too.

Some Porter happiness for The People:

Atlanta historian Greg Germani's 'Cold Hard Facts of Life' album cover pilgrimage to Nashville

Dolly lovin' her some "Julie" (Bitches took it down! Argh!)

Porter's neighbor's fond reflections

Remembrances from some of his more famous friends