ELI POSSOMTROT

Bob Ferguson (at center), with the KWSC Ramblers. September 1952 image courtesy of Jeff Snyder.

Homebase: Spokane
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Misc Notes: Eli Possumtrot was the comedic "Ozerk Hillbilly" character that BOB FERGUSON created as part of his onstage act. After gigging with Pullman, Washington's KWSC RAMBLERS country group while in college, Ferguson settled into the Nashville scene and eventually worked with stars including Ferlin Husky and Porter Wagoner.  In 1966 Wagoner's RCA album, Confessions of a Broken Man, won a Grammy Award for its evocative cover design. It featured Porter himself "huddled in rags on the steps of the Ryman Auditorium. ‘Bob Ferguson came up with that idea,’ Wagoner recalls. ‘And he did the makeup on me, too. He [modeled it after] an old-man character he used to do himself, Eli Possum Trot.’ ” ("Porter Wagoner - Hillbilly Deluxe" by David Cantwell, No Depression magazine, May 2007.)
ALSO SEE:

1.) FERGUSON, BOB
2.) KWSC RAMBLERS, The
3.)  PORTER WAGONER TV SHOW

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