Posted on 03/17/2009 10:11:31 AM PDT by neal1960
PARROTSVILLE (WATE) -- Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton, who gained fame and notoriety as a moonshiner, died Monday in Cocke County, sheriff's deputies said.
According to a Cocke County Sheriff's Office spokesperson, it appeared that Sutton, 61, took his own life in his Parrotsville home.
We’re the government and we’re here to help.
“Legalize it” and “tax the hell out of it”. That’s what some people say on some threads.
His defense should have been that he was producing alternative fuels to save the planet and end global warming. He was a bio-fuel producer, and thus entitled to tax credits, not tax liability.
Boss Hog seems to have won this battle.
I wonder how difficult would it be to get a distillery license and produce "moonsine" legally?
I saw a documentary sometime back featuring Popcorn and the white lighting trade.
RIP Popcorn....
Ironic that we couldn’t possibly have the resources to deal with illegal immigration.
Yet we do seem to have the resources to go after old moonshine makers in the Smoky Mountains.
The guy was only 61 - looked like he was 91. Hard livin will do that to you
Moonshiners are harmless and only minding their own business so I sure wish government agencies established solely to tax and attack individuals would be shut down. Of course, this dead moonshiner certainly owes much less in taxes than that Gueitner guy who is now “running” the Treasury Dept.
The moonshiners are only trying to earn a living and retain their independence, nothing more.
Yeah. Them and the pot growers up Mendocino county way in California.
He was probably gunned down by revinooers who made it look like he killed himself.
“Why did I instantly think about those dern’ Duke boy”
Well I thought of Junior Johnson, the real deal turned race car driver, and Robert Mitchum, the movie version.
************************************************************
BALLAD OF THUNDER ROAD
Let me tell the story, I can tell it all
About the mountain boy who ran illegal alcohol
His daddy made the whiskey, son, he drove the load
When his engine roared, they called the highway Thunder Road.
Sometimes into Ashville, sometimes Memphis town
The revenoors chased him but they couldnt run him down
Each time they thought they had him, his engine would explode
He’d go by like they were standin still on Thunder Road.
(CHORUS)
And there was thunder, thunder over Thunder Road
Thunder was his engine, and white lightning was his load
There was moonshine, moonshine to quench the Devils thirst
The law they swore they’d get him, but the Devil got him first.
On the first of April, nineteen fifty-four
A Federal man sent word hed better make his run no more
He said two hundred agents were coverin the state
Whichever road he tried to take, theyd get him sure as fate.
Son, his Daddy told him, make this run your last
The tank is filled with hundred-proof, youre all tuned up and gassed
Now, dont take any chances, if you cant get through
Id rather have you back again than all that mountain dew.
(CHORUS)
Roarin out of Harlan, revvin up his mill
He shot the gap at Cumberland, and screamed by Maynordsville
With T-men on his taillights, roadblocks up ahead
The mountain boy took roads that even Angels feared to tred.
Blazing right through Knoxville, out on Kingston Pike,
Then right outside of Bearden, they made the fatal strike.
He left the road at 90; thats all there is to say.
The devil got the moonshine and the mountain boy that day.
Then, the county sheriff told me a story:
He had busted a ‘shiner & confiscated a finely made tabletop still made of copper, & brass. The sheriff used it to make a small batch, & sent some to the state toxicologist for testing. Usually it takes a couple of weeks to get a mailed result, but instead, the state toxicologist called him back real quick. The toxicologist said it was the purist ‘shine he had seen in years, & where could he get some for himself.
R.I P. “Popcorn”.
A Local Legend..
Prayers to the Sutton Family.
He looks a lot older than 61.
Illegals causing havoc for everyone and we go after a guy name popcorn.
WTF?
I think I will cruise down Kingston Pike, into Bearden and have me a drink in honor of 'Popcorn' after work today. I will, however, be traveling less than 90.
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