The Essential George Jones: The Spirit of Country
The Essential George Jones: The Spirit of Country
Customer Review: Start your George Jones collection here
George has had a long career spanning half a century and recorded for several labels. Sometime he re-recorded hits he’d had with previous labels, but what makes this compilation unique is that it includes original recordings from four different labels, covering the fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties. Sony (who own the Epic recordings) licensed tracks from the other three labels represented here.
The first seven tracks were recorded for Mercury and cover the period 1955 to 1961, beginning with Why baby why and ending with Tender years. The standout from this period is Window up above, a very sad song about lost love. George’s Mercury years are covered in greater depth in the 48-track double CD Cup of loneliness.
The next three tracks - She thinks I still care, We must have been out of our minds (with Melba Montgomery) and The race is on - are from his period with United Artists (1962 to 1965). Although these are the three most famous tracks, there should have been more than that. This period is covered in greater depth in the 40-track Razor and tie compilation She Thinks I Still Care: The George Jones Collection.
The next five tracks are from his Musicor period (1965 to 1970), including Walk through this world with me and Good year for the roses. There were other great songs from this period, but there is no definitive compilation covering this period.
The remainder of this compilation is devoted to his long spell with Epic which covers most of the seventies and eighties, including duets with Merle Haggard, Johnny Paycheck, Ray Charles and four songs with Tammy Wynette. Of his own songs from this period, the most famous is He stopped loving her today, a very sad song about a man who remained loyal to a woman who had left him - until he died.
This is a stunning collection of George’s music. It’s not possible to get all his big hits into two CD’s, but this is the best place to begin a George Jones collection.
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