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George Jones

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For other people named George Jones, see George Jones (disambiguation).
George Jones

George Glenn Jones (born September 12, 1931), nicknamed The Possum, is an American country singer known for his distinctive voice and phrasing that frequently evoke the raw emotions caused by grief, unhappy love, and emotional hardship. He has had more songs than any other singer on the country charts – 167 as of November, 2005. He has also had the most Top 40 Hits – 143 – and is second to Eddy Arnold with the most Top 10 Hits – 78. Over the past twenty years or so, Jones has frequently been referred to as "the greatest living country singer" [1] and "the Rolls-Royce of country singers." Frank Sinatra once called him "the second best white male singer." The country music scholar Bill C. Malone writes, "For the two or three minutes consumed by a song, Jones immerses himself so completely in its lyrics, and in the mood it conveys, that the listener can scarcely avoid becoming similarly involved."[2]

Early Life and Career

Jones was born with a broken arm in Saratoga, Texas to a religious mother and an alcoholic father. He grew up in the settlements north of Beaumont around the Big Thicket[3]. By age 24, he had served in the Marines[4], and developed his skills as a country musician and singer. Jones started off singing for local radio and in 1954 recorded his first record, "No Money In This Deal."

In 1955 he had his first top 10 hit with "Why, Baby, Why."[5] He had his first country No. 1 on Mercury Records in 1959 with "White Lightning." After Elvis Presley's success, Jones half-heartedly took a stab at rockabilly in the hopes of getting noticed, recording under the name "Thumper Jones," but returned to country almost immediately. In his autobiography, Jones claims that when he encountered these rock and roll records years later he would use them as frisbees[6]. On his earliest recordings Jones imitated his idols Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, and Roy Acuff, but as the 1960s began, his voice matured and he developed a unique style that continued to evolve throughout his long career.

He wrote or co-wrote many of his early hits on Mercury Records as well as hits for others, such as "Tender Years," "Life To Go" (a smash for Stonewall Jackson), "Seasons Of My Heart" (a hit for Johnny Cash) and "The Window Up Above," a tune that has since become a standard.

Marriages

File:Jones wynette.jpg
Jones With Third Wife, Tammy Wynette.

Jones was married twice before he turned 24. His first marriage was to Dorothy Bonvillion in 1950, a marriage that lasted but a year. In 1954, Jones married Shirley Ann Corlea, and this marriage lasted until 1968. He next married fellow country musician Tammy Wynette in 1969. This marriage lasted until 1975. He married his current wife, Nancy Sepulveda, who also became his manager, in 1983. Jones credits Nancy for rescuing him from the bottle and cocaine. The couple currently live in Tennessee.[7]

Drinking and Drug Abuse

Jones' alcohol consumption was legendary. For a great part of his life he woke up to a Bloody Mary and spent the rest of the day drinking bourbon.

Perhaps the best known story of his drinking days is tragiccomic. While married to the former Shirley Coreley, his second wife in the mid 1960's. Jones wrote about it in his 1996 autobiography "I Lived To Tell It All":

Once, when I had been drunk for several days, Shirley decided she would make it physically impossible for me to buy liquor. I lived about eight miles from Beaumont and the nearest liquor store. She knew I wouldn't walk that far to get booze, so she hid the keys to every car we owned and left.

But she forgot about the lawn mower.

I can vaguely remember my anger at not being able to find keys to anything that moved and looking longingly out a window at a light that shone over our property. There, gleaming in the glow, was that ten-horsepower rotary engine under a seat. A key glistening in the ignition.

I imagine the top speed for that old mower was five miles per hour. It might have taken an hour and a half or more for me to get to the liquor store, but get there I did.


There are other stories that he was actually arrested by the highway patrol for driving while intoxicated, though those may be apocryphal.

The riding mower doesn't seem to be a one-time event. Wife Tammy Wynette told her own riding mower story in her 1979 autobiography "Stand By Your Man":

About 1 am I would wake up and look over to find he was gone. I got into the car and drove to the nearest bar 10 miles away.

When I pulled into the parking lot there sat our rider-mower right by the entrance. He'd driven that mower right down a main highway. He looked up and saw me and said, `Well, fellas, here she is now. My little wife, I told you she'd come after me'.

There are other stories that he was actually arrested by the highway patrol for Driving Under The Influence, though those may be apocryphal.

In the 1970s, Jones was introduced to cocaine by a manager before a show in which he was too tired to perform. This accelerated his already unpredictable actions. His self-destructive bent brought him close to death and to the inside of a mental hospital in Alabama at the end of the decade. Although somewhat celebrated by some of his fans as the hard-drinkin', fast-livin' spiritual-son of his idol, Hank Williams, he missed so many booked engagements that he became known as "No-Show Jones." He was often broke and later admitted that friends Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash came to his aid financially during this period. Jones' drinking contributed to the dissolution of several of his marriages.

Stardom

Throughout the 1960s, Jones dominated the country charts with a string of hits. Songwriters fell over themselves to get their songs to him because he was, quite simply, money in the bank. Jones himself remained remarkably aloof from fame and fortune while his managers signed him to various recording deals with different record labels. Although he stuck to country with a vengeance, his recordings lost some of their earlier Williams/Frizzell honky-tonk rawness and became more stylized with the emergence of the Nashville Sound. By the end of the decade, however, he was becoming increasingly unhappy with his recordings on Musicor, and began looking around for a new deal. He found it at Epic Records and was signed by legendary producer Billy Sherrill. Despite a shaky start, the Jones/Sherrill partnership would go on to become one of the most legendary in the history of the business.

Jones was introduced to Sherrill by Tammy Wynette, who had co-written "Stand By Your Man" with the producer. She was, at that time, one of the biggest stars in country music. Jones' third wife, Wynette became the passion of his life and he even curbed his by now legendary drinking. The pair were married in 1969 and performed a string of duets together, including "Take Me" (co-written by Jones with Leon Payne, who had written "Lost Highway" for Hank Williams years earlier), "We're Gonna Hold On," and "Golden Ring." Wynette could not keep Jones from drinking, however, and after a turbulent relationship, the couple divorced in 1975.

During the 1970s, Jones began to use cocaine. There were few hits because Jones' voice was often in shambles from his binges and he was unable to record. This period is probably best summed up in a spellbinding song called "I Just Don't Give A Damn," a by now rare co-written tune by Jones and Jimmy Peppers that is on his Memories Of Us LP. However, when Jones did record, it was evident that his singing was actually getting better and he began to be recognized as a first-rate improvisational vocalist. Journalist Nick Tosches noted in the Texas Monthly that Jones "possesses a unique sound and stands alone in country music: a well of pure natural power, capable of swooping from high tenor to deep baritone, of articulating emotion like no other, of weaving the tapestries of hard-core honky-tonk, buoyant rockabilly, and back-country gospel."

In 1980 Jones released the album I Am What I Am,Which included Jones' biggest hit, "He Stopped Loving Her Today," which is often considered to be the greatest country song of all time. It was recorded in the depths of his bad days and literally made fools out of everyone who had previously written him off. It was an instant sensation, going to number one and staying there for 18 weeks. According to Sherrill, the last words an unethusiastic Jones said about the song before bolting from the studio was "Nobody'll buy that morbid son of a bitch." Throughout the 1980s Jones and Sherrill continued to pump out albums, including Shine On, Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes, andWine Colored Roses.

Jones continued recording throughout the 1990s despite being ignored by modern country radio, a state of affairs that has long been a source of annoyance to him. In his biography I Lived to Tell It All, published in 1996, Jones set out a chronicle of his life and his bad behaviour.

In March 1999 Jones was in a near-fatal car crash and later admitted to driving while impaired. He later recorded a double album of Gospel songs to critical acclaim. Billy Sherrill, who had retired from producing in the early 1990s, came out of retirement to produce the album. Jones still spends up to 165 days a year on the road.

File:George No Show Jones2.jpg
George Jones.

Jones appeared on the latest album by Jerry Lee Lewis that was released in September of 2006. He also released a duet album with Merle Haggard on October 24 called Kickin' Out The Footlights... Again, a sequel to their A Taste Of Yesterday's Wine LP from 1983. The album is advertised as "Haggard sings Jones, Jones sings Haggard."

On October 20, 2006, Jones broke his right wrist in a fall at his producer's studio in Nashville, Tennessee. He was taken to orthopedic surgeon Jane Siegel of the Tennessee Orthopedic Alliance, who performed surgery on October 23, 2006. Eight days later, in spite of his bandaged wrist, the 75-year-old Jones gave his first concert at Carnegie Hall in New York in 44 years. He was unable to play his guitar and, according to The New York Times appeared as if he were in "apparent agitation throughout the concert, which rarely found him engaging with a song." Its review summed up the concert as being "something other than a resounding success." [1]

This year, 2006, marks Jones' 51st year in country music as well as his 37th year at the Grand Ole Opry.

Awards

Year Award Awards Notes
1956 Most Promising New Country Vocalist Billboard
1962 Most Promising New Country Vocalist Country Music D.J. Convention
1962 Male Vocalist of the Year Cash Box
1962 Male Vocalist of the Year Billboard
1963 Male Vocalist of the Year Country Music D.J. Convention
1963 Male Vocalist of the Year Cash Box
1963 Male Vocalist of the Year Billboard
1970 Walkway of Stars at the Country Music Hall Of Fame Country Music Hall of Fame
1972 Top Vocal Duo Cash Box with Tammy Wynette
1973 Top Vocal Duo Cash Box with Tammy Wynette
1976 Top Duet Cash Box with Tammy Wynette
1980 Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for "He Stopped Loving Her Today" Grammy
1980 Male Vocalist of the Year Academy of Country Music
1980 Male Vocalist of the Year CMA
1980 "He Stopped Loving Her Today" Song of the Year CMA
1981 Male Vocalist of the Year CMA
1981 "He Stopped Loving Her Today" Song of the Year CMA Won "Song of the Year" two years in a row.
1981 Male Vocalist of the Year Music City News
1981 "He Stopped Loving Her Today" Single of the Year Music City News
1986 Music Video of the Year CMA
1987 Living Legend Music City News
1992 "He Stopped Loving Her Today" Voted All-Time Country Song
1992 Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame Country Music Hall of Fame
1993 The Pioneer Award Academy of Country Music
1993 Vocal Event of the Year CMA with Garth Brooks, Joe Diffie, Pam Tillis, T. Graham Brown, Mark Chesnutt, Travis Tritt, Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Patty Loveless, and Clint Black
1995 Vocal Collaboration of the Year TNN/Music City News
1998 Hall of Fame Award Grammy
1998 Vocal Event of the Year CMA with Patty Loveless
1999 Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for "Choices" Grammy
2003 Ranked #3 of the 40 greatest men in country music CMT

Discography

Year Album Record Label Notes
1965 Famous Country Duets Musicor
1965 George Jones and Gene Pitney: For the First Time! Two Great Singers Musicor with Gene Pitney
1965 George Jones and Gene Pitney (Recorded in Nashville!) Musicor with Gene Pitney
1965 Mr. Country & Western Music Musicor
1965 New Country Hits Musicor
1965 Old Brush Arbors Musicor
1966 Country Heart Musicor
1966 I'm a People Musicor
1966 It's Country Time Again! Musicor
1966 Love Bug Musicor
1966 We Found Heaven Right Here on Earth at "4033" Musicor
1976 Hits by George Musicor
1967 Walk through This World with Me Musicor
1968 If My Heart Had Windows Musicor
1968 Sings the Songs of Dallas Frazier Musicor
1969 I'll Share My World with You Musicor
1969 Where Grass Won't Grow Musicor
1970 Will You Visit Me on Sunday? Musicor
1971 George Jones with Love Musicor
1971 George Jones Sings the Great Songs of Leon Payne Musicor
1971 We Go Together Epic Records with Tammy Wynette
1972 A Picture of Me (Without You) Epic Records
1972 George Jones (We Can Make It) Epic Records
1972 Me and the First Lady Epic Records with Tammy Wynette
1972 We Love to Sing About Jesus Razor & Tie
1973 Let's Build a World Thogeter Epic Records
1973 Nothing Ever Hurt Me (Half as Bad as Losing You) Epic Records
1973 We're Gonna Hold On Epic Records with Tammy Wynette
1974 In a Gospel Way Razor & Tie
1974 The Grand Tour Razor & Tie
1975 George & Tammy & Tina Epic Records with Tammy Wynette
1975 Memories of Us Epic Records
1976 Alone Again Epic Records
1976 Golden Ring Razor & Tie with Tammy Wynette
1976 The Battle Epic Records
1978 Bartender's Blues Razor & Tie
1979 My Very Specail Guests Epic Records
1980 Double Trouble Razor & Tie with Johnny PayCheck
1980 I Am What I Am Epic Records
1981 Together Again Epic Records with Tammy Wynette
1981 Still The Same Ole Me Epic Records
1982 A Taste of Yesterday's Wine Epic Records with Merle Haggard
1982 Anniversary - 10 Years Of Hits Epic Records
1983 Jones Country Epic Records
1983 Shine On Epic Records
1984 You've Still Got a Place in My Heart Epic Records
1984 Ladies' Choice Epic Records
1984 By Request Epic Records
1985 First Time Live Epic Records
1985 Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes? Epic Records
1986 Wine Colored Roses Epic Records
1987 Too Wild Too Long Epic Records
1987 Super Hits Epic Records
1989 One Woman Man Epic Records
1990 You Oughta Be Here with Me Epic Records
1991 Friends in High Places Epic Records
1991 And Along Came Jones MCA Nashville Records
1992 Walls Can Fall MCA Nashville Records
1993 High Tech Redneck MCA Nashville Records
1993 Super Hits, Vol. 2 Epic Records
1994 Bradley Barn Sessions MCA Nashville Records
1995 One MCA Nashville Records with Tammy Wynette
1996 I Lived to Tell It All MCA Nashville Records
1998 It Don't Get Any Better Than This MCA Nashville Records
1999 Cold Hard Truth Asylum Records
1999 Live With the Possum Asylum Records
2001 The Rock: Stone Cold Country 2001 Bandit Records
2003 The Gospel Collection Bandit Records
2004 50 Years Of Hits Bandit Records
2005 Hits I Missed...And One I Didn't Bandit Records
2006 Kickin' Out the Footlights...Again Bandit Records with Merle Haggard

Gold & Platinum Albums

Certification Date Album Certified Label
09/18/81 I Am What I Am Gold Epic Records
12/29/83 I Am What I Am Platinum Epic Records
09/11/89 Anniversary - 10 Years Of Hits Gold Epic Records
12/18/90 Still The Same Ole Me Gold Epic Records
02/13/92 Super Hits Gold Epic Records
02/03/94 Super Hits Platinum Epic Records
10/04/94 Walls Can Fall Gold MCA Nashville Records
12/05/94 Wine Colored Roses Gold Epic Records
09/12/95 George Jones and Tammy Wynette's Greatest Hits Gold Epic Records
03/07/00 Cold Hard Truth Gold Asylum Records
07/03/01 High Tech Redneck Gold MCA Nashville Records
11/05/02 16 Biggest Hits Gold Legacy Recordings/Epic Records
11/05/02 Super Hits 2x Platinum Epic Records
10/25/05 50 Years Of Hits Gold Bandit Records

Music Videos

Year Video Notes
1985 "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes?"
1991 "She Loved A Lot In Her Time"
1991 "You Couldn't Get the Picture"
1992 "Walls Can Fall"
1993 "I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair"
1993 "High Tech Redneck"
1995 "One" with Tammy Wynette
1996 "Honkey Tonk Song"
1998 "Wild Irish Rose"
1999 "Choices"
2001 "Beer Run (B Double E Double Are You In?)" with Garth Brooks
2002 "50,000 Names"
2005 "The Blues Man" with Dolly Parton
2006 "Funny How Time Slips Away"

Songs In Top 100 Since 1955 — (In parentheses: weeks at #1, #2, or #3)[8]

No. First Charted Peak Position Weeks Charted Title
1 10/29/55 4 18 Why Baby Why, co-written by Jones
2 1/28/56 7 7 What Am I Worth, co-written by Jones
3 7/14/56 7 8 You Gotta Be My Baby, written by Jones
4 10/20/56 3 (1) 11 Just One More, written by Jones
5 5 Gonna Come Get You (Juke Box flip side hit, apparently, of Just One More), written by Jones
6 1/26/57 10 1 Yearning (with Jeanette Hicks), co-written by Jones
7 3/9/57 10 2 Don't Stop The Music, written by Jones
8 1 Uh, Uh, No (Juke Box flip side hit, apparently, of Don't Stop The Music), written by Jones
9 6/10/57 13 6 Too Much Water, co-written by Jones
10 4/14/58 7 10 Color of the Blues, co-written by Jones
11 11/17/58 6 16 Treasure of Love, co-written by Jones
12 12/8/58 29 1 If I Don't Love You (Grits Ain't Groceries), flip side, apparently, of Treasure of Love, co-written by Jones
13 3/9/59 1 (5) 22 White Lightning
14 7/20/59 7 13 Who Shot Sam, co-written by Jones
15 11/23/59 15 12 Money To Burn
16 11/23/59 19 12 Big Harlan Taylor, flip side, apparently, of Money To Burn
17 4/4/60 16 12 Accidentally On Purpose, co-written by Jones
18 4/25/60 30 1 Sparkling Brown Eyes, flip side, apparently, of Accidentally On Purpose
19 8/22/60 25 2 Out Of Control, co-written by Jones
20 11/7/60 2 (1) 34 The Window Up Above, written by Jones
21 5/29/61 16 2 Family Bible
22 6/19/61 1 (7) 32 Tender Years
23 9/18/61 15 (1) 3 Did I Ever Tell You (with Margie Singleton)
24 2/24/62 5 12 Aching, Breaking Heart
25 4/14/62 1 (6) 23 She Thinks I Still Care Grammy: Hall of Fame
26 4/28/62 17 5 Sometimes You Just Can't Win, flip side, apparently, of She Thinks I Still Care
27 6/16/62 11 10 Waltz Of The Angels (with Margie Singleton)
28 7/21/62 13 11 Open Pit Mine
29 8/25/62 28 1 You're Still On My Mind
30 10/6/62 3 (4) 18 A Girl I Used To Know (& The Jones Boys)
31 10/13/62 13 9 Big Fool Of The Year (& The Jones Boys), flip side, apparently, of A Girl I Used To Know
32 2/9/63 7 18 Not What I Had In Mind (& The Jones Boys)
33 4/6/63 29 1 I Saw Me (& The Jones Boys), co-written by Jones
34 5/4/63 3 (1) 28 We Must Have Been Out Of Our Minds (with Melba Montgomery)
35 7/13/63 5 22 You Comb Her Hair
36 11/30/63 20 5 What's In Our Heart (with Melba Montgomery), co-written by Jones
37 12/7/63 17 7 Let's Invite Them Over (with Melba Montgomery), flip side, apparently, of What's In Our Heart
38 2/1/64 5 18 Your Heart Turned Left (And I Was On The Right)
39 2/8/64 15 9 My Tears Are Overdue, flip side, apparently, of Your Heart Turned Left (And I Was On The Right)
40 3/28/64 39 3 The Last Town I Painted
41 6/6/64 31 7 Something I Dreamed
42 6/20/64 10 16 Where Does A Little Tear Come From, flip side, apparently, of Something I Dreamed
43 9/5/64 31 5 Please Be My Love (with Melba Montgomery)
44 9/26/64 3 (6) 28 The Race Is On
45 12/12/64 25 15 Multiply The Heartaches (with Melba Montgomery)
46 1/30/65 15 15 Least Of All
47 3/13/65 9 21 Things Have Gone To Pieces
48 4/24/65 16 10 I've Got Five Dollars And It's Saturday Night (George & Gene) (with Gene Pitney)
49 6/5/65 14 12 Wrong Number, co-written by Jones
50 7/3/65 25 7 Louisiana Man (George & Gene) (with Gene Pitney)
51 8/28/65 6 18 Love Bug
52 10/9/65 40 3 What's Money, co-written by Jones
53 11/6/65 8 18 Take Me, co-written by Jones
54 11/20/65 50 2 Big Job (George & Gene) (with Gene Pitney)
55 3/12/66 6 17 I'm A People
56 3/12/66 46 3 World's Worse Loser
57 6/4/66 47 3 That's All It Took (George & Gene) (with Gene Pitney), co-written by Jones
58 6/25/66 30 7 Old Brush Arbors
59 7/30/66 5 16 Four-O-Thirty-Three, co-written by Jones
60 11/19/66 70 3 Close Together (As You And Me) (with Melba Montgomery)
61 1/21/67 1 (2) 22 Walk Through This World With Me
62 5/20/67 5 17 I Can't Get There From Here
63 9/9/67 24 10 Party Pickin' (with Melba Montgomery)
64 10/7/67 7 18 If My Heart Had Windows
65 2/3/68 8 14 Say It's Not You
66 4/13/68 35 11 Small Time Laboring Man, co-written by Jones
67 7/6/68 3 (1) 13 As Long As I Live
68 9/28/68 12 12 Milwaukee, Here I Come (With Brenda Carter)
69 11/23/68 2 (2) 17 When The Grass Grows Over Me'
70 3/29/69 2 (2) 18 I'll Share My World With You
71 7/19/69 6 14 If Not For You
72 11/15/69 6 14 She's Mine
73 11/22/69 72 13 No Blues Is Good News, flip side, apparently, of She's Mine
74 3/14/70 28 10 Where Grass Won't Grow
75 7/4/70 13 14 Tell Me My Lying Eyes Are Wrong (And The Jones Boys)
76 11/21/70 2 (1) 1 A Good Year For The Roses
77 3/20/71 10 13 Sometimes You Just Can't Win, new version of his 1962 hit
78 6/12/71 7 14 Right Won't Touch A Hand
79 10/2/71 13 12 I'll Follow You (Up To Our Cloud)
80 12/25/71 9 13 Take Me (with Tammy Wynette), new version of his 1965 hit, co-written by Jones
81 2/12/72 6 14 We Can Make It
82 2/12/72 30 8 A Day In The Life Of A Fool
83 5/20/72 2 (1) 14 Loving You Could Never Be Better
84 7/8/72 6 15 The Ceremony (with Tammy Wynette)
85 10/14/72 46 7 Wrapped Around Her Finger, co-written by Jones
86 10/28/72 5 16 A Picture Of Me (Without You)
87 11/25/72 38 9 Old Fashioned Singing (with Tammy Wynette)
88 3/3/73 6 14 What My Woman Can't Do, co-written by Jones
89 4/7/73 32 9 Let's Build A World Together (with Tammy Wynette)
90 6/23/73 7 13 Nothing Ever Hurt Me (Half As Bad As Losing You)
91 9/1/73 1 (2) 17 We're Gonna Hold On (with Tammy Wynette), co-written by Jones
92 11/24/73 3 (1) 16 Once You've Had The Best
93 2/9/74 15 13 (We're Not) The Jet Set (with Tammy Wynette)
94 4/6/74 25 12 The Telephone Call (with stepdaughter Tina)
95 6/8/74 1 (1) 17 The Grand Tour
96 7/27/74 8 12 We Loved It Away (with Tammy Wynette)
97 10/26/74 1 (1) 13 The Door
98 3/22/75 10 14 These Days (I Barely Get By), co-written by Jones
99 5/17/75 25 13 God's Gonna Get'cha (For That)
100 7/26/75 21 11 Memories Of Us
101 11/1/75 92 4 I Just Don't Give A Damn, flip side, apparently, of Memories Of Us, co-written by Jones
102 2/7/76 16 12 The Battle
103 5/22/76 37 9 You Always Look Your Best (Here In My Arms)
104 6/5/76 1 (1) 15 Golden Ring (with Tammy Wynette)
105 9/4/76 3 (2) 16 Her Name Is
106 12/11/76 1 (2) 16 Near You (with Tammy Wynette)
107 5/21/77 34 8 Old King Kong
108 7/16/77 5 13 Southern California (with Tammy Wynette)
109 8/13/77 24 10 If I Could Put Them All Together (I'd Have You)
110 1/7/78 6 14 Bartender's Blues (James Taylor vocal harmony)
111 7/1/78 11 13 I'll Just Take It Out In Love
112 12/9/78 7 13 Mabellene (with Johnny PayCheck)
113 5/26/79 14 11 You Can Have Her (with Johnny PayCheck)
114 6/30/79 22 11 Someday My Day Will Come
115 3/1/80 2 (1) 14 Two Story House (with Tammy Wynette)
116 4/12/80 1 (1) 18 He Stopped Loving Her Today, CMA Award for Single of the Year two years in a row, 1980 and 1981; 1980 Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance, Male
117 6/2/80 31 9 When You're Ugly Like Us (You Just Naturally Got To Be Cool) (with Johnny PayCheck)
118 8/23/80 2 (1) 17 I'm Not Ready Yet
119 9/6/80 19 11 A Pair Of Old Sneakers (with Tammy Wynette)
120 12/13/80 18 12 You Better Move On (with Johnny PayCheck)
121 1/17/81 8 15 If Drinkin' Don't Kill Me (Her Memory Will)
122 10/3/81 1 (1) 17 Still Doin' Time
123 2/6/82 5 19 Same Ole Me (Oak Ridge Boys backing vocals)
124 8/7/82 1 15 Yesterday's Wine (with Merle Haggard)
125 12/4/82 10 19 C. C. Waterback (with Merle Haggard)
126 1/15/83 3 (2) 19 Shine On (Shine All Your Sweet Love On Me)
127 5/7/83 1 (1) 18 I Always Get Lucky With You
128 9/10/83 2 (1) 22 Tennessee Whiskey
129 12/17/83 6 18 We Didn't See A Thing (with Ray Charles and Chet Atkins)
130 4/7/84 3 (2) 19 You've Still Got A Place In My Heart
131 9/22/84 2 (3) 23 She's My Rock
132 12/22/84 15 16 Hallelujah, I Love You So (with Brenda Lee)
133 4/27/85 19 18 Size Seven Round (Made Of Gold) (with Lacy J. Dalton)
134 8/3/85 3 (1) 20 Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes
135 11/23/85 3 (2) 22 The One I Loved Back Then (The Corvette Song)
136 4/19/86 9 21 Somebody Wants Me Out Of The Way
137 9/13/86 10 23 Wine Colored Roses
138 1/17/87 8 20 The Right Left Hand
139 5/16/87 26 18 I Turn To You
140 12/19/87 26 14 The Bird
141 2/26/88 52 10 I'm A Survivor
142 6/4/88 63 6 The Old Man No One Loves
143 9/3/88 43 10 If I Could Bottle This Up (with Shelby Lynne)
144 12/17/88 5 20 I'm A One Woman Man
145 4/29/89 26 13 The King Is Gone (So Are You)
146 7/29/89 31 16 Writing On The Wall
147 11/11/89 62 6 Radio Lover
148 9/8/90 8 20 A Few Ole Country Boys (with Randy Travis)
149 8/31/91 32 20 You Couldn't Get The Picture
150 1/11/92 55 14 She Loved A Lot In Her Time
151 4/11/92 60 7 Honky Tonk Myself To Death
152 10/17/92 34 20 I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair (with Vince Gill, Mark Chesnutt, Garth Brooks, Travis Tritt, Joe Diffie, Alan Jackson, Pam Tillis, T. Graham Brown, Patty Loveless, and Clint Black) 1992 CMA Award for Vocal Event of the Year
153 3/20/93 65 6 Wrong's What I Do Best
154 11/13/93 24 20 High Tech Redneck
155 3/12/94 52 10 Never Bit A Bullet Like This (with Sammy Kershaw)
156 11/12/94 56 7 A Good Year For The Roses (with Alan Jackson)
157 7/1/95 69 4 One (with Tammy Wynette)
158 9/14/96 66 6 Honky Tonk Song
159 9/20/97 14 20 You Don't Seem To Miss Me (with Patty Loveless) 1997 CMA Award for Vocal Event of the Year
160 5/80/99 30 20 Choices 1999 Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance, Male
161 11/6/99 45 20 The Cold Hard Truth
162 11/20/99 30 13 A Country Boy Can Survive (Y2K Version) (with Chad Brock and Hank Williams, Jr.)
163 5/13/00 55 12 Sinners And Saints
164 8/4/01 47 9 The Man He Was
165 10/13/01 24 20 Beer Run (B Double E Double Are You In?) (with Garth Brooks)
166 3/30/02 55 1 50,000 Names
167 4/23/05 26 23 4th Of July (with Shooter Jennings)

Trivia

  • Jones is known as "No-Show Jones" as a result of his missing many performances during his days of drug and alcohol abuse.
  • Jones has had more individual songs than any other singer on the country charts, 167 as of November, 2005. He has had the most Top 40 Hits, 143. He is second to Eddy Arnold for the most Top 10 Hits, 78.
  • According to a formula derived by Joel Whitburn, Jones is second to Eddy Arnold in his overall ranking for hits and their time on the charts.
  • Jones has had four wives and was married twice before he was 24.
  • Frank Sinatra once called Jones “the second best white male singer.”

Notes

  1. ^ http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/jones_george/bio.jhtml
  2. ^ Country Music U.S.A, Bill C. Malone, page 288
  3. ^ http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/jones_george/bio.jhtml
  4. ^ http://www.americaremembers.com/products/GJ50TRI/GJ50TRI.asp
  5. ^ http://www.georgejones.com/bio/index.htm
  6. ^ I Lived to Tell It All By: George Jones
  7. ^ http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/jones_george/bio.jhtml
  8. ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Country Songs, 1944 to 2005, pages 194-196

Further reading and Reference

  • In The Country of Country: A Journey to the Roots of American Music, Nicholas Dawidoff, Vintage Books, 1998, ISBN 0-375-70082-X
  • Country Music U.S.A., Bill C. Malone, University of Texas Press, 1985, ISBN 0-292-71096-8
  • Joel Whitburn's Top Country Songs, 1944 to 2005, Record Research, Inc., Menomonee Falls, WS, 2005, ISBN 0-89820-165-9

See also

External links

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