RIP George Jones

Lately, we've been losing a lot of fantastic musical talent. Stompin' Tom Connors, Magic Slim, Richie Havens, Christina Amphlette, Rita MacNeil. And on Friday, George Jones.

Simply put, George Jones was one of the finest singers ever to record music, in whatever genre. His ability to convey emotion in a very simple way was his hallmark, and lead to some devastatingly sad country songs. His accomplishments in music were huge. Over 150 hit songs, 14 of them #1s. He's in the Country Music Hall of Fame and in the Grammy Hall of Fame. He's the recipient of the US National Medal of Arts. Many, many awards for vocalist of the year, both for the CMA and Billboard. He's one of the best selling country artists of all time.

Jones' work has always been with me. My mother was a huge fan of classic country and George Jones seemed to always been on the turntable. Mind you, when I was growing up, I really disliked classic country, but, as it wont to happen, one's sensibilities change and mature as one ages. I grew to appreciate and even love some of George Jones' songs. His songs “He Stopped Loving Her Today” and “She Thinks I Still Care” can reduce me to a sobbing, blubbery mess on a good day.



After I discovered Elvis Costello, I found out about his affection for George Jones and my respect for his work grew even larger. Costello recorded an album called Almost Blue in 1981, a straight up country album which his label, Columbia, called “career suicide” and initally refused to release it. It was released anyway, and it didn't sell well. It's still a striking example of Costello's range as a performer, going from the “angry young man”, swaggering roots-punk of his first three albums to Almost Blue's tender and steel-guitar drenched country covers. Costello recorded Jones' “Good Year for the Roses” for this album, then wrote “Stranger in the House” for Jones.


One of my favourite stories was from the liner notes of one of Costello's Ryko re-releases. Back when Jones was young, he was famous for his drunken binges and missing concerts, so much that he was known as “No Show Jones” at one point. He's also famous for his ride into town on a riding lawn mower to buy more booze, since his wife had taken away his truck keys. Costello said he was playing a concert in Nashville, and Jones, a long time friend, couldn't make it, so Jones sent a basket with sparkling apple juice in it. A far cry from the boozing of his early years.

Another one of my favourite George Jones' tunes is “White Lightning”, an upbeat track about moonshining. One of my favourite strange cover is of The Fall doing this song:


George Jones was 81 years old at his time of passing. We won't soon see another singer of his calibre. RIP George Jones.