GEORGE JONES -
"My Very Special Guests: Legacy Edition" 2-CD (Epic/Legacy)
Arrives in stores June 14, 2005
For more information contact:
Kay Clary at Commotion PR, 615.467.6677 (kay@commotionpr.com);
Tom Cording at Legacy Media Relations, 212.833.4448; or
Randy Haecker at Legacy Media Relations, 212.833.4101
Email: LegacyMediaRelations@sonymusic.com
GEORGE JONES - MY VERY SPECIAL GUESTS: LEGACY EDITION (E2K 92562)
D I S C O N E
1. Night Life (3:43)
—with Waylon Jennings
(W. Nelson-P. Buskirk-W. Breeland) Sony/ATV Tree Publishing --
Glad Music, BMI
Recorded April 6, 1978
Produced by Billy Sherrill
Tommy Allsup, Phil Baugh, Cliff Parker, Pete Wade, guitars;
Buddy Emmons, Jim Vest, steel guitar; Hargus “Pig” Robbins, piano;
Tommy Cogbill, bass; Jim Isbell, drums; Charlie McCoy, harmonica
2. Bartender’s Blues (3:45)
—with James Taylor
(J. Taylor) Country Road Music, BMI
Recorded October 10, 1977
Produced by Billy Sherrill
First released on the album Bartender’s Blues (Epic KE 35414)
Phil Baugh, Billy Sanford, Reggie Young, guitars; Pete Drake,
steel guitar; Hargus “Pig” Robbins, piano; Henry Strzelecki, bass;
Jim Isbell, drums
3. Here We Are (2:51)
—with Emmylou Harris
(R. Crowell) Happy Sack Music, ASCAP
Recorded June 24, 1978
Produced by Billy Sherrill
Brian Ahern, Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris, Albert Lee, guitars;
Hank Devito, steel guitar; Glen D Hardin, piano; Emory Gordy, Jr.,
bass; John Ware, drums; Mickey Raphael, harmonica
4. I’ve Turned You To Stone (2:38)
—with Linda Ronstadt
(J. Rushing) Universal Songs of Polygram, BMI
Recorded April 6, 1978
Produced by Billy Sherrill
Tommy Allsup, Phil Baugh, Cliff Parker, Pete Wade, guitars; Jim Vest,
steel guitar; Hargus “Pig” Robbins, piano; Tommy Cogbill, bass; Jim Isbell, drums; Charlie McCoy, harmonica
5. It Sure Was Good (2:45)
—with Tammy Wynette
(B. Sherrill-G. Richey) EMI Algee Music, BMI
Recorded February 22, 1977
Produced by Billy Sherrill
Jimmy Capps, Glenn Keener, Cliff Parker, guitars; Jim Vest,
steel guitar; Hargus “Pig” Robbins, piano; Henry Strzelecki, bass;
Jerry Carrigan, drums; The Nashville Edition, The Jordanaires and
Millie Kirkham, backing vocals
6. I Gotta Get Drunk (2:11)
—with Willie Nelson
(W. Nelson) Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI
Recorded May 26, 1978
Produced by Billy Sherrill
Willie Nelson, Jody Payne, guitars; Buddy Emmons, steel guitar; Johnny
Gimble, fiddle; Bobbie Nelson, piano; Chris Etheridge, bass; Paul English,
drums; Mickey Raphael, harmonica
7. Proud Mary (2:49)
—with Johnny Paycheck
(J. C. Fogerty) Jondora Music, BMI
Recorded November 15, 1978
Produced by Billy Sherrill
Tommy Allsup, Phil Baugh, Cliff Parker, Billy Sanford, guitars; Jim Murphy,
steel guitar; Bobby Wood, piano; Steve Schaffer, bass; Jerry Kroon, drums;
The Nashville Edition, backing vocals
8. Stranger In The House (3:37)
—with Elvis Costello
(D. P. A. MacManus) BMG Songs, ASCAP
Recorded July 18, 1978
Produced by Billy Sherrill
Elvis Costello, Tommy Allsup, Phil Baugh, Billy Sanford, Pete Wade, guitars;
Pete drake, steel guitar; Johnny Gimble, fiddle; Hargus “Pig” Robbins, piano;
Henry Strzelecki, bass; Karl Himmel, drums
9. I Still Hold Her Body (But I Think I’ve Lost Her Mind) (2:32)
—with Dennis & Ray of Dr. Hook
(R. Sawyer-D. Locorriere) Horse Hairs Music, BMI
Recorded February 10, 1978
Produced by Billy Sherrill
Tommy Allsup, Phil Baugh, Cliff Parker, guitars; Jim Vest, steel guitar;
Johnny Gimble, fiddle; Larry Butler, piano; Tommy Cogbill, bass; Jim
Isbell, drums
10. Will The Circle Be Unbroken (3:03)
—with Pop and Mavis Staples
(traditional; arranged by R. Staples) Conrad Music, BMI
Recorded July 18, 1978
Produced by Billy Sherrill
Tommy Allsup, Phil Baugh, Billy Sanford, Pete Wade, guitars; Pete Drake,
steel guitar; Johnny Gimble, fiddle; Hargus “Pig” Robbins, piano; Henry
Strzelecki, bass; Karl Himmel, drums
Tracks 1 through 10 comprise the original My Very Special Guests album
Epic JE 35544), released in October 1979.
11. A Few Ole Country Boys (3:38)
—with Randy Travis
(T. Seals-M. Williams) Bamatuck Music/Mentor Williams Music/
WB Music, ASCAP
Released 1990
Produced by Kyle Lehning; Executive Producer: Lib Hatcher
From the album Heroes And Friends (Warner Bros. 26310)
Mark Casstevens, Larry Byrom, acoustic guitars; Steve Gibson, electric guitar;
Doyle Grisham, steel guitar; Jerry Douglas, dobro; Mark O’Connor, fiddle;
Dennis Burnside, Shane Keister, piano; Jack Williams, bass; Paul Leim, drums
The Cherry Sisters: Diane Vanette, Sherri Huffman, Lisa Silver, backing vocals
Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records Inc.
12. It Hurts As Much In Texas (As It Did In Tennessee) (2:22)
—with Ricky Van Shelton
(D. Knutson-A.L. Owens) Jones Country Music/Showster Songs, BMI
Released 1991
Produced by Billy Sherrill
From the album Friends In High Places (Epic EK 45014)
13. You Never Looked That Good When You Were Mine (2:35)
—with Patti Page
(B. Morrison-J. MacRae) Bob Morrison Music/Music City Music, ASCAP
Recorded March 6, 1986
Produced by Billy Sherrill
From the album Wine Colored Roses (Epic FE 40413)
14. All I Want To Do In Life (2:43)
--with Janie Fricke
(S. Mason Theoret-A. Reynolds) Aunt Polly’s Pub. Co., BMI/Good Music
Company, ASCAP
Recorded January 5, 1984
Produced by Billy Sherrill
From the album Ladies’ Choice (Epic FE 39272)
15. Wonderful World Outside (2:58)
—with Ralph Stanley
(R. Stanley-C. Stanley) Ft. Knox Music/Trio Music, BMI
Released 1992
Produced by Charles R. Freeland
From the album Saturday Night & Sunday Morning (Freeland CD-9001)
Junior Blankenship, guitar; Ernie Thacker, rhythm guitar and mandolin;
Curly Ray Cline, Art Stamper, fiddles; Jack Cooke, bass
Courtesy of Freeland Recording Co., Inc.
16. You Can’t Do Wrong And Get By (2:42)
—with Ricky Skaggs
(L. Cordle-J. Rushing)
Released 1991
Produced by Billy Sherrill
From the album Friends In High Places (Epic EK 45014)
17. You Don’t Seem To Miss Me (4:06)
—with Patty Loveless
(J. Lauderdale) Laudersongs/Mighty Nice Music, BMI
Released 1997
Produced by Emory Gordy, Jr.
From the album Long Stretch Of Lonesome (Epic EK 67997)
Steve Gibson and Brent Mason, electric guitars; Dan Dugmore, steel guitar;
Stuart Duncan, fiddle; John Hobbs, piano; Butch Lee, Hammond B-3 organ;
Emory Gordy, Jr., bass; Owen Hale, drums
18. Patches (6:14)
—with B.B. King
(G. Johnson-R. Dunbar) Gold Forever Music, BMI
Released 1994
Produced by Don Was; Executive Producers: Al Teller, Kathy Nelson and Tony
Brown
From the album Rhythm Country And Blues (MCA 10965)
Don Potter, acoustic guitar; Reggie Young, electric guitar; Mark Goldenberg,
rhythm guitar; Bobby Turner, steel guitar; Barry Beckett, piano; Benmont
Tench, Hammond B-3 organ; Steve Nathan, keyboards; Willie Weeks, bass;
Kenny Aronoff, drums; Paulinho Da Costa, percussion; The Memphis Horns:
Wayne Jackson, trumpet, and Andrew Love, tenor saxophone; Jonell Mosser,
Sweet Pea Atkinson, Sir Harry Bowens, Arnold McCuller, backing vocals
Courtesy of MCA Nashville under license from Universal Music Enterprises
D I S C T W O
1. A Good Year For The Roses (3:38)
—with Alan Jackson
(J. Chesnut) Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI
Released 1994
Produced by Brian Ahern; Executive Producer: Tony Brown
From the album The Bradley Barn Sessions (MCA 11096)
Mac McAnally, Brian Ahern, acoustic guitars; Brent Rowan, electric guitar;
Tommy “Waco” Spurlock, steel guitar; Marty Stuart, mandolin; Jerry Douglas,
dobro; Ricky Skaggs, fiddle; Glen D Hardin, piano; Glenn Worf, bass; Eddie
Bayers, drums
Courtesy of MCA Nashville under license from Universal Music Enterprises
2. Yesterday’s Wine (3:13)
—with Merle Haggard
(W. Nelson) EMI Full Nelson Music, BMI
Recorded May 17, 1982
Produced by Billy Sherrill
From the album A Taste Of Yesterday’s Wine (Epic FE 38203)
Billy Sanford, Dave Kirby, Pete Bordonali, Freddy Powers, Bobby Thompson,
guitars; Weldon Myrick, steel guitar; Jimmy Belkin, fiddle; Hargus “Pig”
Robbins, Bobby Emmons, Bobby Wood, keyboards; Terry McMillan,
harmonica; Hershel Wiginton, Karen Taylor, Lea Jane Berinati, Dennis
Wilson, backing vocals
3. Our Love Was Ahead Of Its Time (2:52)
—Deborah Allen
(B. Braddock-D. Allen) Sony/ATV Tree Publishing--Posey Publishing--Mike
Curb Music--Warner-Tamerlane Publishing, BMI
Recorded April 25, 1984
Produced by Billy Sherrill
From the album Ladies’ Choice (Epic FE 39272)
4. We Sure Make Good Love (2:34)
—with Loretta Lynn
(B. Hobbs-M. Sherrill) EMI Al Gallico Music/EMI Algee Music, BMI
Recorded November 29, 1983
Produced by Billy Sherrill
From the album Ladies’ Choice (Epic FE 39272)
5. Size Seven Round (Made Of Gold) (2:56)
—with Lacy J. Dalton
(M. Fields-G. Lumpkin) Taylor and Watts Music/EMI Algee Music, BMI
Recorded January 4, 1984
Produced by Billy Sherrill
From the album Ladies’ Choice (Epic FE 39272)
6. I Got Stripes (2:16)
—with Johnny Cash
(J.R. Cash-C. Williams) House of Cash Southwind Music/Unichappell Music,
BMI
Recorded February 14, 1979
Produced by Brian Ahern
From the album Silver (Columbia CK 86791)
Johnny Cash, Jerry Hensley, Jack Routh, guitars; Jack Clement, rhythm
guitar; Bob Wootton, electric guitar; Earl Poole Ball, piano; Marshall Grant,
bass; W. S. “Fluke” Holland, drums; Mark Morris, percussion
7. Fiddle And Guitar Band (2:26)
—with Charlie Daniels
(C. Daniels) Miss Hazel Music/ Songs of Universal, BMI
Released 1991
Produced by Billy Sherrill
From the album Friends In High Places (Epic EK 45014)
8. We Didn’t See A Thing (2:10)
—with Ray Charles, featuring Chet Atkins
(G. Gentry) EMI Algee Music, BMI
Recorded September 27, 1983
Produced by Billy Sherrill
From the album Friendship (Columbia FC 39415)
Chet Atkins, guitar; Billy Sanford, Pete Bordonali, acoustic guitars; Reggie
Young, electric guitar; Buddy Emmons, steel guitar; Pete Drake, dobro;
Hargus “Pig” Robbins, Robert Ogdin, keyboards; Henry Strzelecki, bass;
Kenny Malone, drums; Ron “Snake” Reynolds, percussion; Terry McMillan,
harmonica
9. The Love Bug (2:27)
—with Vince Gill
(W. Kemp-C. Wayne) Black Jack Publishing/Glad Music, BMI
Released 1994
Produced by Brian Ahern; Executive Producer: Tony Brown
From the album The Bradley Barn Sessions (MCA 11096)
Vince Gill, electric guitar; Richard Bennett, Brian Ahern, acoustic guitars;
John Hughey, steel guitar; Marty Stuart, mandolin; Ricky Skaggs, fiddle;
Leon Russell, piano; David Hungate, bass; Harry Stinson, drums
Courtesy of MCA Nashville under license from Universal Music Enterprises
10. Love’s Gonna Live Here (1:58)
—with Buck Owens
(B. Owens) Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI
Released 1991
Produced by Billy Sherrill
From the album Friends In High Places (Epic EK 45014)
11. If I Could Bottle This Up (3:11)
—with Shelby Lynne
(D. Dillon-P. Overstreet) Careers BMG Music/Scarlet Moon Music, BMI
Recorded March 3, 1988
Produced by Billy Sherrill
From the album Friends In High Places (Epic EK 45014)
12. If You Can Touch Her At All (3:28)
—with Lynn Anderson
(L. Clayton) Resaca Music, BMI
Recorded April 3, 1985
Produced by Billy Sherrill
From the album Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes (Epic FE 39598)
13. All That We’ve Got Left (2:57)
—with Vern Gosdin
(V. Gosdin-B. Cannon-R. Smith)
Released 1991
Produced by Billy Sherrill
From the album Friends In High Places (Epic EK 45014)
14. This Bottle (In My Hand) (2:50)
—with David Allan Coe
(D. A. Coe) Warner-Tamerlane Publishing, BMI
Recorded February 11, 1980
Produced by Billy Sherrill
From the album I’ve Got Something To Say (Columbia JC 36489)
Dicky Betts and Jimmy English, lead electric guitars; Ken Bell, Boomer
Castleman, and Dale (Oldest Son) Siegfried, electric and acoustic guitars;
Pete Drake, steel guitar; Buddy Spicher, fiddle; Chalmers Davis or Steve
Nathan, keyboards; Ralph Ezell, bass; Owen Hale, drums
15. Talking To Hank (2:46)
—with Mark Chesnutt
(B. Harden) EMI April Music, ASCAP
Released 1992
Produced by Mark Wright
From the album Longnecks & Short Stories (MCA 10530)
Brent Rowan, electric and acoustic guitars; Pat Flynn, Biff Watson, acoustic
guitars; Terry Crisp or Paul Franklin, steel guitar; Rob Hajacos, fiddle; David
Briggs, Steve Nathan or Hargus “Pig” Robbins, piano; Bob Wray, bass;Owen
Hale or Paul Leim, drums; Lynn Peterzell, percussion
Courtesy of MCA Nashville under license from Universal Music Enterprises
16. Never Bit A Bullet Like This (2:21)
—with Sammy Kershaw
( M. Petersen-J. Foster) Universal Millhouse Music/Zomba Songs, BMI
Released 1993
Produced by Buddy Cannon & Norro Wilson
From the album Feelin’ Good Train (Mercury P2-22125)
Danny Parks, acoustic guitar; Brent Mason, electric guitar; Sonny Garrish,
steel guitar; Rob Hajacos, fiddle; David Briggs, piano; Mike Lawler, keyboards;
Mike Chapman, bass; Lonnie Wilson, drums
Courtesy of MCA Nashville under license from Universal Music Enterprises
17. The Race Is On (2:27)
—with Travis Tritt
(D. Rollins) Sony/ATV Tree Publishing—Glad Music, BMI
Released 1994
Produced by Brian Ahern; Executive Producer: Tony Brown
From the album The Bradley Barn Sessions (MCA 11096)
Mac McAnally, acoustic guitar; Brent Rowan, electric guitar; Tommy “Waco”
Spurlock, steel guitar; Jerry Douglas, dobro; Marty Stuart, mandolin;
Ricky Skaggs, fiddle and harmony vocals; Glen D Hardin, piano;
Glen Worf, bass; Eddie Bayers, drums
Courtesy of MCA Nashville under license from Universal Music Enterprises
18. I’ve Been There (2:23)
—with Tim Mensy
(T. Mensy)
Released 1991
Produced by Billy Sherrill
From the album Friends In High Places (Epic EK 45014)
19. Traveller’s Prayer (3:01)
—with Sweethearts Of The Rodeo
(G. Peters)
Released 1991
Produced by Billy Sherrill
From the album Friends In High Places (Epic EK 45014)
Albert Lee appears courtesy of A&M Records; Alan Jackson and Dicky Betts appear courtesy of Arista Records; Linda Ronstadt appears courtesy of Asylum Records; Dennis Locorriere and Ray Sawyer appear courtesy of Capitol Records; Buck Owens appears courtesy of Curb/Capitol Nashville; Hargus” Pig” Robbins appears courtesy of Elektra Records; B.B. King appears courtesy of Geffen Records; Benmont Tench appears courtesy of MCA Records; Jonell Mosser, Sweet Pea Atkinson and Sir Harry Bowens appear courtesy of MCA/Karambolage Records; Mark Chesnutt, Vince Gill and George Jones (on Disc One, Tracks 17, 18 and Disc Two, Tracks 1, 9, 15, 16, 17) appear courtesy of MCA Nashville; Sammy Kershaw and Brent Mason appear courtesy of Mercury Records Nashville; Charlie McCoy appears courtesy of Monument Records; Deborah Allen, Waylon Jennings and Terry McMillan appear courtesy of RCA Records; Stuart Duncan appears courtesy of Rounder Records; Jerry Douglas appears courtesy of Sugar Hill Records; Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris, Pop and Mavis Staples, Randy Travis and Travis Tritt appear courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.
Original recordings produced by Billy Sherrill, Brian Ahern, Buddy Cannon, Charles R. Freeland, Emory Gordy, Jr., Kyle Lehning, Don Was, Norro Wilson and Mark Wright
Compilation produced by Gregg Geller
Mastered by Vic Anesini at Sony Music Studios, New York
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The man widely accepted as our greatest living country singer, George Jones is also one of country music’s most prolific duet partners. Since the beginning of his career in the 1950s, he’s paired with other artists to make unforgettable music, scoring hits early on with Melba Montgomery and most famously with Tammy Wynette. So it made sense for Jones to do a whole album of duets with a variety of artists – the groundbreaking My Very Special Guests, released in October 1979. That landmark record, produced by Billy Sherrill, not only provided a showcase for Jones’ harmonizing prowess, but also started a trend that still bears fruit today: Willie Nelson, Frank Sinatra, and most recently Ray Charles are among the numerous artists who have benefited from the concept. This expanded version of My Very Special Guests features other stellar Jones duets recorded over two decades, between 1977 and 1997.
George Jones did his very first duet as a little boy in Beaumont, Texas. “When I was growing up, I sang tenor with my sister Doris,” he recalls. “I sang harmony and she sang lead.” As a fledgling C&W artist, he began appearing on the Louisiana Hayride, in Shreveport, and there he met the young singer Jeanette Hicks. The two recorded “Yearning,” his first-ever hit duet, in 1957. More would follow with Margie Singleton, Melba Montgomery, and Brenda Carter through the 1960s. “The fans just react to a man and woman singing a powerful ballad together,” Jones explains. “When you perform a duet with a woman, she should sing the lead and the man should sing harmony. Of course, there are exceptions.” Jones has also pointed out, “You know, I don’t really fall in love with all them girl singers – I fall in love with their singing!”
He made an exception with Tammy Wynette, his singing partner at the dawn of the seventies: the two married in 1969. Kicking off a string of fourteen hit singles together, the pair, dubbed the President and First Lady of Country Music, cut “Take Me” in 1971. Initially, Jones recalls, his singing style made it difficult for Wynette to follow: “When we first started doing duets, she had a hard time following me because I don’t open my mouth much when I sing. She had to learn to read my lips!” Wynette soon caught on, and the pair’s collaboration introduced Jones to his longtime producer Billy Sherrill, who’d discovered Wynette in 1966. As rocky as the Jones-Wynette marriage was, their duet singing sounded heavenly, and the two managed to continue working together after their 1975 divorce. Their 1977 “farewell” duet, “It Sure Was Good,” was the first track recorded among the original ten released on My Very Special Guests. The song was also issued as the B-side to their Number Two hit, “Two Story House,” in 1980.
“Bartender’s Blues” was recorded soon after “It Sure Was Good,” and paired Jones with the song’s author – singer-songwriter James Taylor. It became a Number Six smash for the duo and the title track to Jones’ 1978 album. Its success possibly inspired the concept for My Very Special Guests, which paired Jones with a diverse roster of performers from various musical genres. “I just thought it would be fun to sing some songs with some of my good friends – and some new friends,” Jones recalls. One of the latter was country-rock queen Linda Ronstadt, with whom Jones performed a wistful “I’ve Turned You to Stone.” Ronstadt and Jones later did an impromptu version of the song when she showed up at his 1980 performance at New York’s Bottom Line nightclub.
Another young country-pop crossover artist who became a Jones collaborator in the 1970s was Emmylou Harris, who’d scored a Number Three hit in 1976 with “One of These Days,” a track she’d discovered on Jones’ 1972 self-titled album. Harris had begun her country-music career singing with Gram Parsons, including a cover of “That’s All It Took,” a 1966 duet by Jones and high-tenor Gene Pitney. For My Very Special Guests, Jones and Harris worked magic on the Rodney Crowell song, “Here We Are,” which featured Harris’ Hot Band (including Crowell and bassist Emory Gordy, the future husband of Jones’ future duet partner, Patty Loveless). Harris says of Jones, “He doesn’t need any smoke screens – he just sings from the heart. He taught us all how to sing country music.”
An eclectic musical combination of Jones’ peers and acolytes rounds out the other seven tracks on the original My Very Special Guests platter. Among the former is duet aficionado Willie Nelson, who in the early- and mid-1970s had garnered several hits with the late Waylon Jennings. Nelson’s “I Gotta Get Drunk” receives a rambunctious reading from Jones and Nelson. Jennings, who, like Jones and Nelson, hails from the Lone Star State, here adds his distinctive baritone to the early Nelson gem “Night Life” – one of Jones’ favorite tracks on the record. “I loved having Waylon Jennings sing a duet with me on the album,” says Jones, “as well as Elvis Costello.”
At the time, Costello was a young turk leading Britain’s New Wave movement. He was also a closet George Jones fan and wrote “Stranger in the House” specifically with Jones in mind. “When I was on the road back then, I used to have to hide my George Jones albums,” Costello reports. “My manager used to say, ‘Turn that George Jones off’” – fearing that Costello’s thing for twang would scare away his punk-rock fans. But according to Costello, “George Jones was my guiding light whenever I wrote in a country idiom.” Costello joined Jones and Sherrill in Nashville in July 1978, to cut the song. (He returned to Music City in 1981 to record his country-tinged Almost Blue.) “When George Jones sings a song,” Costello adds admiringly, “it just becomes a George Jones song – it becomes country.”
Jones turned to an old running buddy to do a version of John Fogerty’s “Proud Mary” (a hit for his Creedence Clearwater Revival and Ike and Tina Turner): Johnny Paycheck had begun his career playing bass in the Jones Boys, and Jones and Paycheck had scored a Top Ten C&W hit in December 1978 with “Mabellene” [sic], their version of Chuck Berry’s 1955 rock & roll classic. The two would chart with other uptempo numbers, including “When You’re Ugly Like Us (You Just Naturally Got to Be Cool),” “You Can Have Her,” and a cover of the 1962 Arthur Alexander hit “You Better Move On.” Paycheck and Jones cut an entire album together, Double Trouble, in 1980.
Concluding the original LP were two tracks about as far apart stylistically as you could get. With wacky rockers Dennis Locorriere and Ray Sawyer – the voices of Dr. Hook – Jones played the straight man through their “I Still Hold Her Body (but I Think I’ve Lost Her Mind).” The soulful concluding track found Jones collaborating with the great gospel-R&B artists Pop and Mavis Staples on the Carter Family’s “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.”
My Very Special Guests had a powerful effect on Jones. In 1980, he recorded the greatest song of his career, “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” That same year, he joined the notorious David Allan Coe on his all-too-true “This Bottle (in My Hand),” which appeared on Coe’s I’ve Got Something to Say. (The year before, Jones vocalized on another “outlaw” song, “I’ve Got Stripes,” on Johnny Cash’s Silver.) Soon after, Jones joined forces with Merle Haggard to cut their duet album, A Taste of Yesterday’s Wine, which yielded the 1982 smash “Yesterday’s Wine” (another Willie Nelson composition). Jones joined forces with the great Ray Charles the next year to cut the humorous buddy song, “We Didn’t See a Thing”; the Top Ten hit featured another legend, Chet Atkins, on guitar.
Two years later, Jones enlisted an impressive sorority of female singers to make another duets album, Ladies Choice, released in 1984. Among its many highlights are “Our Love Was Ahead of Its Time,” with newcomer soprano Deborah Allen; “We Sure Make Good Love,” a kind of “Jet Set, Part II” with Coalminer’s Daughter Loretta Lynn; “All I Want to Do in Life,” with Janie Fricke; and, with Lacy J. Dalton, the Top 20 hit “Size Seven Round (Made of Gold).”
Throughout the 1980s, Jones would continuously hit the mark duetting with a range of womenfolk, including Lynn Anderson (1985’s “If You Can Touch Her at All”), Patti Page (1986’s “You Never Looked That Good When You Were Mine”), and Shelby Lynne (1988’s “If I Could Bottle This Up”). “He’s a dangerous character,” the saucy Lynne later joked about her duet partner.
When a new crop of male country stars came along during the next decade, many claimed Jones as their vocal role model. Just as it became a sign of making it in the 1960s by getting a Nudie suit, in the 1990s, it meant you’d arrived if you got to sing a duet with the King of Broken Hearts. North Carolina-born Randy Travis remembers what it was like when his chance came along, on the 1990 smash “A Few Ole Country Boys”: “That first time, it was a very scary thing,” Travis recalls. “When you look at all formats of music, George Jones is the most unique stylist – bar none.”
Other good ole country boys got their chance at the mic with their hero too, thanks to Jones’ 1991 record, Friends in High Places. The duets album, which included singing partners old and new, gave the opportunity to Virginia-born crooner Ricky Van Shelton, who joined Jones on the Western swing-inspired “It Hurts as Much in Texas (As It Did in Tennessee).” Kentucky bluegrass-turned-country star Ricky Skaggs got his place in the sun with the high-lonesome “You Can’t do Wrong and Get By,” as did songwriter Tim Mensy on his “I’ve Been There.” The hitmaking sister duo, Sweethearts of the Rodeo, also got in on the act, contributing the gospel-tinged “Traveller’s Prayer” (an early composition by songwriter Gretchen Peters). Old pals were on hand, as well, including Bakersfield Sound architect Buck Owens (on the Owens’ nugget “Loves Gonna Live Here”), sessionman-cum-Southern rocker Charlie Daniels (the aptly named “Fiddle and Guitar Band”), and bluegrass-cum-country rocker Vern Gosdin (the Gosdin weeper “All That We’ve Got Left”).
Around this time, Jones also got the call from numerous artists to join them on their recordings. These ranged from the legendary Ralph Stanley’s Saturday Night & Sunday Morning (the Stanley Brothers murder ballad “Wonderful World Outside”), to Texan Mark Chesnutt’s breakthrough Longnecks & Short Stories (“Talking to Hank”) and Louisiana man Sammy Kershaw’s smash Feelin’ Good Train (“Never Bit a Bullet Like This”).
With country music’s commercial ascension in the mid-1990s, the new breed of superstars did not forget Jones – they wanted to sing his old hits, with him. Georgia boy Travis Tritt lent his pipes to Jones’ super-charged 1964 single, “The Race Is On,” and Alan Jackson and Jones performed a heartrending version of his 1970 classic “A Good Year for the Roses.” Vince Gill put his tenor behind the wheel of Jones’ 1965 novelty, “The Love Bug.” Gill, who’d cut his teeth singing backup vocals on Jones recordings, later said of working with his mentor: “What a great education!” Says Jones of working with the new kids: “My comfort level is with traditional country artists – but age doesn’t really matter.”
One of Jones’ more intriguing pairings was with blues great B.B. King on a remake of the poignant Clarence Carter narrative “Patches.” This 1994 track was part of a landmark C&W meets R&B project entitled Rhythm Country and Blues, produced by Don Was. That same year, Jones got the spotlight on The Bradley Barn Sessions. Based around his creative collaborative efforts with an array of artists, the album yielded the aforementioned Tritt, Gill, and Jackson tracks, and also featured the likes of Rolling Stone Keith Richard, who described himself as “a pig in shit” among a band of angels during the recording. As for Jones, he later said, “It is different working with different genres of music other than what I’m used to.” The Bradley Barn Sessions sailed into the Top 25 on Billboard’s Country album chart.
Jones himself sailed into the last half of the nineties with several other successes, including a reunion album with Tammy Wynette, One, which reached Number 12 in 1995, and the autobiographical I Lived to Tell It All, another success the following year. This set the stage for one of Jones’ most achingly beautiful duets ever: the Top 15 single, “You Don’t Seem to Miss Me,” which he recorded with Kentucky-born Patty Loveless in 1997. The song was written by then-up-and-coming songwriter Jim Lauderdale, a huge George Jones fan who once wrote and recorded an ode to his idol called “The King of Broken Hearts.” Jones has never sounded better on “You Don’t Seem to Miss Me,” recorded twenty years after he cut the first track for My Very Special Guests.
Today, listening back to the album he started in 1977, Jones comments, “When I got the [expanded] duets CD, I couldn’t stop listening to it. We arrived back home, and I sat in my car in the garage, just listening and enjoying. The first thing that really hit me was how great the sound was – even back then. We paid extra attention to all the tracks and put a lot of effort into the recordings. It is a pure sound.” Jones continues, “It brought back so many fond memories. [Wife] Nancy kept telling me to come on in the house, but I was mesmerized by the songs and performances, and I just couldn’t cut it off.”
Indeed, the purity of emotion, the camaradie within the performances, and that voice shine throughout the 37 tracks on My Very Special Guests – the huge hits, as well as the newly unearthed gems. In fact, Jones – who knows a hit when he hears one – thinks that there might be some singles on these two discs just waiting to happen. As documented on the 2004 PBS television special, Fifty Years of Hits, where Jones was joined onstage by several of the duet partners featured here, the man still gets a kick out of harmonizing. Sixty-five years after he started singing with his sister, George Jones continues to take the art of duet singing to new artistic levels.
--Holly George-Warren |
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