George Jones: Fancy me finding you here...

March 3, 2009

Fancy me finding you here...

George Jones and Merle Haggard...ol' George and Merle...good ol' Haggard and Jones...the Mighty Merle and Possum Jones...whichever way you refer to the two legends in country music, the pairing of the two came about in 1982 on an album entitled A TASTE OF YESTERDAY's WINE. The album's title track was written by Willie Nelson, who had recorded the song himself years earlier. Epic released the title track as a single in 1982 and it became a #1 hit. For those not familiar with the song it's about two friends who run into each other at a bar and they both reacquaint themselves with one another and they proceed to profess their love of a wine...which doubles as a metaphor describing how much the two are aging with time. Leona Williams is on hand providing harmony vocals on many of the songs in addition to the regular group of background vocalists. Leona in fact wrote the second song on the album, "After I Sing All My Songs", which is a broad tale about George and Merle on and off stage coping with their hectic lives. The personal and semi-autobiographical "I Think I've Found a Way To Live Without You" comes from Haggard. In it, Haggard sings about a weakness of his and the only way to conquer it in his opinion. Jones, on the other hand, has the awesome line "...I know everybody wonders why drinkin' hasn't killed me...".

The bulk of this album is made up of songs from Merle and his associates. Freddy Powers, a long time Haggard co-writer/associate, supplied not only guitar work on the album but also co-wrote a song on here paying tribute to Merle. Powers and another writer named Gary Church wrote the Haggard tribute, "Silver Eagle", which George tackles the lead vocals while Merle comes on near the end with a spoken line. Dave Kirby, credited with guitar playing on the album, has two songs on the album. "The Brothers" is a tale about, brothers, obviously...and how one sets his eyes on stardom in Nashville while the other remains grounded.

Track five, "Mobile Bay, Magnolia Blossoms", is the second Dave Kirby song...this one co-written by Curly Putnam. In the song, Merle sings about a group of alcoholics on a cold Chicago morning swapping stories about where they all came from...with Merle playing the part of the man from Mobile Bay. George sings the chorus in this song.

The second side of the album kicks off in high gear...George takes on the lead vocals for the romping "C.C. Waterback", which Haggard wrote. It is the story of a wild party and how much their heads hurt the next morning. This was the album's second single and it peaked in the Top-10. Aside from "Silver Eagle", the rest of the songs on side two are up-tempo. "Must've Been Drunk" features Haggard and Jones in a bar...being approached by a religious woman from the Salvation Army of all places. The woman takes out her bible and in her own way tells Haggard and Jones of how bad they're sinning and they promise to stop drinking...but can't remember making such a promise the next morning...because the two must've been drunk, get it? The songwriters of that particular song were Vern Gosdin and Max D Barnes. "I Haven't Found Her Yet" is a run of the mill song...nothing too deep or anything...it features a heavy dose of strings. It was written by Haggard and Johnny PayCheck. The album's closer was written by George and Glen Martin...a little ol' song called "No Show Jones" in which George and Merle name-drop other country singer's nick-names...always coming back to George's infamous nick-name during this time period, No Show Jones. It is a song that would become a concert opener for years and years for George.

It is always amazing for some country fans to learn that this was the only album George and Merle ever recorded together for many years...the album went out of print at some point in the late 1980's as did the cassette counterpart. It was re-issued in CD format in 2002, twenty years after it's original release in 1982. It is available in MP3 format as a digital download album for those curious.

Fast forward nearly twenty five years...2006...George and Merle team up again and offer KICKIN' OUT THE FOOTLIGHTS...AGAIN. In this collection, they perform songs made popular by each other...given it's sub-title of JONES SINGS HAGGARD...HAGGARD SINGS JONES. In addition to each singer performing solo songs, they both recorded a few duets together on here, including "Sick, Sober, and Sorry", "Footlights", "Don't Get Around Much Anymore", "Don't Be Ashamed of Your Age", and others.

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1976

there were several George Jones albums issued in the mid to late 1970's that never really got the attention they deserved and years later various independent record labels both in America and overseas have issued CD's of the mid '70s out-put; there's a popular belief that his material wasn't up to the 1960's standards but this material is not meant to be comparable to his 1960's out-put...the album contained a majority up-tempo feel in spite of the album cover and it's title; It wasn't until mid-way through that we hear sad songs; the album contained two hit singles...first off the Top-20 title track, "The Battle", and the Top-40 love ballad "You Always Look Your Best Here in My Arms".

1977

One of the under-rated albums from the late '70s from George is this one; it's called I WANTA SING and the title track is about George's musical heroes but don't let the bizarre album cover sway your opinion before hearing the songs; on this album we have hard-core country music with just a touch of pop...that touch of pop comes on "I Love You So Much It Hurts Me" where he croons the song; the hits include the Top-40 "Old King Kong" and the Top-30 "If I Could Put Them All Together"; other highlights from this album include "They've Got Millions in Milwaukee", "Bull Mountain Lad", and "Rest In Peace".

1980

George and Johnny PayCheck had been releasing duet singles for two years prior to the release of this 1980 duet album; titled DOUBLE TROUBLE it set out to cash-in on the rowdy/outlaw side of country music that had been taken over by the Urban Cowboy era; the album contained all of the singles the two were to release together: "Maybelline", "You Can Have Her", "When You're Ugly Like Us", and "You Better Move On"; their single releases were once a year 1978, 1979, 1980, and into early 1981; the duo's 1979 recording of "Proud Mary" is on here as well...it originally appeared on the 1979 all-star collection MY VERY SPECIAL GUESTS that Epic issued on George.

1980

This album is routinely voted as George's all-time classic...every song from #1 to #10 is typically picked as a favorite among his fans; the monster success of the album's centerpiece, "He Stopped Loving Her Today", is one reason why this album in particular stands out above all the others...the single not only hit #1 but it won a Grammy and several other awards; The album itself became the fastest selling of his career...hitting Platinum barely 3 years later...a million copies of a vinyl album was unheard of for many country singers...not to mention one that remained grounded in country music without a lot of pop aspirations; The album featured two more singles...the somber "I'm Not Ready Yet" and the honky-tonker "If Drinkin' Don't Kill Me"; The album had it's share of up-tempo songs...such as "Good Hearted Woman", "His Lovin' Her Is Gettin' In My Way", and the bouncy "Bone Dry".

1981

Issued after the widespread acclaim and success of I AM WHAT I AM in 1980, this album rode the success of it's predecessor and featured two major Top-5 hits plus it included a song that was originally a single-only release in 1979 called "Someday My Day Will Come"; the two Top-5 hits were "Same Ole Me", and the #1 "Still Doin' Time"; the album contained a duet with his daughter, Georgette, "Daddy Come Home"; this album went Gold several years later and it included "I Won't Need You Anymore" which would become one of Randy Travis' first hit songs; other highlights are "You Can't Get The Hell Out of Texas", "Girl, You Sure Know How To Say Goodbye", and "Couldn't Love Have Picked a Better Place To Die".

1982

George and Merle trade verses throughout the majority of this duet album...only one song features almost all George and it's "Silver Eagle" which is a narrative/ballad about Haggard; Each singer gets a song patterned after them...in Haggard's case it's "Silver Eagle" and in George's it's the novelty "No Show Jones", which closes out the album; One of the more deeper songs is "I Think I've Found a Way To Live Without You" and coming in a close second is "After I Sing All My Songs"; the album contained the #1 title track, "Yesterday's Wine", and the Top-10 "C.C. Waterback"; "The Brothers" is another great song.

1983

This is a wonderful album from George released in early 1983; according to what I've read, the vocals were recorded in 1982 and Billy Sherrill and his associates added everything else later but you couldn't tell by listening to it that it was patched together; It boasted three major Top-5 hits: the title track, "Shine On", plus the smashes "Tennessee Whiskey" and "I Always Get Lucky With You", all three singles peaked at #3, #2, and #1 respectively; in spite of the album boasting those hits, it went out of print as mostly everything George recorded in the mid 1980's period; Have no fear...it's available as an MP3 digitial download so the material lives on in the digital age.

1983

Released in the latter part of 1983, this album went by without much notice...you'd think an album named after his outdoor music park would generate interest but Epic didn't do anything with the album and as a result it's not remembered but it's a great album...and it did reach the Top-30 on the country album chart...so it wasn't completely over-looked...but none of the songs were promoted as singles; I wrote at length about this album and the outdoor music park, Jones Country, within the blog pages to the left of this time-line.

1984

such a wonderful duets album is this one from George and a host of female country singers; the album boasts 9 duets and 1 solo song; The solo song is "She's My Rock", which was a huge hit for George in the fall of 1984; after the single fell back down the charts the follow-up was issued...a duet with Brenda Lee on a song called "Hallelujah, I Love You So", which promptly hit the Top-20 in early 1985...as did the third single from this album, a duet with Lacy J Dalton entitled "Size Seven Round and Made of Gold"; Some of the other highlights is the duet with Leona Williams, "Best Friends", and the duet with Loretta on "We Sure Make Good Love"...Emmylou Harris, one of George's biggest fans, appears on "All Fall Down".

1985

Featuring the Top-5 title track, "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes?", this album contained a few positive, feel-good songs in addition to the standard sad, heartbreak songs, too; The title track was made into an award winning music video; Two more songs became hits as well, "The One I Loved Back Then" matched the success of the title track while "Somebody Wants Me Out of the Way" reached the Top-10 in early 1986; a couple of duets were featured on this album...one of them with Lacy J Dalton called "That's Good...That's Bad" and one with Lynn Anderson called "If Somehow You Could Touch Her At All"; "If I Could Paint You a Picture" is in the pretty song category.

1986

On this particular album we hear George perform a variety of songs...some countrier than others; Patti Page appears on a duet, "You Never Looked That Good When You Were Mine"; A lot of attention was paid to "The Right Left Hand", which was written about George and Nancy; the single hit the Top-10 in early 1987; the title track, "Wine Colored Roses", was a Top-10 in late 1986; a third single, "I Turn To You", reached the Top-30; other highlights from the album are "Ol' Frank", "If Only Your Eyes Could Lie", and "These Old Eyes Have Seen It All".

1990

This here is the rare album, YOU OUGHTA BE HERE WITH ME, that Epic Records issued on George in 1990; the label released two commercial singles from this album...so it wasn't totally ignored...but in hindsight the promotions department didn't spend much time on the release; the singles issued were "Hell Stays Open All Night Long" and the bouncy "Six Foot Deep, Six Foot Down"; George actually performed the second song on his TV show in the late 1990's. This project, too, is available as an MP3.

2006

This reunion album between George and Merle came out in 2006; the album was a moderate success and I pin a lot of blame on the fact that it was not highly promoted/publicized with some kind of tour or any joint appearances; both artist's were extremely busy on the road doing solo dates that a concert tour was impossible...even more ironic is that Haggard was on tour with Willie Nelson and Ray Price around the same time this CD came out....Haggard, Willie, and Ray had recorded an album called LAST OF THE BREED, released early in 2007, a few months after the release of this 2006 album, and the three of them went out on tour to select venue's; on this 2006 album, each singer takes turns singing the hit songs of each other plus they unite in five duet recordings throughout; this reunion album marked the first duet project for the two of them since 1982...this particular 2006 CD was issued in October and the LAST OF THE BREED was issued in March 2007...giving no real time to support the CD on the road.