Yes, as many fans of classic country music will pick out right away, the name of this blog is derived from the Ray Price hit "Heartaches By the Number" but for this blog I call it Heartbreak by the Dozen because in this particular installment we're going to look at a 1986 George Jones album called WINE COLORED ROSES...before I get into the meat and potatoes of the album, a little history lesson is needed...and besides, I'm a sucker for nostalgia and talking about the by-gone days.
At the time of this album's release country radio had been going through some major shifts in identity. The decade started off with the industry reaping millions from the Urban Cowboy fad and other pop-influenced acts popping up left and right. By mid decade the Urban Cowboy fad was winding down in large parts of cities who were moving on to the next movement. In Nashville the fad continued to thrive due to Mickey Gilley being one of the biggest country music stars during the first half of the 1980's and his Gilley's night-club continued to weave the imagery brought to life in the Urban Cowboy movie. However, there was a segment of country singers who did not get into all of the cowboy attire or ride mechanical bulls. George Jones was one of the few who did not.
By the time WINE COLORED ROSES was issued, the landscape in country music was a sea of eclecticism with all sorts of country music styles being played and recorded. There was also a trend of younger country singers coming along at this same time, unofficially lead by Randy Travis, but it also included diverse acts as Alabama, Reba McEntire, and George Strait. These acts, in addition to several more later in the decade, would help shape country radio throughout the 1980's and most of the 1990's. All of this emergence of talent proved to be a blessing and a curse for country music...for Nashville wanted country music to compete, legitimately, with pop and rock music and this meant more airplay of those particular singers whom radio programmer's felt attracted a majority middle age to younger listening audience. Yes, this is the era in which country radio started it's gradual decline of airplay of artists based not on their talent or their ability to sell concert tickets and singles, but rather, the airplay declines were based on demographics and audience make-up.
WINE COLORED ROSES featured a few of George's last Top-10 hits. The title track is quintessential George Jones...it tells of a man who gets a letter from a former girlfriend who asks if he's quit drinking...and the man tells her his answer via the mail. The song, being a ballad, inched up the charts and made the Top-10 for a couple of weeks...in a separate chart that tracked sales of singles, "Wine Colored Roses" peaked three places higher...indicating it was being bought in spite of radio not playing it much. A follow-up single didn't arrive from this album until late spring 1987, the bouncy "The Right Left Hand". This single also sailed into the Top-10...written specifically about George and his wife, Nancy. Epic then released the poetic "I Turn To You" later in 1987 as a third single...this one was the first solo recording of George's that decade to not enter the Top-10. He had issued several duet recordings in 1985 and in 1980/1981 that peaked in the Top-20 but all of his solo recordings managed to hit the Top-10 with frequency starting back in 1980 with "He Stopped Loving Her Today". So, "I Turn To You" broke a seven year string of consecutive Top-10 solo hits for George, 1980-1987. Interested in where "I Turn To You" peaked at? It peaked in the Top-30 but no higher than #25...and I'll bet nobody even recalls when that song was a single...I didn't know it was a single until 10 or more years ago when I first started looking up chart placings of my favorite singers and seen it listed as a commercial single by him.
The rest of the album fits between slow ballads and up-tempo songs...one of the more clever is "Don't Leave Without Taking Your Silver". A song that should have been a single but wasn't is "The Very Best of Me". When you hear this song it jumps out of the speakers and sounds like the kind of song George could have had fun with in concert. "Ol' Frank" tackles the familiar subject of a woman marrying for money. "Hopelessly Yours" is a straight forward romantic song that I like...it was recorded several years later by Lee Greenwood and Suzy Boggus as a duet. They had the hit recording as well as a hit music video. "If Only Your Eyes Could Lie" typically gets the thumbs up from just about everyone who hears it...it has the elements that most country music listeners want to hear. "These Old Eyes Have Seen It All" carries a nostalgic feel where George tells about a man he encounters in a bar and is immediately taken through time by way of the older man's stories.
There is a duet in this collection and it's a song with pop singer Patti Page who has always had a connection to some sections of country music with her gospel recordings and her "Tennessee Waltz" anthem. On this album, George and Patti team up to sing "You Never Looked That Good When You Were Mine", a delicious song about a couple who've since parted ways but after having time away from one another they suddenly notice each other's attractiveness. This album was certified GOLD in 1994 by the RIAA.
1. Wine Colored Roses
2. I Turn To You
3. The Right Left Hand
4. Don't Leave Without Taking Your Silver
5. The Very Best of Me
6. Hopelessly Yours
7. You Never Looked That Good When You Were Mine- with Patti Page
8. If Only Your Eyes Could Lie
9. Ol' Frank
10. These Old Eyes Have Seen It All
No comments:
Post a Comment