MOG

There's a great Annie Leibowitz photo of George in his bus. He looks almost as tortured as Jerry Lee Lewis but also has a look of grace. It shows in his music as well. I've never been a huge fan - the arrangements drive me nuts - but always like to hear that voice.

@yotochan- Thanks, Porter Wagoner's Suit is kinda in its own league,too, huh?

@jonh- When you say, the arrangements drive you nuts, what do you mean? I listen to a lot of records, but my music theory backround is zero? I think I've seen that picture, but now you've got me searchin'

The country I respond to is pretty unadorned - Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb, Bob Wills, The Louvin Brothers at one end of the timescale and Gillian Welch etc at the other. The likes of Patsy Cline and all those other Owen Bradley productions are great pop music in the same sense - it has honesty. By contrast, the musical choices and arrangements on George Jones (and others) sounds like loads of uneccesary icing on a good cake. It sounds like guys in the money business, not that of making music.

Jonh, the early honky-tonk sides don't have that problem - funny, the way you feel about George's production is the way I often feel about Merle Haggard's.

Yup, I heard that ivy, there's a whole raft of Merle records, that just don't seem right. Love his new material though.

My parents are always playing George Jones, I wish country music today was a lot more like this.

The arrangements are a bit too much for me too. I should check his early honky tonk recordings as ivy-man wisely pointed.

Well despite the sage comments of the masters, I will continue to love this song. I just love horse/love metaphors what can I say

The only icing on this cake is the smooth, smooth harmonies and killer musicianship. Anyone ever heard the Stray Cats back up Dave Edmunds on this one?

Hey Cody B,

Thanks for the comment about my artMOGism. If you ever need anything or know somebody that needs art done I work in all mediums. Thanks again and MOGon!

Well, I could never go there with the GD because of the people who enthused about it, I admit it. And all I ever heard bored me.

And I was once traumatized by being trapped in my landlord's basement with a whole wall of GD bootlegs, too much weed and too much time.

And then he pulled out the Zappa and it got even worse. Holy fuck.

As for George. There I can go, as can my mother and every one of her 7 siblings.

@kristiana -I'm a cheap date I guess, you can take me anywhere

I've heard that about you....

ply me with booze and cd's and I'm like putty in your hands

I seem to recall that "The Race Is On" enjoyed mainstream chart success in a cover version by....Jack Jones.....

I can take just about everybody seriously, except George Jones. It's interesting that you found this stuff via the Dead Cody, I found it via George Jones fans. My first exposure to George Jones was in the pickup truck of my best friend Teresa's dad, on the way to my first football game at Erwin High School in Asheville, North Carolina. I had never heard country music before, at least not like that. I knew Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and even a little bit of Johnny Cash, but I had never heard a "country station" or been exposed to country music 24/7 the way people listened to it here. And of course what comes on is "Hello, darlin', nice to see ya. . ." what my friend's dad called "tear in my beer" songs. Somme of it intrigues me, and some of it I heard so much of it's kind of nauseauting. I guess like everything else. Anyway. . . after the game I stayed over at their house, and Teresa's Mom showed me her George Jones records, and all I could see was that hair, which was like this huge helmet on his head, and the gold chains and rings. Like, trailer park rich. I dunno . . . he always seemed like a lounge singer to me.

Yeah, Michelle, I always come at these things bassackwards. I would definitely not call myself the typical country fella. No NASCAR, no truck, no gun rack, but certain songs do hit the sweet spot for me. This'd be one of 'em. I haven't had too much interaction with folks who are strictly country, so to me even the classics seem new and fresh. Lefty Frizzell, Ernest Tubb, Hank Wiiliams,Bob Wills, Merle Haggard, Conway,Loretta,Dolly, I've got a little bit of all of 'em, but there's only a few tunes I really roll with. There is a lot o' crap, admittedly (true for all pop,I guess). At this point, I'm just trying to find some common ground with these records; but I realize that I do have something in me that likes the sound (twang), so I'll keep looking.

Country, more than most genres of music, seems to be a prisoner of its social context. How many times have you heard someone say, "I like just about any kind of music, except country"? The only other genre that gets that much shit is hip hop, and for a similar reason - both are so closely associated with a certain way of life. Often this connection is exploited (or, to be less cynical) explicitly shared by the musicians. (Hence George Jones's hair.) And when musicians align themrselves with the lifestyle side of the music, it's often a good way of masking the mediocrity of the "product." All of which creates more static and makes it difficult to focus beyond the social context and hear the music as it is.

As a kid I hated country because it seemed to belong to grumpy "old" people who hated hippies (who seemed sorta cool to me back then) and were generally closed-minded. It has taken decades for me to break down that bias and listen to the great ones - pretty much the people Cody mentioned, plus Wanda Jackson, Ray Price and a few others - on their own terms. I'm still having a lot of trouble with contemporary country, though. None of these people seem to have much truth in them. Maybe in time I'll get it.

One thing about contemporary country, that I can respect, is that most of the artists are generally thankful for what they got. They are good to fans,and many of them can really sing well, but don't have good songs to sing. The fight for songs that are radio worthy is a tough one, and to get on the radio doing your own songs is tough too. I still don't like most of the songs that do make it onto the radio,though. It is easy to see why many musical folks gravitate to the Austin style troubadors of today, cause they do their own stuff outside the heavily gated Nashville system. That system is a bitch, and it remains the last remanant of the old music biz (talent+studio musicians+sanctioned songwriters+ sheen=radio play=sales), so that is slightly comforting (despite it's craziness) to me. Your right about the provincial part too, O wise Ivylander. Nashville is beyond provincial, scaring off many, like its other hit genre relative, hip hop (as you've said). I guess what I'm saying is that there are plenty of talented folks, but the shine and conformity of the format and songs tends to tamp that talent down..Insert cowboy hatted or hoodie wearing artist here. If you weren't into it I could see not wanting to sift through the sludge to get the gems in either genre.

Yeah, I should have specified Nashville when I said "contemporary country."

the race is on is so clever

Just listening to George's version of that tonight (thanks, Cody, now my George jones is full-blown). Yeah, the lyrics work every possible variation on the theme, none of them forced, all of then ingenious.