Posted on 04/28/2013 3:16:01 PM PDT by NKP_Vet
"He Stopped Loving Her Today," George Jones (1980) George Jones has said that he initially thought "He Stopped Loving Her Today" was too sad to be very popular, but, at one of the lowest points of his career and personal life, he made it one of country music’s defining and most enduring songs. Billy Sherrill’s restrained production highlighted the plaintive yet highly nuanced vocals that were the hallmark of Jones’ mature style, but which stretched back to his days singing for tips in the streets of his hometown, Beaumont, Texas, in the 1940s.
(Excerpt) Read more at loc.gov ...
With the blood from my body,
I could start my own still.
If drinking don't kill me,
Her memory will.
Don't Stop the Music (1957)
It took over a year to record. George had hell with it.
RIP George Jones America loved you.
Another great one from George.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpBiVpSggNs
There’s purple hearts and packs of gum
fatherless daughters and fatherless sons
and there’s 50,000 names carved in the wall
They come from all across this land
In pickup trucks and mini vans
Searching for a boy from long ago
They scan the wall and find his name
The teardrops fall like pouring rain
and silently they leave a gift and go
There’s Stars of David and rosary beads
and crucifixion figurines
and flowers of all colors large and small
There’s a Boy Scout badge and a merit pin
Little American flags waving in the wind
and there’s 50,000 names carved in the wall.
Yeah, legend has it that George had no trouble with the portion of the song he had to sing. But he kept botching the brief, spoken section of the lyrics that are one of the more distinctive parts of “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” The reason? Ol’ Possum was often drunk during the recording sessions. Luckily for him, Billy Sherrill was a patient man.
But you’ve got to give George his due. Still the greatest singer in the history of country music, and that takes in a pretty wide swath of musical history. And he did that despite decades of self-destructive behavior that would have killed a lesser man. Compared to George, Keith Richards is a piker.
Thanks
Self admittedly he said if you found him sober, he was asleep.
His later years cleared up a bit, after 2003.
Neverthelss, who gave the Library of Congress the authority to declare one of his songs to be any kind of treasure? We, his fans, will do all the declaring that's needed.
Country, so I don’t know if you can listen, but I play this sometimes and think of E. ;’(
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