I was saddened to hear of the passing of country vocalist George Jones (obituary) yesterday. Jones is legendary for many reasons but was revered primarily for being one of the most skilled vocalists in the music's history. While my own country pantheon is dominated by song-writers like Williams, Cash, Miller, Haggard, Earle etc., it's hard not to be awed at The Possum's performance in songs as different as "White Lightning" and "He Stopped Loving Here Today".
Now Jones did do some song-writing in his time and, in fact, his breakout hit from 1956, "Why Baby Why", was co-written with long-time friend and frequent collaborator, Darrell Edwards. Nashville's cow-punks Jason & The Scorchers, who've always shown exquisite taste in covers, chose to do do a rip-snortin' version of JOnes and Edwards' "Why, Baby, Why" on their ridiculously under-rated "A Blazing Grace " album in 1995. Check it out!
Here's Jones' original.
Any thoughts on the passing George "No Show" Jones can be left in the COMMENTS section.
