Reviewed by Dave Brassington

The late country singer is famously quoted as saying he only ever had two great heroes, Jesus and Hank Williams. By the grace of God he lived a long life which would make a great movie, with many ups and downs, periods of great musical acclaim (in fact some would argue he was the greatest country singer ever), awful periods of depression and a much publicised battle with the bottle. But despite his lifestyle inconsistencies George Jones was always ready to sing gospel songs, in fact his last known commercial recordings are soon to be released gospel material. Born in Beaumont, Texas, as soon as Jones got out of the marines in the mid-'50s, he was to embark on one of the longest running careers in country music. Possessed of a voice that immediately connected with "hard core country", George was signed to Nashville's small Starday label, with many of those recordings on the first two CDs here. Subsequently he signed for Mercury, again very well represented here, before moving on to United Artists, Musicor, Epic and Columbia. Finally finishing up on his very own Bandit Records. Bear Family label have re-released ALL of his United Artists and Musicor recordings on three box sets, plus one double CD of his recordings with Gene Pitney, but for George Jones devotees, it has been very difficult up to now to obtain much of his old Starday and Mercury recordings. Jasmine have released a two CD set of many of his Starday records, but there are some interesting selections here that they haven't previously compiled. On CD one we have the original albums put out by Starday, which in the case of 'Hillbilly Hit Parade' also includes some tracks not by George! CD two gives us a real treat, the original and very rare 'Country Church Time' album, which includes the singer's original recording of "A Wandering Soul", which in my opinion is one of the truly great country gospel tracks. Then from then on it's a whole slew of albums, of which some I already had elsewhere, but what is a real treasure for big fans of George like myself are many singles that never appeared on any albums such as "Big Harlan Taylor", "Sparkling Brown Eyes", to name but two. Much has been written about George over many years, some of it not very flattering, perhaps Tammy Wynette on the Wembley stage circa 1976 after she had just divorced him, summed him up best, "A man as nice as pie when sober, but like the devil incarnate when drunk!" However that should not detract from much of the recorded quality of this very fine country singer. Particular standouts on the great compilation are the very catchy "What Am I Worth", the great gospel cuts "Boat Of Life" and "The Good Ole Bible", alongside some of his many early country hits such as "Why Baby Why", "Seasons Of My Heart" and "White Lightning". I bought this set for £7, to me it must be about the best bargain of the year!

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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