ROOTS of Country Music

The Professional Work of George Jones

(born Sep 12, 1931)

Career Highlights

No. 2 Country Music Artist (1944 - 1993)

Barn Dance Affiliate: Louisiana Hayride

Band Name: The Jones Boys

Recorded Using the Pseudonym Thumper Jones

Film, Night Club, Radio & TV

• Austin City Limits, 4
• Ernest Tubb’s  Midnight Jamboree, 3
• The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, 4
• The Johnny Cash Show, 4
• The Porter Wagoner Show, 4
• The Wilburn Brothers Show, 4
• Gilley’s Club, 2
• Hee Haw, 4
• Nashville Now, 4
• Pop Goes the Country, 4 

1-Film, 2-Night Club, 3-Radio, 4-TV 

Billboard Chart Data

• No. 1 Singles: 13
• Top-10 Singles: 78
• Crossover Singles: 0
• Charted Singles: 154
• Chart Years Active: 1955-1993

Awards

Country Music Association

• Male Vocalist of the Year (1980, 1981)
• Country Music Hall of Fame (1992)

Billboard No. 1 Singles

1. Golden Ring (1976)
2. He Stopped Loving Her Today (1980)
3. I Always Get Lucky With You (1983)
4. Near You (1977)
5. She Thinks I Still Care (1962)
6. Still Doin' Time (1981)
7. Tender Years (1961)
8. The Door (1974)
9. The Grand Tour (1974)
10. Walk Through This World With Me (1967)
11. We're Gonna Hold On (1973)
12. White Lightning (1959)
13. Yesterday's Wine (1982)

Billboard Top-10 Singles

1. Aching, Breaking Heart (1962)
2. A Few Ole Country Boys (1990)
3. A Girl I Used to Know (1962)
4. A Picture Of Me (Without You) 1972
5. A Good Year for the Roses (1970)
6. As Long As I Live (1968)
7. Bartender's Blues (1978)
8. C.C. Waterback (1982) 1.
9. Color of the Blues (1958)
10. Don’t Stop the Music (1957)
11. Four-O-Thirty Three (1966)
12. Golden Ring (1976) 2.
13. He Stopped Loving Her Today (1980)
14. Her Name Is (1976)
15. I Always Get Lucky With You (1983)
16. I Can’t Get There From Here (1967)
17. If Drinkin' Don't Kill Me (1981)
18. If My Heart Had Windows (1967)
19. If Not For You (1969)
20. I'll Share My World With You (1969)
21. I'm a One Woman Man (1988)
22. I’m a People (1966)
23. I’m Not Ready Yet (1980)
24. Just One More (1956)
25. Love Bug (1965)
26. Loving You Could Never Be Better (1972)
27. Mabellene (1978)
28. Near You (1976) 2.
29. Not What I had In Mind (1963)
30. Nothing Ever Hurt Me (1973)
31. Once You've Had the Best (1973)
32. Right Won’t Touch a Hand (1971)
33. Same Ole Me (1982)
34. Say It’s Not You (1968)
35. She Thinks I Still Care (1962)
36. She's Mine (1969)
37. She's My Rock (1984)
38. Shine On (1983)
39. Somebody Wants Me Out of the Way (1986)
40. Sometimes You Just Can’t Win (1971)
41. Southern California (1977) 2.
42. Still Doin' Time (1981)
43. Take Me (1965)
44. Take Me (1971) 2.
45. Tender Years (1961)
46. Tennessee Whiskey (1983)
47. The Ceremony (1972) 2.
48. The Door (1974)
49. The Grand Tour (1974)
50. The One I Loved Back Then (1985)
51. The Race Is On (1964)
52. The Right Left Hand (1987)
53. The Window Up Above (1960)
54. These Days (I Barely Get By) 1975
55. Things Have Gone to Pieces (1965)
56. Treasure of Love (1958)
57. Two Story House (1980) 2.
58. Walk Through This World With Me (1967)
59. We Can Make It (1972)
60. We Didn’t See a Thing (1983) 3.
61. We Loved It Away (1974) 2.
62. We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds (63) 4.
63. We're Gonna Hold On (1973) 2.
64. What Am I Worth (1956)
65. What My Woman Can't Do (1973)
66. When the Grass Grows Over Me (1968)
67. Where Does a Little Tear Come From (1964)
68. Who Shot Sam (1959)
69. White Lightning (1959)
70. Wine Colored Roses (1986)
71. Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes (1985)
72. Why, Baby Why (1955)
73. Yearning (1957) 5.
74. Yesterday's Wine (1982) 1.
75. You Comb Her Hair (1963)
76. You Gotta Be My Baby (1956)
77. Your Heart Turned Left (1964)
78. You’ve Still Got a Place in My Heart (1984) 

1. Merle Haggard

2. Tammy Wynette

3. Ray Charles

4. Melba Montgomery

5. Jeannette Hicks 

Record Labels:

From 1953 through 1993, Jones was associated with several record labels. His greatest commercial success was with Epic, where he charted 27 top-10 hits. During the early 1970s, it was a bit of a task to keep track of which label Jones was charting with. Epic, Musicor and RCA were releasing his material during this time frame. 

• Starday (1955 ~ 1957)
• Mercury (1957 ~ 1962)
• United Artists (1961 ~ 1965)
• Musicor (1965 ~ 1971)
• RCA (1972)
• Epic (1971 ~ 1989)
• MCA (1991 ~ !993)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Tender Years: The George Jones Story

By most accounts, George Jones is the finest vocalist in the recorded history of country music. Initially, he was a hardcore honky tonker in the tradition of Hank Williams, but over the course of his career he developed an affecting, nuanced ballad style. In the course of his career, he never left the top of the country charts, even as he suffered innumerable personal and professional difficulties. Only Eddy Arnold had more top-10 hits and Jones always stayed closer to the roots of hardcore country.

George Jones was born on September 12, 1931, in Saratoga, Texas. He sang for tips on the streets of nearby Beaumont as a child. George became good enough to earn himself spots on local radio in the late 1940s, beginning with KTXJ in Jasper and then moving on to KRIC in Beaumont. In 1953, Jones was discovered by record producer Pappy Daily, who was the co-owner of Starday Records, a local Texas label.

Impressed with Jones' potential, Daily signed the singer to Starday. No Money in This Deal, Jones' first single, was released in early 1954, but it received no attention. Starday released three more singles that year, which all were ignored. Jones released Why, Baby, Why late in the summer of 1955 and the single became his first hit, peaking at number four. However, its momentum was halted by a cover version by Webb Pierce and Red Sovine that hit number one on the country charts.

Jones was on the road to success and Daily secured the singer a spot on the Louisiana Hayride, where he co-billed with Elvis Presley. Jones reached the top-10 with regularity in 1956 with such singles as What Am I Worth and Just One More. That same year, Jones recorded some rockabilly singles under the name Thumper Jones which were unsuccessful, both commercially and artistically. In August, he joined the cast of the Grand Ole Opry and his first album appeared by the end of the year.

From Starday, Jones moved to Mercury, where he experimented with rockabilly under the name Thumper Jones. George had his first country No. 1 on Mercury in 1959 with White Lightning. In 1961, Jones hit No. 1 again with Tender Years and She Thinks I Still Care.

Later in the '60s, on the Musicor United Artists labels, his singles consistently hit the top-10. George returned to the top of the charts again in 1967 with Walk Through This World With Me. During the 1960s, Jones recorded and charted a series of duet singles on Mercury, United Artists and Musicor with Margie Singleton, Gene Pitney, Brenda Carter and, most notably, Melba Montgomery.

While he continued recording material for Musicor, Epic entered contract negotiations with their rivals, and halfway through 1971, Jones severed ties with Musicor and Daily. He signed away all the rights to his Musicor recordings in the process. The label continued to release Jones albums for a couple of years and they also licensed recordings to RCA, who released two singles and a series of budget-priced albums in the early '70s.

Jones signed with Epic Records in October of 1971. It was the culmination of a busy year for Jones, one that saw him and Tammy Wynette becoming the biggest stars in country music, racking up a number of top-10 hits as solo artists and selling out concerts across the country as a duo.

Jones had successfully remade his image from a short-haired, crazed honky tonker to more relaxed, sensitive balladeer. At the end of the year, he cut his first record for the Epic label titled, We Can make It.

Jones’ greatest commercial success was with Epic, where he charted 27 top-10 hits.George was named Male Vocalist of the Year in 1980 & 1981 by the Country Music Association. According to Record Research – Top Country Singles 1944-1993, Jones is ranked No. 2 All-time among all of the country music recording artists during that time frame. Jones was inducted into the Country Music hall of fame in 1992.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Researched, written and compiled by Richard Bell, Roots of Country Music Oct. 2011.

George Jones

A Good Year For the Roses