George Jones, country superstar, dies at 81

[topgsfan]

George Jones, country superstar, has died at 81
Associated Press – 38 mins ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — George Jones, the peerless, hard-living country singer who recorded dozens of hits about good times and regrets and peaked with the heartbreaking classic "He Stopped Loving Her Today," has died. He was 81.

Publicist Kirt Webster says Jones died Friday at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville after being hospitalized with fever and irregular blood pressure.

Known for his clenched, precise baritone, Jones had No. 1 songs in five separate decades, 1950s to 1990s, and was idolized not just by fellow country singers, but by Frank Sinatra, Pete Townshend, Elvis Costello, James Taylor and countless others.

In a career that lasted more than 50 years, "Possum" recorded more than 150 albums and became the champion and symbol of traditional country music, a well-lined link to his hero, Hank Williams.

news.yahoo.com/george-jones-country-superstar-died-82-141703663.html

[topgsfan]

Here's the longer article.

George Jones, country superstar, has died at 81

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — George Jones, the peerless, hard-living country singer who recorded dozens of hits about good times and regrets and peaked with the heartbreaking classic "He Stopped Loving Her Today," has died. He was 81.

Jones died Friday at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, according to his publicist Kirt Webster. He was hospitalized with fever and irregular blood pressure, forcing him to postpone two shows.

With one of the most golden voices of any genre, a clenched, precise, profoundly expressive baritone, Jones had No. 1 songs in five separate decades, 1950s to 1990s. He was idolized not just by fellow country artists, but by Frank Sinatra, Pete Townshend, Elvis Costello, James Taylor and countless others. "If we all could sound like we wanted to, we'd all sound like George Jones," Waylon Jennings once sang.

In a career that lasted more than 50 years, "Possum" evolved from young honky-tonker to elder statesman as he recorded more than 150 albums and became the champion and symbol of traditional country music, a well-lined link to his hero, Hank Williams. Jones survived long battles with alcoholism and drug addiction, brawls, accidents and close encounters with death, including bypass surgery and a tour bus crash that he only avoided by deciding at the last moment to take a plane.

His failure to appear for concerts left him with the nickname "No Show Jones," and he later recorded a song by that name and often opened his shows by singing it. His wild life was revealed in song and in his handsome, troubled face, with its dark, deep-set eyes and dimpled chin.

In song, he was rowdy and regretful, tender and tragic. His hits included the sentimental "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes," the foot-tapping "The Race is On," the foot-stomping "I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair," the melancholy "She Thinks I Still Care," the rockin' "White Lightning," and the barfly lament "Still Doing Time." Jones also recorded several duets with Tammy Wynette, his wife for six years, including "Golden Ring," ''Near You," ''Southern California" and "We're Gonna Hold On." He also sang with such peers as Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard and with Costello and other rock performers.

But his signature song was "He Stopped Loving Her Today," a weeper among weepers about a man who carries his love for a woman to his grave. The 1980 ballad, which Jones was sure would never be a hit, often appears on surveys as the most popular country song of all time.

Jones won Grammy awards in 1981 for "He Stopped Loving Her Today" and in 1999 for "Choices." He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1992 and in 2008 was among the artists honored in Washington at the Kennedy Center.

Jones continued to make appearances and put out records, though his hit records declined.

"I don't want to completely quit because I don't know what to do with myself," he said in 2005. "I'll be out there as long as the people want me to be out there."

Jones was a purist who lamented the transformation of country music from the family feeling of the 1950s to the hit factory of the early 21st century. He was so caught up in country, old country, that when a record company executive suggested he record with James Taylor, Jones insisted he had never heard of the million selling singer-songwriter. He was equally unimpressed when told that Neil Young had come to visit backstage and declined to see him, saying he didn't know who he was. He did listen to the Rolling Stones, only because of the guitar playing of Keith Richards, a country fan who would eventually record with Jones.

Asked about what he thought about Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift and other young stars, Jones said they were good but they weren't making traditional country music.

"What they need to do really, I think, is find their own title," he said.

In 1991, country star Alan Jackson dedicated his hit song "Don't Rock the Jukebox" to Jones, asking in the song that country music remain faithful to the Jones style instead of drifting toward rock 'n' roll.

Jones was born Sept. 12, 1931, in a log house near the east Texas town of Saratoga, the youngest of eight children. He sang in church and at age 11 began performing for tips on the streets of Beaumont, Texas. His first outing was such a success that listeners tossed him coins, placed a cup by his side and filled it with money. Jones estimated he made more than $24 for his two-hour performance, enough to feed his family for a week, but he used up the cash at a local arcade.

"That was my first time to earn money for singing and my first time to blow it afterward," he recalled in "I Lived to Tell it All," a painfully self-critical memoir published in 1996. "It started what almost became a lifetime trend."

The family lived in a government-subsidized housing project, and his father, a laborer, was an alcoholic who would rouse the children from bed in the middle of the night to sing for him. His father also noted that young George liked music and bought him a Gene Autry guitar, with a horse and lariat on the front, that Jones practiced on obsessively.

He got his start on radio with husband and wife team Eddie & Pearl in the late 1940s. Hank Williams once dropped by the studio to promote a new record, and Jones was invited to back him on guitar. When it came time to play, he froze.

"Hank had 'Wedding Bells' out at the time," Jones recalled in a 2003 Associated Press interview. "He started singing it, and I never hit the first note the whole song. I just stared."

After the first of his four marriages failed, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1951 and served three years. He cut his first record when he got out, an original fittingly called "No Money in This Deal."

He had his first hit with "Why Baby Why" in 1955, and by the early '60s Jones was one of country music's top stars.

"I sing top songs that fit the hardworking, everyday loving person. That's what country music is about," Jones said in a 1991 AP interview. "My fans and real true country music fans know I'm not a phony. I just sing it the way it is and put feeling in it if I can and try to live the song."

Jones was married to Wynette, his third wife, from 1969 to 1975. (Wynette died in 1998.) Their relationship played out in Nashville like a country song, with hard drinking, fights and reconciliations. Jones' weary knowledge of domestic warfare was immortalized in such classics as "The Battle," set to the martial beat of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

After one argument, Jones drove off on a riding mower in search of a drink because Wynette had taken his car keys to keep him from carousing. Years earlier, married to his second wife, he had also sped off in a mower in search of a drink. Jones referred to his mowing days in the 1996 release, "Honky Tonk Song."

His drug and alcohol abuse grew worse in the late '70s, and Jones had to file for bankruptcy in 1978. A manager had started him on cocaine, hoping to counteract his boozy, lethargic performances, and Jones was eventually arrested in Jackson, Miss., in 1983 on cocaine possession charges. He agreed to perform a benefit concert and was sentenced to six months probation.

"In the 1970s, I was drunk the majority of the time," Jones wrote in his memoir. "If you saw me sober, chances are you saw me asleep."

In 1980, a 3-minute song changed his life. His longtime producer, Billy Sherrill, recommended he record "He Stopped Loving Her Today," a ballad by Curly Putnam and Bobby Braddock. The song took more than a year to record, partly because Jones couldn't master the melody, which he confused with Kris Kristofferson's "Help Me Make it Through the Night," and partly because he was too drunk to recite a brief, spoken interlude ("She came to see him one last time/And we all wondered if she would/And it kept running through my mind/This time he's over her for good.")

"Pretty simple, eh?" Jones wrote in his memoir. "I couldn't get it. I had been able to sing while drunk all of my life. I'd fooled millions of people. But I could never speak without slurring when drunk. What we needed to complete that song was the narration, but Billy could never catch me sober enough to record four simple spoken lines."

Jones was convinced the song was too "morbid" to catch on. But "He Stopped Loving Her Today," featuring a string section that hummed, then soared, became an instant standard and virtually canonized him. His concert fee jumped from $2,500 a show to $25,000.

"There is a God," he recalled.

In 1983, Jones married his fourth and final wife, Nancy Sepulveda, whom he credited with stablizing his private life. He had four children, one with first wife Dorothy Bonvillion, two with second wife Shirley Ann Corley and one with Wynette. His daughter with Wynette, Georgette Jones, became a country singer and even played her mother in the 2008 TV series "Sordid Lives."

___

[topgsfan]

George Jones, country superstar, dies at 81

George Jones, the peerless, hard-living country singer who recorded dozens of hits about good times and regrets and peaked with the heartbreaking classic "He Stopped Loving Her Today," has died. He was 81.

Jones died Friday at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville after being hospitalized with fever and irregular blood pressure, according to his publicist Kirt Webster.

With one of the most golden voices of any genre, a clenched, precise, profoundly expressive baritone, Jones had No. 1 songs in five separate decades, 1950s to 1990s. He was idolized not just by fellow country artists, but by Frank Sinatra, Pete Townshend, Elvis Costello, James Taylor and countless others. "If we all could sound like we wanted to, we'd all sound like George Jones," Waylon Jennings once sang.

In a career that lasted more than 50 years, "Possum" evolved from young honky-tonker to elder statesman as he recorded more than 150 albums and became the champion and symbol of traditional country music, a well-lined link to his hero, Hank Williams. Jones survived long battles with alcoholism and drug addiction, brawls, accidents and close encounters with death, including bypass surgery and a tour bus crash that he only avoided by deciding at the last moment to take a plane.

His failure to appear for concerts left him with the nickname "No Show Jones," and he later recorded a song by that name and often opened his shows by singing it. His wild life was revealed in song and in his handsome, troubled face, with its dark, deep-set eyes and dimpled chin.

In song, he was rowdy and regretful, tender and tragic. His hits included the sentimental "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes," the foot-tapping "The Race is On," the foot-stomping "I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair," the melancholy "She Thinks I Still Care," the rockin' "White Lightning," and the barfly lament "Still Doing Time." Jones also recorded several duets with Tammy Wynette, his wife for six years, including "Golden Ring," ''Near You," ''Southern California" and "We're Gonna Hold On." He also sang with such peers as Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard and with Costello and other rock performers.

But his signature song was "He Stopped Loving Her Today," a weeper among weepers about a man who carries his love for a woman to his grave. The 1980 ballad, which Jones was sure would never be a hit, often appears on surveys as the most popular country song of all time.

Jones won Grammy awards in 1981 for "He Stopped Loving Her Today" and in 1999 for "Choices." He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1992 and in 2008 was among the artists honored in Washington at the Kennedy Center.

Jones continued to make appearances and put out records, though his hit records declined.

"I don't want to completely quit because I don't know what to do with myself," he said in 2005. "I'll be out there as long as the people want me to be out there."

Jones was a purist who lamented the transformation of country music from the family feeling of the 1950s to the hit factory of the early 21st century. He was so caught up in country, old country, that when a record company executive suggested he record with James Taylor, Jones insisted he had never heard of the million selling singer-songwriter. He was equally unimpressed when told that Neil Young had come to visit backstage and declined to see him, saying he didn't know who he was. He did listen to the Rolling Stones, only because of the guitar playing of Keith Richards, a country fan who would eventually record with Jones.

Asked about what he thought about Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift and other young stars, Jones said they were good but they weren't making traditional country music.

"What they need to do really, I think, is find their own title," he said.

In 1991, country star Alan Jackson dedicated his hit song "Don't Rock the Jukebox" to Jones, asking in the song that country music remain faithful to the Jones style instead of drifting toward rock 'n' roll.

Jones was born Sept. 12, 1931, in a log house near the east Texas town of Saratoga, the youngest of eight children. He sang in church and at age 11 began performing for tips on the streets of Beaumont, Texas. His first outing was such a success that listeners tossed him coins, placed a cup by his side and filled it with money. Jones estimated he made more than $24 for his two-hour performance, enough to feed his family for a week, but he used up the cash at a local arcade.

"That was my first time to earn money for singing and my first time to blow it afterward," he recalled in "I Lived to Tell it All," a painfully self-critical memoir published in 1996. "It started what almost became a lifetime trend."

The family lived in a government-subsidized housing project, and his father, a laborer, was an alcoholic who would rouse the children from bed in the middle of the night to sing for him. His father also noted that young George liked music and bought him a Gene Autry guitar, with a horse and lariat on the front, that Jones practiced on obsessively.

He got his start on radio with husband and wife team Eddie & Pearl in the late 1940s. Hank Williams once dropped by the studio to promote a new record, and Jones was invited to back him on guitar. When it came time to play, he froze.

"Hank had 'Wedding Bells' out at the time," Jones recalled in a 2003 Associated Press interview. "He started singing it, and I never hit the first note the whole song. I just stared."

After the first of his four marriages failed, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1951 and served three years. He cut his first record when he got out, an original fittingly called "No Money in This Deal."

He had his first hit with "Why Baby Why" in 1955, and by the early '60s Jones was one of country music's top stars.

"I sing top songs that fit the hardworking, everyday loving person. That's what country music is about," Jones said in a 1991 AP interview. "My fans and real true country music fans know I'm not a phony. I just sing it the way it is and put feeling in it if I can and try to live the song."

Jones was married to Wynette, his third wife, from 1969 to 1975. (Wynette died in 1998.) Their relationship played out in Nashville like a country song, with hard drinking, fights and reconciliations. Jones' weary knowledge of domestic warfare was immortalized in such classics as "The Battle," set to the martial beat of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

After one argument, Jones drove off on a riding mower in search of a drink because Wynette had taken his car keys to keep him from carousing. Years earlier, married to his second wife, he had also sped off in a mower in search of a drink. Jones referred to his mowing days in the 1996 release, "Honky Tonk Song."

His drug and alcohol abuse grew worse in the late '70s, and Jones had to file for bankruptcy in 1978. A manager had started him on cocaine, hoping to counteract his boozy, lethargic performances, and Jones was eventually arrested in Jackson, Miss., in 1983 on cocaine possession charges. He agreed to perform a benefit concert and was sentenced to six months probation.

"In the 1970s, I was drunk the majority of the time," Jones wrote in his memoir. "If you saw me sober, chances are you saw me asleep."

In 1980, a 3-minute song changed his life. His longtime producer, Billy Sherrill, recommended he record "He Stopped Loving Her Today," a ballad by Curly Putnam and Bobby Braddock. The song took more than a year to record, partly because Jones couldn't master the melody, which he confused with Kris Kristofferson's "Help Me Make it Through the Night," and partly because he was too drunk to recite a brief, spoken interlude ("She came to see him one last time/And we all wondered if she would/And it kept running through my mind/This time he's over her for good.")

"Pretty simple, eh?" Jones wrote in his memoir. "I couldn't get it. I had been able to sing while drunk all of my life. I'd fooled millions of people. But I could never speak without slurring when drunk. What we needed to complete that song was the narration, but Billy could never catch me sober enough to record four simple spoken lines."

Jones was convinced the song was too "morbid" to catch on. But "He Stopped Loving Her Today," featuring a string section that hummed, then soared, became an instant standard and virtually canonized him. His concert fee jumped from $2,500 a show to $25,000.

"There is a God," he recalled.

In 1983, Jones married his fourth and final wife, Nancy Sepulveda, whom he credited with stablizing his private life. He had four children, one with first wife Dorothy Bonvillion, two with second wife Shirley Ann Corley and one with Wynette. His daughter with Wynette, Georgette Jones, became a country singer and even played her mother in the 2008 TV series "Sordid Lives."

www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2013/04/26/george-jones-dead-country-superstar-was-82/

[josweetheart]

First my grandma on the 10th of this month and now George, a man that my grandma's brother used to get drunk with back when him and George were younger. My uncle is going to be crushed when he finds about this. Can the month of May finally get here already? April is getting way too death filled.

God bless you and my uncle and George's family always!!!

Holly

[Kim]

RIP Possum - you will be greatly missed.

[Kim]

Reaction from around the country music world to death of legendary singer George Jones

By The Associated Press
The Canadian Press – 2 hours 21 minutes ago


NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The country music world reacted with deep emotion upon learning of the death of legendary singer George Jones. Here's a sampling of quotes and tweets about Jones:

"The world has lost the greatest country singer of all time. Amen." — Merle Haggard

"Well, heaven better get ready for some great country music. While George was known for his wild and crazy days, I've known him for 25 years as a friend. He had grown into a real good man. Of course, he will always be the greatest singer and interpreter of real country music - there'll never be another. — Alan Jackson

"The greatest voice to ever grace country music will never die. Jones has a place in every heart that ever loved any kind of music." — Garth Brooks

"The greatest country blues singer to ever live." — Ronnie Dunn

"It's a sad day for country music and a great loss for those of us who knew him. I was blessed to call George my friend. He was one of the best country singers there ever was. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Nancy, and all of his family. It's a sad, sad day." — Loretta Lynn

"My heart is absolutely broken. George Jones was my all time favourite singer and one of my favourite people in the world. My heart goes out to Nancy and all his family and friends." — Dolly Parton

"George Jones and I happen to share the same birthday. The first and only time I met him (which I believe was at the Opry if my memory serves me), I told him that. His response, 'You must be trouble.' Takes one to know one, I am so proud to say. George, his music and his mischievous trouble, will all be missed. He is a country legend." — Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland

"I believe if you ask any singer who was the greatest country music singer of all time, they would say 'George Jones'. He was without question and by far the BEST! I first met and worked with him when I was 13 years old; I am so very grateful that he was my friend." — Barbara Mandrell

"If I'm blessed enough to make it there, I look forward to you giving me the grand tour. Rest in peace George Jones!!!!!" — Keith Urban via Twitter

"My friend, the greatest singer of all time, has passed. To those who knew him, our lives were full. To those of you who don't: discover him now." — Brad Paisley via Twitter

"He had a voice that was the truth, raw and unfiltered. You can't get any realer, any more tortured or any more alive. No one can do what George Jones does, and that's why 50 years later, he still stands out as one of the greatest singers in any genre of all time." — Kenny Chesney

"George Jones was my friend and I loved him." — Trace Adkins

"Such a sad day ... May you Rest in Peace George Jones." — Sheryl Crow via Twitter

"Really REALLY bad news. We've lost a country music legend. And I've lost a hero and a friend. Goodbye George Jones ..." — Blake Shelton via Twitter

"I feel such a personal loss of not only one of the greatest vocal influences of my life, but also I've lost a dear friend. Visits with George have always been full of joy and laughter. Every time I would see him, George would always greet me with a funny story or a joke! His legacy will put his name at the top of the most influential artists in history, right along with Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings. His voice will be influencing singers 100 years from now and beyond!" — Travis Tritt

[Kim]

RIP - George Jones dead at 81

TMZ.com


George Jones ... the country music megastar whose heartfelt vocals and close-to-home lyrics defined the genre for generations ... died today. He was 81.

Jones was hospitalized in Nashville on April 18 for a fever and irregular blood pressure, though the cause of death was not immediately released.

Jones was in the middle of a tour -- which he announced would be his last -- when he fell ill. Several dates had already been canceled.

Jones' towering influence on country music was equaled only by his public persona ... which often imitated the melodrama in his songs ... and was well-chronicled in the tabloids. He was married four times -- once to Tammy Wynette -- and made countless headlines for drinking, stormy romances and violent rages.

But his star-power in country music cannot be overstated. Jones has charted more country hits than any other artist ... "He Stopped Loving Her Today" is perhaps his biggest, but the list of charted hits is around 150.

He was a Grand Ole Opry member, a Kennedy Center Honoree, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1992 ... though given how much influence he had on country music ... they might as well have honored him every year.

Jones' first number one hit was "White Lightning" in 1959.

Jones nearly died in a car wreck in 1999, but recovered and kept his career vibrant right up until his death.

He is survived by four children and his fourth wife of 30 years, Nancy.

=============================

7:44 AM PT -- A family member tells TMZ ... "He has been on oxygen for a long while now and his lungs finally just couldn’t do it anymore and they collapsed and he passed away. He couldn’t breathe anymore on his own."

8:04 AM PT -- George's publicist has released a statement on the singer's passing ... saying, "Today is a sad day for music. George said to me once, 'One day I'll Join the Angel band.' Well, today he did."

The statement continues, "George passed with his family by his side and the official cause of death is being listed as 'Hypoxic Respiratory Failure.'"

FYI -- H.R.F. means the lungs couldn't pump enough oxygen to the rest of the body.

8:51 AM PT -- Country superstar Alan Jackson -- who's known George for years -- tells TMZ ... “Well, heaven better get ready for some great country music."

He adds, "While George was known for his wild and crazy days, I’ve known him for 25 years as a friend. He had grown into a real good man. Of course, he will always be the greatest singer and interpreter of real country music – there’ll never be another."

"Like the song says, ‘You know this old world is full of singers, but just a few are chosen to tear your heart out when they sing. Imagine life without them…Who’s gonna fill their shoes.’”


www.tmz.com/

[Deleted]

Hi Guys...When I heard the news today of George Jones I immediatly thought of you folks. I called one of my oldest cousins who is 80 and cried on her shoulder. I told her of how my family is so far apart...I told her of you guys...how I missed you dearly...how I felt that I had hurt a lot of you...how I said I hadn't been around for the people who miss me....how I missed her and love her. Now I just realized that I just told you all too. It is true that country music...real country music is here for a reason. For me personally icountry music is here to lean on when I am down...like an old friend who understands me...who dosen't judge me...
I have lost touch with most of the folk from the Country Weekly Forums...I have reached out a bit but now realize that it will never be the same. Like losing George Jones today...Country Music will never be the same. When my cousin passes the world won't be the same....I am the very youngest of all my cousins at 53...all the aunts and uncles have passed on. In 1975 everyone that I knew were here...now I look around and I am one of the last few. Where did they all go? The river of life? To some stage in the sky? The more that I think that I know the more that I realize that I don't know. I do know that you guys are my friends in country music...and for that I love you all!
Michael
Here is one of my favorite George Jones tunes...Please forgive me my ramblings...
www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=xi3GgoLtlWk

[topgsfan]

Apr 26, 2013 19:11:14 GMT -5 nashviller said:

Hi Guys...When I heard the news today of George Jones I immediatly thought of you folks. I called one of my oldest cousins who is 80 and cried on her shoulder. I told her of how my family is so far apart...I told her of you guys...how I missed you dearly...how I felt that I had hurt a lot of you...how I said I hadn't been around for the people who miss me....how I missed her and love her. Now I just realized that I just told you all too. It is true that country music...real country music is here for a reason. For me personally icountry music is here to lean on when I am down...like an old friend who understands me...who dosen't judge me...
I have lost touch with most of the folk from the Country Weekly Forums...I have reached out a bit but now realize that it will never be the same. Like losing George Jones today...Country Music will never be the same. When my cousin passes the world won't be the same....I am the very youngest of all my cousins at 53...all the aunts and uncles have passed on. In 1975 everyone that I knew were here...now I look around and I am one of the last few. Where did they all go? The river of life? To some stage in the sky? The more that I think that I know the more that I realize that I don't know. I do know that you guys are my friends in country music...and for that I love you all!
Michael
Here is one of my favorite George Jones tunes...Please forgive me my ramblings...
www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=xi3GgoLtlWk

Nash, you've always been a friend. You are part of the CWO family and now this family here. That's the way I feel anyway. I also thought of coming here as soon as I heard George Jones had died. He's such an icon and we will always miss him...just like Johnny Cash and all the other greats who have left us. I have been listening more and more to my old music....Eddy Arnold, Jim Reeves, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, George Jones, etc. I cherish all of them.

Here's what George Strait had to say about George Jones' passing:


"It's a sad day for me," Strait said Friday morning (April 26) in an interview with CMT Radio. "It's a sad day for everybody in the music world to lose George. It was unexpected. I had no idea George was sick, but our prayers go out to [Jones' wife] Nancy and the family. He was such an influence and my hero and friend. It's just a sad, sad day. I'm gonna miss George so much."

Nash, do you have the CD "Kickin' Out The Footlights Again"....Jones Sings Haggard, Haggard Sings Jones? I have it and it is great! I am so glad my husband and I got to see George Jones earlier this year at the rodeo in Austin, Texas. Merle Haggard was also in Austin and we wanted to go see him, too, but we didn't know he was coming and his show sold out before we could get tickets. He was somewhere else other than the Rodeo.

[Kim]

Apr 26, 2013 23:24:08 GMT -5 topgsfan said:

Apr 26, 2013 19:11:14 GMT -5 nashviller said:

Hi Guys...When I heard the news today of George Jones I immediatly thought of you folks. I called one of my oldest cousins who is 80 and cried on her shoulder. I told her of how my family is so far apart...I told her of you guys...how I missed you dearly...how I felt that I had hurt a lot of you...how I said I hadn't been around for the people who miss me....how I missed her and love her. Now I just realized that I just told you all too. It is true that country music...real country music is here for a reason. For me personally icountry music is here to lean on when I am down...like an old friend who understands me...who dosen't judge me...
I have lost touch with most of the folk from the Country Weekly Forums...I have reached out a bit but now realize that it will never be the same. Like losing George Jones today...Country Music will never be the same. When my cousin passes the world won't be the same....I am the very youngest of all my cousins at 53...all the aunts and uncles have passed on. In 1975 everyone that I knew were here...now I look around and I am one of the last few. Where did they all go? The river of life? To some stage in the sky? The more that I think that I know the more that I realize that I don't know. I do know that you guys are my friends in country music...and for that I love you all!
Michael
Here is one of my favorite George Jones tunes...Please forgive me my ramblings...
www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=xi3GgoLtlWk

Nash, you've always been a friend. You are part of the CWO family and now this family here. That's the way I feel anyway. I also thought of coming here as soon as I heard George Jones had died. He's such an icon and we will always miss him...just like Johnny Cash and all the other greats who have left us. I have been listening more and more to my old music....Eddy Arnold, Jim Reeves, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, George Jones, etc. I cherish all of them.

Here's what George Strait had to say about George Jones' passing:


"It's a sad day for me," Strait said Friday morning (April 26) in an interview with CMT Radio. "It's a sad day for everybody in the music world to lose George. It was unexpected. I had no idea George was sick, but our prayers go out to [Jones' wife] Nancy and the family. He was such an influence and my hero and friend. It's just a sad, sad day. I'm gonna miss George so much."

Nash, do you have the CD "Kickin' Out The Footlights Again"....Jones Sings Haggard, Haggard Sings Jones? I have it and it is great! I am so glad my husband and I got to see George Jones earlier this year at the rodeo in Austin, Texas. Merle Haggard was also in Austin and we wanted to go see him, too, but we didn't know he was coming and his show sold out before we could get tickets. He was somewhere else other than the Rodeo.

Nash - I agree with Jane - the first thought is/was to come here. You are all always welcome here - whether it's once a day, once a week, once a month - whatever. I just cherish all the friends I have here and I'm happy you are choosing to continue this journey with me. If anyone ever finds old CWO members - or even just your friends who might like to come here - they are always welcome.

[Kim]

These comments were posted on GACTV.com - some are repeats of those printed above.

Apr 26

Alan Jackson, Keith Urban & More Stars Remember George Jones

By Wendy Spicher


Following the announcement of George Jones‘ death on Friday, April 26 in Nashville, many of George’s fellow country stars offered their thoughts. Visit our George Jones photo gallery for photos spanning his legendary career.


Keith Urban tweeted, “If I’m blessed enough to make it there, I look forward to you giving me the grand tour. Rest in peace George Jones!!!!!”

Alan Jackson released this statement: “Well, heaven better get ready for some great country music. While George was known for his wild and crazy days, I’ve known him for 25 years as a friend. He had grown into a real good man. Of course, he’ll always be the greatest singer and interpreter of real country music – there’ll never be another. Like the song says, ‘You know this old world is full of singers, but just a few are chosen to tear your heart out when they sing. Imagine life without them…Who’s gonna fill their shoes.’”

Blake Shelton tweeted, “Really REALLY bad news. We’ve lost a country music legend. And I’ve lost a hero and a friend. Goodbye George Jones…”

“I believe if you ask any singer who was the greatest country music singer of all time, they would say ‘George Jones’,” said Barbara Mandrell in a statement. “He was without question and by far the BEST! I first met and worked with him when I was 13 years old; I am so very grateful that he was my friend.”

Loretta Lynn said, “It’s a sad day for country music and a great loss for those of us who knew him. I was blessed to call George my friend. He was one of the best country singers there ever was. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Nancy, and all of his family. It’s a sad, sad day.”

George Strait shared this memory: “The most special memory was when he gave me my medallion at the Hall of Fame Ceremony. He actually was the one that did the actual induction. And what a special night that was. We’re just gonna miss George so much. This came as a total shock to me. I didn’t even know that George was in the hospital. To the whole music industry, it’s gonna be a big void not having George out there. But you know, we’ve got his music — and that music will live forever. He did a lot of crazy things in his career and no matter how crazy he got, everybody still loved him because that’s just the kind of guy that George was. We’re just all gonna miss him. It’s a sad day for the music business, for sure.”

“My friend, the greatest singer of all time, has passed,” tweeted Brad Paisley. “To those who knew him, our lives were full. To those of you who don’t: discover him now.”

Brad also released this statement: “George Jones’ life is an example of so many wonderful things. How someone’s God-given gifts can make this a richer, better place. How one human being can overcome adversity, addiction, and life threatening obstacles time and time again. That it is not the stumble or fall that counts, but the willingness to stand again. How a keen sense of humor and a twinkle in a person’s eye can still prevail even after all of life’s hard knocks. How mistakes, missteps, and bad choices are not the end of the world if a person chooses to turn them into something good. And George’s life is above all the strongest example of how the love of a great woman can get a man through anything. All of this made its way beautifully into every note of the greatest voice country music will ever know. And one of the greatest friends you could ever have. We miss you already, George.”

Dierks Bentley, who is still a member of George Jones’ fan club, said he’s “heartbroken,” and tweeted, “nancy and @gjpossum had a beautiful marriage and special relationship. love you nancy. long live the possum. gonna miss my buddy. real sad.”

Vince Gill tweeted, “There aren’t words in our language to describe the depth of his greatness. I’ll miss my kind and generous friend.”

Little Big Town said, “There will never be another George Jones. You are and always will be country music. Rest in peace. #GeorgeJones”

“He had a voice that was the truth, raw and unfiltered,” said Kenny Chesney. “You cant get any realer, any more tortured or any more alive. No one can do what George Jones does, and that’s why 50 years later, he still stands out as one of the greatest singers in any genre of all time.

“We were great friends, but it was really more like a father/son relationship,” added Kenny. “He even showed up in Lexington, Kentucky two years ago to surprise me onstage for my birthday… all the way from Nashville, to surprise me and sing ‘He Stopped Loving Her Today’ with me, which will be one of the greatest memories of my life.”

“When I was just staring out, and I was picked to open the George Jones/Tammy Wynette Reunion Tour, I thought I’d made it,” continued Kenny. “Then one night, George asked me if I was heading home because he and Nancy had a plane, and they’d take me,” Chesney recalls. “I remember sitting there on that jet, thinking, ‘This can’t be happening…’ because he was George Jones, and I was some kid from nowhere…’ I’m sure he knew, but he was generous to kids chasing the dream, and I never forgot it.”

[Kim]

Apr 26

George Jones Dead at 81

By Wendy Spicher
GACTV.com


GAC extends condolences to the family, friends and fans of Country Music Hall of Famer, Grand Ole Opry member, and Kennedy Center Honoree George Glenn Jones, who died Friday, April 26, 2013 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. He was hospitalized April 18 with fever and irregular blood pressure.

Born September 12, 1931, Jones is regarded among the most important and influential singers in American popular music history. He was the singer of enduring country music hits including “She Thinks I Still Care,” “The Grand Tour,” “Walk Through This World With Me,” “Tender Years” and “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” the latter of which is often at the top of industry lists of the greatest country music singles of all time.

This weekend we honor George with the following programs:

In Country Stars At Home, we’ll take you inside George’s beautiful Nashville home. It airs Friday, April 26 at 7/6C and Saturday, April 27 at 10/9C.

Master Series features host Bill Cody’s in-depth interview with George . It airs Saturday, April 27 at 5/4C and Sunday, April 28 at 11A/10C.

An encore airing of Opry Live: George Jones 80th Birthday. The show includes interviews and performances from Alan Jackson, Lee Ann Womack, Jamey Johnson, The Oak Ridge Boys, Joe Diffie and more. The show airs Saturday, April 27 at 9/8C; and on Sunday, April 28 at 10A/9C and 3/2C.

“A singer who can soar from a deep growl to dizzying heights, he is the undisputed successor of earlier natural geniuses such as Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell,” wrote Bob Allen in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s “Encyclopedia of Country Music.”

Jones was born in Saratoga, Texas, and he played on the streets of Beaumont for tips as a teenager. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps before returning to Texas and recording for the Starday label in Houston, Texas. In 1955, his “Why Baby Why” became his first Top 10 country single, peaking at number four and beginning a remarkable commercial string: Jones would ultimately record more than 160 charting singles, more than any other artist in any format in the history of popular music.

Jones’ first number one hit came in 1959 with “White Lightning,” a Mercury Records single that topped Billboard country charts for five weeks. He moved on to United Artists and then to Musicor, notching hits including “She Thinks I Still Care,” “The Race Is On,” “A Good Year for the Roses” and “Walk Through This World With Me.”

Jones signed with Epic Records in 1971 and worked with producer Billy Sherrill to craft a sound at once elegant and rooted, scoring with “The Grand Tour,” “Bartenders Blues” and many more. Sherrill also produced duets between Jones and his then-wife Tammy Wynette, and in the 1970s they scored top-charting hits including “We’re Gonna Hold On,” “Golden Ring” and “Near You.”

By the time “Golden Ring” and “Near You” hit in 1976, Jones and Wynette were divorced, and Jones was battling personal demons. His solo career cooled until 1980, when he recorded “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” a ballad penned by Curly Putman and Bobby Braddock that helped Jones win Country Music Association prizes for best male vocal and top single. “He Stopped Loving Her Today” revived a flagging career, and Jones won the CMA’s top male vocalist award in 1980 and 1981. He also earned a Grammy for best male country vocal performance.

In 1983, Jones married the former Nancy Ford Sepulvado. The union, he repeatedly said, began his rehabilitation from drugs and alcohol and prolonged his life. He signed with MCA Records in 1990 and began a successful run, and he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1992. His guest vocal on Patty Loveless’ “You Don’t Seem To Miss Me” won a CMA award for top vocal event in 1998, and it became his final Top 20 country hit.

In 1999, Jones nearly died in a car wreck, but he recovered and resumed touring and recording. He remained a force in music until his death, playing hundreds of shows in the new century and collecting the nation’s highest arts award, the Kennedy Center Honor for lifetime achievement, in 2008. In late 2012, Jones announced his farewell tour, which was to conclude with a sold-out, star-packed show at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on November 22, 2013. Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, Randy Travis, Charlie Daniels, Kenny Rogers, Sam Moore, The Oak Ridge Boys and many others were set to perform at Jones’ Bridgestone show.

Jones is survived by his loving wife of 30 years Nancy Jones, his sister Helen Scroggins, and by his children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

[kora]

Apr 26, 2013 19:11:14 GMT -5 nashviller said:

Hi Guys...When I heard the news today of George Jones I immediatly thought of you folks. I called one of my oldest cousins who is 80 and cried on her shoulder. I told her of how my family is so far apart...I told her of you guys...how I missed you dearly...how I felt that I had hurt a lot of you...how I said I hadn't been around for the people who miss me....how I missed her and love her. Now I just realized that I just told you all too. It is true that country music...real country music is here for a reason. For me personally icountry music is here to lean on when I am down...like an old friend who understands me...who dosen't judge me...
I have lost touch with most of the folk from the Country Weekly Forums...I have reached out a bit but now realize that it will never be the same. Like losing George Jones today...Country Music will never be the same. When my cousin passes the world won't be the same....I am the very youngest of all my cousins at 53...all the aunts and uncles have passed on. In 1975 everyone that I knew were here...now I look around and I am one of the last few. Where did they all go? The river of life? To some stage in the sky? The more that I think that I know the more that I realize that I don't know. I do know that you guys are my friends in country music...and for that I love you all!
Michael
Here is one of my favorite George Jones tunes...Please forgive me my ramblings...
www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=xi3GgoLtlWk

nash - I also was sorry to hear George Jones died. I didn't know that he had been sick for a period. The article I read said his lungs gave out. He will be missed by those who loved him and his singing.

It's good to see you again. I hope you know that you are always welcome here. Kim says so, and the rest of us agree. Please come often. We need more activity here. It makes it more interesting.

I, too, wish some of the CWO people could join us. I didn't keep in contact with many of them, and now I wish I had. I did have a couple of emails and tried them but they don't work anymore, so can't get in touch with those individuals.

[Deleted]

Hi ya Tops...I had to get a count on my Jones Vinyl albums...I have 42 of em ...all old ones with no scratches. I don't have the Hag/Jones album though...I need to keep looking it may be in the Hag collection. I also counted 11 autographed photos and one framed photo/disk "Hightech Redneck" I will keep an eye out for the hag/Jones disk...thanks.
Kora...you are very kind person and you and all the Strait fans are a warm and friendly bunch George Strait would be proud of his fans behavior. I am still trying to get everything together with my music stuff. I have wrote Grant and Amos of Tays band and they said that that they would swing by when they visit Tulsa...Grant folks lives just a few miles from me. This is giving me inspiration to get everything together as fast as I can. I told them that we could eat strait out of the garden...for some reason this got their attention. Thanks again to all y'all for your kindness!

[topgsfan]

Nash....WOW! That's a lot of George Jones LP's! I know you will always cherish them....moreso now than ever! The Jones/Haggard cd I mentioned is on Amazon if you don't have it and want to add it to your collection. It being a #2 cd there has to be a #1, but I haven't looked for that one, yet. I'll have to do that! I'm amazed how good they do on each other's songs.