THE POSSUM...GEORGE JONES

As I've noted on a few occasions, when I first got into country music, George Jones was among the top 4 or 5 artists in my book. I found a "Greatest Hits" album at WFUV and I remembered loving virtually every song on it--"Walk Through This World With Me", "The Grand Tour", "Pictures Of Me Without You" and, of course, his signature, "She Thinks I Still Care". I loved the feeling he put into each song and the common-man stories they told. I saw him on two occasions. The first, back in perhaps the late '70s at the old Bottom Line in NYC. I had free tickets to the first show and paid for the second. Being there for both gave me the opportunity to move up to the front row, literally in front of his face. He was drinking and taking drugs at that time, but, amazingly, he still was awesome. He asked for requests and I shouted out the somewhat obscure, "Tell Me My Lyin' Eyes Are Wrong". I think he realized no one but a die-hard George Jones fan would remember that one and he did it right then and there. Fast forward to about eight years ago. I saw him in Pennsylvania Dutch Country at a theater and had a bad time. His band opened the show like a really loud rock concert and even when he was on, they felt they had to turn it up to keep the audience's attention. They didn't have to. That experience kind of lessened my affection and I moved on a bit, but I still have tremendous respect for George. During the past few years, he's been critical of country music radio and record labels for pushing the pioneers to the side in favor of the flavor-of-the-month, "plastic cowboy", as Vern Gosdin once called them. He's right. But, for now, let's pay tribute to the Possum by playing a few of his greatest songs, including the incredible "He Stopped Loving Her Today", plus links to a Melba Montgomery duet and the aforementioned song he sang for me way back when.
"She Thinks I Still Care"


"Someday My Day Will Come"


"Walk Through This World With Me"


George Jones & Tammy Wynette: "Two Story House"


"He Stopped Loving Her Today"


"Tell Me My Lyin' Eyes Are Wrong"

George Jones & Melba Montgomery: "We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds"

Porter Tubb

FOUR GREAT COUNTRY DUETS

Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton: "Holding On To Nothing"


Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash: "Jackson"


Bill Phillips & Ruby Wright: "Put It Off Until Tomorrow" (written by Dolly Parton)


Melba Montgomery & George Jones: "We Must Have Been Out Of Our Mind"

Porter Tubb

TONIGHT I FEEL LIKE AN OLD VIOLIN

Johnny Paycheck had four careers. He played in some of the best country bands for artists like Ray Price and George Jones (though not widely acknowledged, his vocal style was a major influence on Jones). He went solo and had some minor hits, great songs like "A-11" and "The Real Mr. Heartache", and wrote hits for others, like "Apartment No. 9" for Tammy Wynette. Then, he made it big, too big, with the song he's most famous for, David Allan Coe's "Take This Job And Shove It". That's when he fell into drugs, alcohol and prison. During this period, he also scored with some remarkable, play-on-words-type-songs like, "Slide Off Of Your Satin Sheets" and "I'm The Only Hell (My Mama Ever Raised)." He finally cleaned up in his later life and was invited to rejoin the Opry, where he made several, unforgettable appearances. But just as things were turning around, he died on Feb. 19, 2003. One of his greatest compositions was the "Old Violin". Here's an acoustic version, played among his peers, followed by the words. It's his story and I think his best work.

Old Violin

Well, I can't recall, one time in my life,

I've felt as lonely as I do tonight.
I feel like I could lay down, and get up no more,
It's the damndest feelin'; I never felt it before.

Tonight I feel like an old violin,
Soon to be put away and never played again.
Don't ask me why I feel like this, hell, I can't say.
I only wish this feelin' would just go away.

I guess it's 'cos the truth,
Is the hardest thing I ever faced.
'Cos you can't change the truth,
In the slightest way. I tried.

So I asked myself,
I said: "John, where'd you go from here?"
Then like a damned fool,
I turned around and looked in the mirror.

And there I saw, an old violin.
Soon to be put away and never played again.

So one more time, just to be sure,
I said: "John, where in the hell do you go from here?"
You know that when a nickel's worth of difference,
And I looked in the mirror, that's when I knew.

That there I was seein', an old violin.
Soon to be put away, and never played again.

And just like that, it hit me,
That old violin and I were just alike.
We'd give our all to music,
And soon, we'd give our life.

• Johnny Paycheck on Wikipedia (hard to find a great site on him)

Porter Tubb