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George Jones still not fading away |
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Written by Kurt Brighton
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Friday, 28 September 2007 |
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 Neil Young famously sang “It’s better to burn out than to fade away.” Of course, Mr. Young is still singing that song, having opted to do neither. But even Young’s 40-year career fades into the black in comparison to the longevity of country music legend George Jones, who is making a rare stop in Loveland at the Budweiser Events Center.
Jones first played in public at age 16, when he ran away from his home near Beaumont, Texas, to appear on a radio show in nearby Jasper. From there it’s been a long, strange 60-year career that has seen its fair share of ups and downs.
His marital highs and lows could rival any Hollywood stud or starlet—his passionate, if flawed relationship with Tammy Wynette kept the couple in the headlines throughout the 70s. Add ongoing battles with alcoholism and drug addiction, various car accidents, and the inevitable peaks and valleys of a career that spans more than half a century, and you wind up with someone who took the hard road to becoming one of three or four people who can be said to represent the heart and soul of country music.
And Jones hasn’t looked back: the rebellious spirit that drove a teenager out into the world to seek his fortune hasn’t faded one iota. He is still considered one of the best singers in the history of country music, and although he has the second-most top 10 country hits of any artist, Jones has remained in touch with his roots as a gritty honky-tonk singer.
His voice shows some wear and tear after singing for his supper for the past 60 years, but that just accentuates the truthfulness of his storytelling.
Fans who show up at one of the 100-plus shows he plays each year seem to be satisfied: the silver-haired crooner just celebrated his 76th birthday by playing a 90-minute set in Franklin, Tenn.—and he threatened to play until 2 in the morning.
His most recent release, “Hits I Missed… And One I Didn’t” is a great collection of classic country songs that Jones had an opportunity to record and didn’t, and were subsequently made famous by other singers.
He also re-recorded his own hit “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” On the record, Jones does a duet with Dolly Parton on Hank Williams Jr.’s “The Blues Man,” and his cover of Willie Nelson’s “Funny How Time Slips Away” is fine a snapshot of what might have been, had Jones chosen to record the song decades ago.
If you want to know what country music used to be like before it was turned into a flaccid, cookie-cutter commodity by Nashville, seeing George Jones play live would be a good place to start.
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TO GO TO THE SHOW
George Jones plays the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland on Oct. 3. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $35-$45. Call 877.544.TIXX or go online to
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