If any artist cried out for a cross-licensed, multi-label retrospective, it was George Jones. When Epic/Legacy released the double-disc The Essential George Jones: The Spirit of Country in 1994, he had recorded for no less than six labels -- in chronological order: Starday, Mercury, United Artists, Musicor, Epic, MCA (since then, he's added two more labels: Elektra and BNA/RCA) -- over the course of four decades, a discographical nightmare if there ever was one. {^The    [ read more ]

CD $23.73

Rhino's 1991 collection The Best of George Jones (1955-1967) covers his recordings for Starday, Mercury, United Artists, and Musicor -- in other words, it's the Pappy Daily years, featuring every label Pappy and the Possum recorded for before Jones severed ties with his producer/manager/mentor and moved to Epic and Billy Sherrill's luxurious productions in 1971. This is the foundation of George Jones' career, with his wildest honky tonk and sweetest ballads, and    [ read more ]

CD $13.26

Released in 1982 to commemorate a decade at Epic Records, Anniversary is a double LP (later reissued as a single CD) spanning 22 tracks and containing all of George Jones' big hits, from 1972's "A Picture of Me (Without You)" to 1982's "Same Ole Me," all produced by Billy Sherrill. Broken down to the details, it's an impressive, weighty collection and would be essential just for having such exquisitely crafted and sang hits as "We Can Make It," "The Grand Tour," "The Door," {&"Onc   [ read more ]

CD $7.59

Recorded for the television program {#Church Street Station}, these live versions of classic George Jones songs are worth hearing even though they are not definitive. The highlights among the ten cuts include "He Stopped Loving Her Today," "I Always Get Lucky with You," "The Race Is On" and a tongue in cheek version of "No Show Jones." ~ Al Campbell, All Music Guide

CD $10.43

CD $10.43

CD $10.43

When George Jones left United Artists to join Musicor in 1965, it was decided to start off with a duet recording session with teen idol (and labelmate) Gene Pitney. The session resulted in two duet albums -- George Jones & Gene Pitney and It's Country Time Again -- as well as a solo country album by Pitney, The Country Side of Gene Pitney. Bear Family's George Jones & Gene Pitney collects the 31 songs recorded during these sessions. For a seemingly unlikely pairing, the t   [ read more ]

CD $21.83

Greatest Country Hits is a budget-line, 11 track CD covering Jones' biggest hits for United Artists, all presented in their original recordings. While this collection does a fair job, subsequent reissues have made this largely unnecessary. It is notable for the inclusion of "You Comb Her Hair," a number five hit in 1963 that is unavailable on the other UA collections. ~ Chris Woodstra, All Music Guide

CD $7.58

This is a budget comp of George Jones during his United Artists years, and is about one-third the size of the more expensive double CD issued by Razor & Tie. Still, the latter set is superior in sound, documentation, and, of course, selection. This version, issued by Capitol/EMI Special Markets (read: the reissue bargain-basement bin division), seems to have been picked strictly by random from those tapes as there are only a few singles here; none of the duets with Melba Montgomery, either. T   [ read more ]

CD $6.63

CD $7.58

So paired because they appear to be reminiscences and elegies to George Jones' legendary failed marriage to Tammy Wynette, this two-fer of The Battle and Memories of Us reveals that the records aren't all that thematic, no matter what the {-Rolling Stone Record Guide} may claim. If anything, these two records are more formulaic than the two records comprising the two-fer of A Picture of Me (Without You)/Nothing Ever Hurt Me (Half as Bad as Losing You), which isn't necessarily a bad thing -- i   [ read more ]

CD $17.08

George Jones' third MCA album is a 10-track, pure country outing. Despite the digital sound and short running time (less than 32 minutes), it is produced in classic fiddle/steel instrumental glory. Jones sounds steely on the title cut, and such songs as "I've Still Got Some Hurtin' Left to Do" and "Tear Me Out of the Picture" are the type of earnest, unsophisticated heartache songs that define country. He concludes things with a tribute to the departed Conway Twitty, an urgent "Hello Darlin'" th   [ read more ]

CD $6.63