Born in Texas, Jones first heard country music when he was seven, and was given a guitar at the age of nine. He married his first wife, Dorothy Bonvillion, in 1950, and was divorced in 1951. He served in the United States Marine Corps and was discharged in 1953. He married Shirley Ann Corley in 1954. In 1959, Jones recorded "White Lightning", written by J. P. Richardson, which launched his career as a singer. His second marriage ended in divorce in 1968; he married fellow country music singer Tammy Wynette a year later. Years of alcoholism compromised his health and led to his missing many performances, earning him the nickname "No Show Jones". After his divorce from Wynette in 1975, Jones married his fourth wife, Nancy Sepulvado, in 1983 and became sober for good in 1999. Jones died in 2013, aged 81, from hypoxic respiratory failure.
George Jones has been called "The Rolls Royce Of Country Music" and had more than 160 chart singles to his name from 1955 until his death in 2013. Johnny Cash once said, "When people ask me who my favorite country singer is, I say, 'You mean besides George Jones?'"
Jones tirelessly defended the integrity of country music, telling Billboard in 2006, "It's never been for love of money. I thank God for it because it makes me a living. But I sing because I love it, not because of the dollar signs." Jones also went out of his way to promote younger country singers that he felt were as passionate about the music as he was. "Everybody knows he's a great singer," Alan Jackson stated in 1995, "but what I like most about George is that when you meet him, he is like some old guy that works down at the gas station...even though he's a legend!"
Shortly after Jones' death, Andrew Mueller wrote about his influence in Uncut, "He was one of the finest interpretive singers who ever lifted a microphone...There cannot be a single country songwriter of the last 50-odd years who has not wondered what it might be like to hear their words sung by that voice." In an article for The Texas Monthly in 1994, Nick Tosches eloquently described the singer's vocal style: "While he and his idol, Hank Williams, have both affected generations with a plaintive veracity of voice that has set them apart, Jones has an additional gift—a voice of exceptional range, natural elegance, and lucent tone. Gliding toward high tenor, plunging toward deep bass, the magisterial portamento of his onward-coursing baritone emits white-hot sparks and torrents of blue, investing his poison love songs with a tragic gravity and inflaming his celebrations of the honky-tonk ethos with the hellfire of abandon." In the New Republic essay "Why George Jones ranks with Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday," David Hajdu writes:
"Jones had a handsome and strange voice. His singing was always partly about the appeal of the tones he produced, regardless of the meaning of the words. In this sense, Jones had something in common with singers of formal music and opera, though his means of vocal production were radically different from theirs. He sang from the back of his throat, rather than from deep in his diaphragm. He tightened his larynx to squeeze sound out. He clenched his jaw, instead of wriggling it free. He forced wind through his teeth, and the notes sounded weirdly beautiful."
David Cantwell recalled in 2013, "His approach to singing, he told me once, was to call up those memories and feelings of his own that most closely corresponded to those being felt by the character in whatever song he was performing. He was a kind of singing method actor, creating an illusion of the real." In the liner notes to Essential George Jones: The Spirit of Country Rich Kienzle states, "Jones sings of people and stories that are achingly human. He can turn a ballad into a catharsis by wringing every possible emotion from it, making it a primal, strangled cry of anguish". In 1994, country music historian Colin Escott pronounced, "Contemporary country music is virtually founded on reverence for George Jones. Walk through a room of country singers and conduct a quick poll, George nearly always tops it." In the wake of Jones's death, Merle Haggard pronounced in Rolling Stone, "His voice was like a Stradivarius violin: one of the greatest instruments ever made." Emmylou Harris wrote, "when you hear George Jones sing, you are hearing a man who takes a song and makes it a work of art - always," a quote that appeared on the sleeve of Jones' 1976 album The Battle. In the documentary Same Ole Me, several country music stars offer similar thoughts. Randy Travis: "It sounds like he's lived every minute of every word that he sings and there's very few people who can do that"; Tom T. Hall: "It was always Jones who got the message across just right"; and Roy Acuff: "I'd give anything if I could sing like George Jones". In the same film, producer Billy Sherrill states, "All I did was change the instrumentation around him. I don't think he's changed at all."
On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed George Jones among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
A Picture Of Me
George Jones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Then think of a church with nobody prayin'
If you've ever looked up at a sky with no blue
Then you've seen a picture of me without you
Have you walked in a garden where nothing was growin'
Or stood by a river where nothing was flowin'
If you've seen a red rose unkissed by the dew
Can you picture Heaven with no angels singin'
Or a quiet Sunday morning with no church bells ringin'
If you've watched as the heart of a child breaks in two
Then you've seen a picture of me without you
George Jones's song "A Picture Of Me" is a poignant ballad about the feeling of emptiness one feels without their significant other. The song's opening lyrics are intended to be evocative in nature as they take the listener through different surreal scenarios, asking them to visualize a world without music or a church without anyone praying. Each scenario seems incomplete and it is difficult to imagine what such a world would look like, yet the singer suggests that this is what it feels like to be without their partner. The lyrics urge the listener to further imagine a sky without blue, a garden where nothing grows or a river where nothing flows, each of which represents a deeper sense of loss and longing.
The opening verse serves as a metaphorical introduction where George Jones sets the scene and induces curiosity in the listener. The second verse takes a more concrete approach asking the listener to imagine a place of beauty robbed of its splendor, like a red rose that has not been kissed by the dew, which is a metaphor for life without necessary elements. The final verse takes a somber tone as it compares the feeling of a world without the singer's significant other to a world without music, church bells ringing, and ultimately, brings the child's heartbreak into the picture. The song's lyrics suggest that without his partner, life is vacuous, desolate, and lacking in substance.
Line by Line Meaning
Imagine a world where no music was playin'
Picture a world without the universal language of music.
Then think of a church with nobody prayin'
Imagine a religious place without any believers or a sense of spirituality.
If you've ever looked up at a sky with no blue
Think of a cloudy, overcast sky without any hint of blue.
Then you've seen a picture of me without you
If you can visualize a world without these things, then you can imagine how I feel without you.
Have you walked in a garden where nothing was growin'
Visualize a barren garden without any signs of life or growth.
Or stood by a river where nothing was flowin'
Imagine a dry riverbed with no water or current flowing through it.
If you've seen a red rose unkissed by the dew
Picture a flower without any signs of care or nurturing, left alone to wither and fade.
Then you've seen a picture of me without you
I am like that flower without your love and care, withering away without you by my side.
Can you picture Heaven with no angels singin'
Imagine a place of great beauty and wonder without the usual sounds and sights associated with it.
Or a quiet Sunday morning with no church bells ringin'
Think of a peaceful day devoid of the sounds and atmosphere of a religious service.
If you've watched as the heart of a child breaks in two
Visualize the pain and sorrow of a young, innocent child who has been hurt.
Then you've seen a picture of me without you
I am like that broken-hearted child without you by my side, hurting and alone.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: George Richey, Norris D Wilson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@candicemhodge
Imagine a world where no music was playing
Then think of a church with nobody praying
If you ever looked up at a sky with no blue
Then you've seen a picture of me without you
Have you walked in a garden where nothing was growing
Or stood by a river where nothing was flowing
If you've seen a red rose unkissed by the dew
Then you've seen a picture of me without you
Can you picture Heaven with no angels singing
Or a quiet Sunday morning with no church bells ringing
If you've watched as the heart of a child breaks in two
Then you've seen a picture of me without you
@shaunsanborn7840
My father was a huge George Jones fan. We played this song at his funeral, because it's how we all felt...like we could never look at anything the same way again. I still break down in tears 9 years later hearing this song. Mr. Jones had the wonderful gift of putting so much feeling into a song, of letting the words flow and touch your emotions like no other musical artist.
@IronhorseRailProductions
Hey look at it this way your father's probably hanging out with George Jones right now. ;)
@rickynewhouse1117
This was played at my dad's funeral aswell it's just a heart warming song
@rickynewhouse1117
Yea hope the best for everyone
@carrieryan4175
Sorry for your loss. Mr. Jones voice reminds me of my grandparents especially Memaw. Thats all she listened to and Keith Whitley. Songs help us heal I think. Thank god for good ole country music.
@kathleenspady6340
Been..4 months....every day.....😌
@hollyjohns7291
He was the best country singer,and probably will ever be!His songs had so much feeling in them.
@DwightMelinda2023
The very best!!! NOBODY can sing like this ever again!!! Country is lost without George Jones!!!
@angelweisman
One of the most beautiful songs ever written. RIP, country music will never be the same. 😔
@charitysmith698
I no right country music was good back then but today it's not really that good has the old real country back then