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.
Honky Tonkin'
George Jones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Call me up, sweet baby, and bring along some dough
And we'll go honky tonkin', honky tonkin'
We'll go honky tonkin', honey baby
We'll go honky tonkin' 'round this town
When you and your baby have a fallin' out
Call me up sweet mama and we'll go steppin' out
And we'll go honky tonkin', honey baby
We'll go honky tonkin' 'round this town
We're goin' to the city, to the city fair
If you go to the city baby then you're gonna find me there
And we'll go honky tonkin', honky tonkin'
And we'll go honky tonkin', honey baby
We'll go honky tonkin' 'round this town
The opening lines of George Jones's "Honky Tonkin'" describe a state of despair and loneliness, with the singer suggesting that a solution to this sadness would be to call him and "bring along some dough." This could be interpreted as a request for payment for his services as a companion, or it could be seen as an indication that he intends to take them to a bar or club where they will drink and dance the night away. Either way, the suggestion is that honky tonking, or going out to drink and dance, is a cure for loneliness.
In the following verses, the singer suggests that if the person he is addressing has a falling out with their usual partner or lover, they should call him instead and he will take them out honky tonkin'. This could be seen as a romantic offering, with the singer implying that he would be a better partner or lover than the one they just fell out with. Alternatively, it could again be interpreted as a business proposition, with the singer offering to provide companionship or entertainment for a fee.
As the song progresses, the singer suggests that they will go honky tonkin' in various locations, from "around this town" to "the city, to the city fair." The repetition of the phrase "honky tonkin'" throughout the song implies that this activity is central to the singer's life, and that he sees it as a solution to any problem, be it loneliness or a falling out with a lover.
Line by Line Meaning
When you are sad and lonely and have no place to go
If you're feeling down and out and don't have anywhere to turn, give me a call and bring some money with you.
Call me up, sweet baby, and bring along some dough
Let me know if you need some company, sweetie, and bring some money with you.
And we'll go honky tonkin', honky tonkin'
We'll head out to some rowdy bars and have a good time.
We'll go honky tonkin', honey baby
Just you and me, darling, we'll hit up the honky tonks around town.
We'll go honky tonkin' 'round this town
We'll make the rounds and party at all the honky tonks in this town.
When you and your baby have a fallin' out
If you and your significant other have a disagreement or argument,
Call me up sweet mama and we'll go steppin' out
Give me a call, sweetheart, and we'll go out and have fun.
We're goin' to the city, to the city fair
We're heading into the city, where there's a fair or festival happening.
If you go to the city baby then you're gonna find me there
If you end up going to the city, you'll know where to find me.
And we'll go honky tonkin', honky tonkin'
We'll hit up the bars in the city and have a good time.
And we'll go honky tonkin', honey baby
Just you and me, darling, we'll party it up in the city.
We'll go honky tonkin' 'round this town
And when we're back in town, we'll make sure to hit up all the honky tonks around here too.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Hank Williams Sr.
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Justin Curless
I saw those blue lights flashin'
Over my left shoulder
He walked right up and said,
"Get off that riding mower."
I said sir, "Let me explain
Before you put me in the tank."
She took my keys away
And now she won't drive me to drink.
I need a honky tonk song a cold cold beer
A hardwood floor a smoky atmosphere
A pocket full of change to last me all night long
I gotta hear old Hank a moanin' a honky tonk song.
--- Instrumental ---
He didn't show me much compassion
When I tried to walk that line
As he put those handcuffs on me
I said, "give me one more try."
He never even cracked a smile
When he threw me in the car
So I said, "Sir, if you don't mind,
Oh, would you drop me off in a bar."
I need a honky tonk song a cold cold beer
A hardwood floor a smoky atmosphere
A pocket full of change to last me all night long
I gotta hear old Hank a moanin' a honky tonk song.
I gotta hear old Hank a moanin' a honky tonk song...
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Yates / Meyers
Honky Tonk Song lyrics © Cedarwood Publishing, Hornall Brothers Music Ltd.
Kelton King
I love how George can make light of his past and he had little help from his fellow country music friends too!!!!!!
desirescorrupted
Son drop. Me off at the bar. BAR
The Wrinkled Page
I just love George Jones. This video shows what a great sense of humor he had.Not many people could poke fun at themselves like this. Just one more reason to love George.
Eugene Mc Cann
Candace Chira you have got that right
Dan Paxson
very true, he embraced it
Jimmy Thompson
I. Like. George. Jones. To
Noah Dempsey
@Joey McNew - (Drummer) The story is true. George was drunk at home and ran out of alchohol but his wife at the time hid the keys so he couldn't go get more since she didn't like his drinking so he decided to try and drive his lawnmower to the liqour store to get more alchohol
Dr. GreenThumbs
@Jimmy Thompson *too
Me You
George Jones is one of the best singers drunk or sober 😊🍻🍺🍺🍺🍺
Shelby Hulit
Great music George Jones will always be a legend!