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 giftβa 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.
Let's Get Together
George Jones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For your hungers and my heart don't agree
So let's celebrate our party with a party
Let's get together before we go our seperate ways.
Let's get together just one time, once again
To cover up the beginning of the end
And though we both have agreed to disagree
--- Instrumental ---
I'll pick you up same place, same time as always
Don't be late for this is out last date
We'll have tonight to remember yesterday
Let's get together before we go our seperate ways.
Let's get together just one time, once again
To cover up the beginning of the end
And though we both have agreed to disagree
Let's get together one more time then we'll be free.
Let's get together one more time then we'll be free...
The lyrics to George Jones's song Let's Get Together express a bittersweet sentiment about the end of a relationship. The singer acknowledges that he and his partner are no longer able to continue their relationship due to differing wants and needs, but instead of ending things on a sour note, he suggests celebrating their time together with a party. He invites his partner to join him one last time, reminiscing on all the memories they've shared, and trying to cover up the beginning of the end. Despite their disagreements, he believes that one more night together will bring them closure and allow them to move on with their lives.
The song's lyrics capture the complex emotions associated with the end of a relationship, particularly one that wasn't necessarily bad, but simply didn't work out. They also highlight the importance of cherishing the time you've spent with someone, even if it comes to an end. By suggesting a celebration instead of a parting, the singer shows that he values the time he's shared with his partner, even if it wasn't always perfect.
Overall, Let's Get Together is a touching song that tugs at the heartstrings. It offers a message of hope and a reminder to cherish the moments and memories you share with those you love, even if they can't last forever.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, it's true that we just can't live together
We must part ways because of our different desires and feelings.
For your hungers and my heart don't agree
Our wants and emotions clash and cannot coexist.
So let's celebrate our party with a party
Let's have one last hurrah together.
Let's get together before we go our seperate ways.
Let's spend time with each other before we part.
I'll pick you up same place, same time as always
I will continue our routine for one last time.
Don't be late for this is out last date
Please don't be tardy since this is our final meeting.
We'll have tonight to remember yesterday
We can reminisce and enjoy our memories for one last night.
Let's get together just one time, once again
We should meet up one final time.
To cover up the beginning of the end
To divert attention from the start of the end of our relationship.
And though we both have agreed to disagree
We know we have different opinions and we've accepted that fact.
Let's get together one more time then we'll be free.
After this last meeting, we can move on and be free from each other.
Let's get together one more time then we'll be free...
Finalizing the idea that after this last time, we'll both be free from the relationship.
Contributed by Logan J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@miltonmoore5294
Sounds like they
will ultimately be
getting back together at least
several more times before they
call it quits, and
they are just fooling themselves. (I love
the way George Jones pronounces
the word can't as
KAINT in the beginning of the
song. That's as
"country" as you
can get! Wanda
Jackson does
the same thing.)
Thanks, BeMisty!
@BeMisty
If you like Classic Country Music, take a look on my YouTube channel.
@hankfanhankfan7815
I prefer his duets with Melba over the ones with Tammy. I just uploaded their version of "Living on Easy Street."
@Hollcall
Melba could "Hold Her Own" with the POSSUM...............few females voices could. Bravo Melba.
@donnachapelcuno4604
My dad Don Chapel wrote this great song!!!!
@MadMax-lo1lm
I think Melba is one of the most underrated of country singers. The more I hear her voice, the more I like her. George Jones is my favorite male country singer. Beautiful video. Thanks for the upload.
@BeMisty
Thanks and you're welcome =) I love her voice!
@countryboywilliams6755
JUST FOUND THIS ONE....THESE TWO WERE A GREAT DUET.....LOVE MELBA....R.I.P. GEO
@ruthboykin9873
Enjoyed listening again to this great song by them. Thank you Bianca.
@wilmacurley6631
Very cool with a vocal & amazing women πππ
@censoricban6905
thanks for posting.. i like.the.voice of melba..