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.
Rollin' In My Sweet Baby's Arms
George Jones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Rollin' in my sweet baby's arms
Lay around the shack till the mail train comes back
And I'll roll in my sweet baby's arms.
I ain't gonna work on the railroad
And I ain't gonna work on the farm
I'll lay around the shack till the mail train comes back
Rollin' in my sweet baby's arms
Rollin' in my sweet baby's arms
Lay around the shack till the mail train comes back
And I'll roll in my sweet baby's arms.
Mama's a beauty operator
Sister can wheel and can spin
Dad owns an interest in an old cotton gin
Just watch that old cotton roll in.
Rollin' in my sweet baby's arms
Rollin' in my sweet baby's arms
Lay around the shack till the mail train comes back
And I'll roll in my sweet baby's arms.
Well where were you last Saturday night
While I was laying in jail
Walkin' the streets with another man
You wouldn't even go my bail.
Rollin' in my sweet baby's arms
Rollin' in my sweet baby's arms
Lay around the shack till the mail train comes back
And I'll roll in my sweet baby's arms
"Rollin' In My Sweet Baby's Arms" is a bluegrass classic, originally written by the Monroe Brothers in 1934. The lyrics tell a simple story of a guy who plans to lay around his shack until the mail train comes, which is likely to be another day or so. The man is content just to be with his sweetheart and to enjoy the simple pleasures of life.
The first verse repeats the chorus twice, and emphasizes the idea of enjoying one's time with one's loved one. The second verse highlights the singer's rejection of traditional work options, and his preference for laid-back living. He doesn't want to work on the railroad or in the fields; he just wants to hang around his shack and be with his girl.
The third verse offers a bit more detail about the singer's family. His mother is a beautician, his sister is a skilled spinner and weaver, and his father owns a piece of a local cotton gin. The fourth verse turns to an unfortunate recent event in our protagonist's life. He's recently been in jail, and his partner didn't lift a finger to help him out.
Overall, "Rollin' In My Sweet Baby's Arms" is a feel-good tune with a simple message to appreciate the good times with the people you love.
Line by Line Meaning
Rollin' in my sweet baby's arms
I am enjoying the comfort and love of my sweetheart's embrace.
Rollin' in my sweet baby's arms
I am happily resting in my sweet baby's loving care.
Lay around the shack till the mail train comes back
I have nothing important to do until the mail train arrives, so I will stay at home with my love.
And I'll roll in my sweet baby's arms.
I will continue to enjoy the happy and loving company of my sweetheart.
I ain't gonna work on the railroad
I have no desire to work hard labor jobs like railroad work.
And I ain't gonna work on the farm
I have no desire to work on a farm or do the demanding work involved with it.
Mama's a beauty operator
My mother is skilled in the art of making people beautiful through cosmetology.
Sister can wheel and can spin
My sister is talented at spinning yarn and making textiles.
Dad owns an interest in an old cotton gin
My father has a financial interest in an old machine used to process cotton.
Just watch that old cotton roll in.
It is fascinating to see how the cotton is processed in the gin.
Well where were you last Saturday night
I would like to know where you were on the night I was in jail.
While I was laying in jail
While I was spending the night behind bars for some unknown reason.
Walkin' the streets with another man
You were seen walking around with another man.
You wouldn't even go my bail.
You did not care enough to try to help me out of jail by paying my bail.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BUCK OWENS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@vmcla
Everytime I think there aren't any more George & Tammy duets to learn and enjoy... another one comes along! This is a real favorite.... Stuck in my head for days now... Thank you.
@Countrygurl894
George and Tammy is one of the all time great country duos. I never discovered them until I was 16 and listenting to a late night radio show and heard on of his songs.
@Countrygurl894
George and Tammy were one of the best country duos! When I first started listening to country music I never knew who George Jones was until I was 16 and started listening to the late night stuff on the radio. Now he's become one of my favorite singers of all time
@begoneu
Country Royalty Here!!
@simonne234
WOW WHAT CaN i SAY
@chasptrs.4922
So sad , where are they now ? They left us with "good" music to remember them, till we have to part and perhaps never meet again.