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.
Take These Chains from My Heart
George Jones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You've grown cold and no longer care for me
All my faith in you is gone but the heartaches linger on
Take these chains from my heart and set me free
Take these tears from my eyes and let me see just a spark of the love that used to be
If you love somebody new let me find a new love too
Take these chains from my heart and set me free
Give my heart just a word of sympathy be as fair to my heart as you can be
Then if you no longer care for the love that's beating there
Take these chains from my heart and set me free
When tears come down...
In George Jones's song "Take These Chains from My Heart", the singer is pleading for their partner to release them from a loveless and painful relationship. The first verse focuses on the singer's absolute loss of faith in the love they once shared with their partner, who has grown cold and distant. However, despite their realization of the relationship's hopelessness, the "heartaches linger on" until their partner removes the metaphorical chains that bind the singer to the unfulfilling relationship. In the second verse, the singer begs for their partner to show them even a small sign of the love that they used to have, but simultaneously asks for the freedom to find a new love if their partner has already moved on. The final plea of the song urges their partner to at least be empathetic towards the pain that the singer is experiencing, and to set them free from the chains of heartache and sorrow.
This song was written in 1956 by Fred Rose and Hy Heath, and was recorded by various artists including Ray Charles and Hank Williams Jr. However, it was George Jones's rendition in 1962 that became the most popular and memorable version. Aside from its commercial success, "Take These Chains from My Heart" has also been praised for Jones's emotive vocal performance, which portrays the singer's desolation and yearning for freedom.
Line by Line Meaning
Take these chains from my heart and set me free
Please remove the emotional burden that you have placed upon me and allow me to experience freedom again.
You've grown cold and no longer care for me
You have become emotionally distant from me and no longer have any feelings of affection for me.
All my faith in you is gone but the heartaches linger on
Although I no longer believe in the love that we once had, the pain and emotional distress associated with our relationship still continues to affect me.
Take these tears from my eyes and let me see just a spark of the love that used to be
Remove the sadness that fills my eyes and allow me to see even a small glimpse of the love that we shared in the past.
If you love somebody new let me find a new love too
If you have moved on to love someone else, please allow me the opportunity to also find love with someone new.
Give my heart just a word of sympathy be as fair to my heart as you can be
Please demonstrate some level of emotional support and empathy towards me, treating my heart with fairness and kindness.
Then if you no longer care for the love that's beating there
If you are no longer invested in the love that we once shared, and it no longer holds value to you,
Take these chains from my heart and set me free
I implore you once more to release me from this emotional bondage and provide a sense of liberation.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Fred Rose, Hy Heath
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
fernanda gray
My dear George Jones ... you are # 1 in my books ..God send you to this world to make see what music is... I can not get enough of your music, I listen to the words on this song and I say WOW beautiful.. it's like this song was meant for me as I have these chains that won't let go.. thanks for posting this one , May God bless all the one who listen to George
laslos3
man...I just love a good George Jones song...even with a cover he nails it!
1973JavelinMan
The thing that makes george so speacial is he don't consider him self great! He just sings his songs, and honors others by singin thier hits. A true one of a kind talent,man and legend.
Arsenal Mad
George Jones was inextricably linked with greatness.❤️
Gwen Weaver
This is a great rendition of this song. Good 'ole George can sing anything.
William Harper
George Jones was a great singer and he did a excellent job on this song.
simonne234
there will never be anyone that can come close to singing like George Jone....wow
William Pitman
George at his best. Fantastic, what a style.This is true country.
TheCanadianIndian
My parents used to play his vivyls(33rpm) on a flip-out record player. My two sisters and myself used to do the twist to his music. My mom used to make us do that for her visiotrs, as well. I am 40+ now and i just got want to his concert on Feb 19,2011 at the Texas Station, in the Las Vegas area, - and he still has it.
Jim Langford
He is the greatest!!!