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.
Talk Back Trembling Lips
George Jones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Don't let her know she's gettin' through to you
Talk back trembling lips burning eyes don't start crying
Heart don't let her know that you're breaking in two
Everyday our love's a battle royal lateseems that fighting's all we ever do
But if I let you know how much I love you you'll do things to me you shouldn't do
Talk back trembling lips...
Everytime you up and hurt my feelings I pretend it couldn't matter less
I'm just hiding all of my emotions behind the broken heart I guess
Talk back trembling lips...
Heart don't let her know that you're breaking in two
The lyrics of George Jones's "Talk Back Trembling Lips" depict a man who is trying his best to conceal his emotions and vulnerabilities to protect himself from further hurt in his tumultuous relationship. The singer pleads with himself to hold back his tears and trembling lips, not to reveal the pain he's feeling inside at the hands of his lover. He's aware that if he were to express his love freely, it would only lead to more complications and fights, so instead, he puts up a facade of toughness, pushing his emotions away and hiding behind a broken heart.
However, despite the harshness of the lyrics, the song is delivered with a tender, almost mournful quality, aided by Jones's soft, emotive voice. He conveys the heart-wrenching struggle of holding back one's love, warring with the fear of heartbreak, and the toll it can take on one's soul. The song is not just about the singer's fear of getting hurt but also about the fear of his love causing pain to the one he loves.
The lyrics of "Talk Back Trembling Lips" are a reflection of the universal experience of being in an intense, passionate relationship fraught with tension and conflict. The song speaks to the fragility of the human heart and the fear of being vulnerable, making it an emotionally stirring and relatable ballad.
Line by Line Meaning
Talk back trembling lips shaky legs don't just stand there
Don't be passive, and let her have her way. Speak up even if you're nervous and trembling.
Don't let her know she's getting through to you
Don't allow yourself to be vulnerable by showing how much she's affecting you.
Talk back trembling lips burning eyes don't start crying
Don't show weakness by bursting into tears. Keep your composure and don't let her see how much she's hurting you.
Heart don't let her know that you're breaking in two
Even though your heart is breaking, don't let her see that she's affecting you so deeply.
Everyday our love's a battle royal lately, seems that fighting's all we ever do
Our relationship has been strained recently and it feels like we argue all the time.
But if I let you know how much I love you you'll do things to me you shouldn't do
If I expose my true feelings, you'll take advantage of me and hurt me even more.
Every time you up and hurt my feelings I pretend it couldn't matter less
When you hurt me, I act as though it doesn't bother me because I don't want to give you the satisfaction of knowing that you got to me.
I'm just hiding all of my emotions behind the broken heart I guess
I'm concealing my true emotions and protecting myself from getting hurt even more.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: John Loudermilk
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Pall Mall
George Jones does the best version of any song.Becky Hobbs does a fine job on this too.
Betty Price
Love this song rest in peace george
adamtzsch
George Jones earned the rights to this song, fairly and squarely.
Joe Pafume
The Song was Ernie Ashworth's only number one song, However George and many others also covered it,. Contrary to popular belief though, the song was written by John D. Loudermilk. He was a very prolific artist, having songs recorded by many of the Early Country stars of the 50's,60,and 70's with his catalog including such hits as "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye," "Tobacco Road" and "Indian Reservation."
W Smith
This song transcends it's author and originator. Ernest Ashworth wrote and sang it first. and it was alright. In fact, it was pretty darn good. The best effort of his career. Then teen idol Johnny Tillotson did a more popular version. But in my opinion, it wasn't until George Jones got his hands on it, that 'Talk Back Trembling Lips' truly came into it's own.
kohaylan
Just for what it's worth - John D Loudermilk wrote this beauty
Ole Olson
It was #1 way back in 1963
Bill Baumgardner Sr.
GREAT SONG & SINGER!! ":)
Hector Salinas
The Johnny Tillotson version sounds too sanitized. The best versions of this song are by Ernest Ashworth, George Jones and Patsy Cline.
Earl Parms
Georges version was the first I heard. But I like Johnny's and Ernest also.