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.
The Old Old House
George Jones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There's an old old house that once was a mansion
On a hill overlookin' the own
Where time's left a wreck where once was a beauty
And soon the old house will tumble down
And the raindrops drip from the trees
There's an old old man who walks in the garden
And his head is bowed in memory.
They say he built the mansion for the love of a woman
And they planned to be married in the fall
But her love withered in the last days of summer
And the house stands empty after all.
The Old Old House by George Jones is a beautifully poignant song about the passing of time and the memories it leaves behind. The song talks about an old house that was once a grand mansion, perched on a hill, that has now fallen to ruin. The singer sings about an old man who strolls in the garden, his head bowed with memories of years gone by. The lyrics of the song capture the essence of melancholy, and time's ruthless ability to steal away the beauty of life, leaving only memories behind.
The song's lyrics also speak of a tragic love story, which adds an additional layer of sadness to the song. The singer says that the mansion was built by a man for the love of a woman, whom he planned to marry in the fall. However, the woman's love withered away in the last days of summer, and the house stood empty and alone, a monument to their failed love story.
Through this powerful tale, George Jones highlights the importance of memories and the beauty of the past. The nostalgia evoked by the song is hauntingly beautiful, and the lyrics express a sense of longing for what once was, and what could have been. The Old Old House is a breathtakingly sad and beautiful song that will make you appreciate the beauty of life, even if it is fleeting.
Line by Line Meaning
There's an old old house that once was a mansion
There is an ancient building that was formerly a grand estate
On a hill overlookin' the town
This structure is situated on a height, giving a view of the town below
Where time's left a wreck where once was a beauty
Although once beautiful, time has left the house in dilapidated condition
And soon the old house will tumble down
The structure is on the verge of collapsing very soon
When the leaves begin to fall in the autumn
This old place looks even sadder in the season of autumn when leaves fall
And the raindrops drip from the trees
Water droplets from the trees also add to the melancholy scenario
There's an old old man who walks in the garden
An elderly gentleman visits the house and goes to the garden
And his head is bowed in memory
His nostalgia towards the place is so intense that he bows his head in reverence
They say he built the mansion for the love of a woman
Rumor has it that he constructed the mansion for his lover
And they planned to be married in the fall
They had intended to get married in the autumn season
But her love withered in the last days of summer
However, his lady's affections faded in the final stage of summer
And the house stands empty after all
Eventually, the house remains deserted and unoccupied
Lyrics © GLAD MUSIC CO.
Written by: GEORGE JONES, HAL BYNUM
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
ricky french
The singers singer George Jones had 168 songs that made the billboards! The most of any artist in country music history!!
Louann Clark
George Jones King of Real Country Music !! ❤️
diamondice02
It don't matter who wrote it, George nailed it. Just like every song he does!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NICK TCB
Now that's music.
Italian Traditional Catholic
He just sang a bluegrass song
Joe Knott
At the Opry on a Friday night, Bill Monroe's voice completely broke singing this and I though Charlie Smith his fiddle player was going to have to take over. George Jones can break down the great Bill Monroe what change do we have. The Greatest Country Music singer that every lived George Jones and he was a great song writer too.
Calvin Watkins
Joe Knott Play the song
Vincent Mc Breen
Don't matter who wrote it.....d Possum is d only one that could add a real Heart to it..like he has done with all other songs he ever put that glorious voice to....miss you so much George Country King Jones R.I.P.
Carolyn Brown
This song was one of two songs that inspired me to write
The Lilac Bouquet, which will be released on March 28, next Tuesday. The other song is "Hickory Holler's Tramp". Two beautiful songs that I listened to over and over as I wrote this book.
Teresa McClanahan
I Love this song and as much as I’ve Loved, known and listened to George Jones my whole life. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard this song before, I Loved it! 😍🥰♥️🎶 Thanks so much for sharing! 😊