The Smiley Smile Message Board

Heard the terrible news a few minutes ago....

R.I.P. ol' Possum


From his Facebook site:

Country Music Hall of Famer, Grand Ole Opry member, and Kennedy Center Honoree George Glenn Jones died Friday, April 26, 2013 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. He was hospitalized April 18 with fever and irregular blood pressure.


Our thoughts and prayers go out to Nancy and the rest of the family


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYQViYm92hg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfgFG-Xvj0k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyvIVD4wEHs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbZqMc-SlWM

Sad, just the other week Annette Funicello passed away.

Life is a gift. I think about that often.

George Jones was an American original. Love how hardcore his subjects were. You would never hear a top 20 country star today singing about wife swapping and if they did it would be in a funny-jokey kind of way. George was for real.

A great one gone.

Sad to hear. I think he had perhaps the best pure voice in all of country music past and present, I don't think many could argue that point. He's like the Sinatra of country singers, when you hear him telling the story it feels like you're talking to an old friend, and the main character of the lyric is actually the guy you're hearing. Sinatra + Jones.

And on the lighter side, apart from the legacy of his music, Nashville is full of classic George Jones stories.  :)

If I want to listen to real country, and I mean real, honest country music, George is at the top of that playlist.

This has become one of my favorite songs of all time, and listen to those lyrics and the way George sings them...so many of us have been there at least once in our lives: "Just One More"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr4CHFXXM-Q (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr4CHFXXM-Q)

If I could go back and decide about the guest - and songlist for "Stars & Stripes", George Jones would do "God only knows"

George Jones - Kennedy Center Honors 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zearnWM5ZFE

Part1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goWRus0nfpI

Part2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrwClPrbU2k

George Jones - Kennedy Center Honors 2008 - Film Tribute
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGhMnWSJs8U

RIP
George was amazing.
Jim Carrey looks exactly like him. Maybe they can cast Jim in a film about him. That would rule.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Onfce-UNmmE

I can't believe I never noticed that before.  :lol

You're not the only one. I'd never thought about that.... but:

(http://www.hopelessbleakdespair.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/George.jpg)

(http://a2.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/77/a5f68b5df0b91e7d97c7a7e13cb21b7b/l.jpg)

Touching song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owWNCNyEuYI  :(

Here's Jim in Me, Myself and Irene
(http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/Me--Myself---Irene-jim-carrey-141819_297_450.jpg)

(http://www.hopelessbleakdespair.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/George.jpg)

(http://www.wearysloth.com/Gallery/ActorsC/2760-25222.gif)

‍

Some more Jones for you:


George Jones at the Grand Ole Opry 1996
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0tvAfH3-YA

George Jones-Nothing's Ever Hurt Me Half As Bad As Losing You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT0XF0f2z9c

George Jones - I'll Be Over You (When The Grass Grows Over Me)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QZzrVKGnOk

George Jones & Melba Montgomery - We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ol3_5W4Um4

George Jones - I Heard You Crying In Your Sleep
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgWGCcKVpSU

George Jones - Peace In The Valley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn6DxV8XTAQ

George Jones - You Done Me Wrong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjeA7Z8s3aI

George Jones & Dolly Parton - The Blues Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV_1y5diNEo

George Jones - Funny how time slips away
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X_2P5aT0iY

There are a few problems with casting Jim as the Possum - the first being that Texans, who take very deep pride in ole George being one of their own, would be up in arms over a Canadian playing him.

The second is that Carrey would really have to get his habitual vibrato as a singer under control.  The Possum always knew just when to bring a little vibrato in for maximum impact, and when to keep it out.

The third is that Carrey likes to get "into" his roles, Andy Kaufman being a prime example - and getting into playing George Jones too much can be pretty damn hazardous to your health - and other people's too, even if you're on a riding mower.

That is if you want him to sing instead of using Jones' recordings. I'm for the latter all the way through. I didn't like the actors' singing in "Walk the line" (althoughWitherspoon wasn't bad) and the thought of anyone trying to emulate George Jones makes me shudder (same as someone trying to imitate Elvis).

(https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/65628_10152306133079298_618352952_n.jpg)

"Our bed of roses"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cV8e-0V1OY

George Jones live in Knoxville 1993, complete show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MhmQ56OTnc

I've loved the way he sings! The only one who could sing like him was Merle Haggard. His cover of "She Thinks I Still Care" is so great.

Well, they both have a totally different singing style. But maybe you're talking about imitation? Dunno, but Hank jr. does a very good imitation of George Jones

In Haggard's version of She Thinks I Still Care he sang like him, but with a Merle twist though. I'll have to look up the Hank Jr. stuff....

Oh I see. Didn't understand what you meant at first.
There are some live recording of Hank jr. doing impressions of some country artists and he did a nice Jones. But that was just between songs.
My favorite version of "She thinks I still care" is Elvis' btw. On the other hand I like Jones' "Love coming down" better than Presley's

RIP George.  You will be missed.

Such a giant icon.

Still grieving the loss of The Possum. No one sang like him.


but he did owe something to Johnny Paycheck for the style they developed together. George paid for the plot where Paycheck was buried... right next to his own future gravesite.

God bless you George.

Is This How A Broken Heart Dies? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIAJcQni_f8)

Paycheck had a very distinctive voice himself. He also wrote "Once you've had the best" for example which was a hit for George. I love their duet of "Maybelline". So great

Check out this episode of the George Jones Show with Johnny Paycheck and others
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtE6k6vQJxw

This could be interesting:

http://www.theboot.com/2013/06/18/george-jones-biopic-feature-film/

Here's the grand ol' Opry show from the night George died.

www.wsmonline.com/files/8013/6724/9548/WSM_Friday_Night_Opry_4.26.13.mp3

and here's the show from the next night. 


www.wsmonline.com/files/4213/6725/7941/Grand_Ole_Opry_4.27.13.mp3


The more famous stars usually come on late in the show if you decide to listen to any of it.

Thanks Ron!


I'm almost through reading Jones' autobiography. Here's something that might be interesting.


"I was cold sober, but not too crazy about doing an outdoor show in the early 1980s at the Washington Monument in the nations' capital, where I was supposed to be part of a Fourth of July program with the Beach Boys and other acts. Approximately seventy-five thousand people were there. I was supposed to be paid fifty thousand dollars for only thirty minutes.
But I should have never been booked on that show. It was a Beach Boys crowd, a rock'n'roll crowd. My restlessness mounted all day. I was sure that the young people who had come to see the Beach Boys would make fun of me. By the time it was my turn to go on, I was a nervous wreck.
I would have gone on nonetheless if the Beach Boys hadn't run twenty minutes over schedule. By that time the crowd was frantic with excitement, and I didn't think a hillbilly singer could follow one of the greatest rock bands of all time. And twenty minutes is an eternity when you're dreading something."


I liked that part because earlier he had written that he listened to nothing but country music and was totally out of touch. He knew the Beatles and listened to the Rolling Stones sometimes but only for hearing Richards' guitar playing. When he was introduced to Neil Young backstage he didn't know who Young was which caused the latter to leave in anger. When James Talyor wrote "Bartender's blues" for George he also didn't know who that was. So I was pleasantly surprised at the nice words on the Boys. Just made me wondering more what would've been if he was asked to sing "God only knows" on Stars&Stripes.

Interestingly enough George played on a bill with the Stones for 3 days at the Texas Fair in San Antonio in JUne 64 on the Stones first tour (they didn't have a hit in the states and played to mostly small crowds)

Yep, he mentioned that in the book as well. The Stones had to loan the amps from George and his band

PLAYIN' POSSUM! THE FINAL NO SHOW RELEASES FULL PERFORMER LIST (WITH A FEW SURPRISES!!)
10/30/13

Recognized worldwide as the “greatest living country singer,” George Jones represented everything about Country Music and was loved by fellow artists, musicians, producers, publishers, songwriters, video directors and industry executives. On November 22nd, Nashville and beyond will honor the music legend with an all-star tribute, the date that George was to perform the final show of his illustrious career.

“I am so excited how this show has evolved and I will be forever grateful to the artists that are coming to honor George,” says Nancy Jones. “The evening might be long, but I don’t think people will be upset as they will witness the best musical tribute Nashville has ever seen with so many artists performing George Jones songs.”

Playin’ Possum! The Final NO SHOW talent list: (in alphabetical order based on first name, not order of performance)
Alabama, Alan Jackson, Baillie & the Boys, Big & Rich, Bill Anderson, Blake Shelton, Bobby Bare, Brad Paisley, Brenda Lee, Chad Warrix (Halfway to Hazzard), Charlie Daniels, Collin Raye, Craig Morgan, Dailey & Vincent, Daryle Singletary, Dierks Bentley, Eddy Raven, Emmylou Harris, Eric Church, Eric Lee Beddingfield, Gary Morris, George Strait, Greg Bates, Gretchen Wilson, Jamey Johnson, Janie Fricke, Jeanne Pruett, Jeannie Seely, Jessi Colter, Jett Williams, Jim Ed Brown, Jim Lauderdale, Jimmy C. Newman, Jimmy Wayne, John Conlee, John Michael Montgomery, Josh Turner, Kathy Mattea, Kentucky Headhunters, Kid Rock, Larry Gatlin, Lee Ann Womack, Lee Greenwood, Leona Williams, Lisa Matassa, Little Jimmy Dickens, Lorrie Morgan, Lynn Anderson, Mandy Barnett, Mark Collie, Martina McBride, Megadeth, Miranda Lambert, Montgomery Gentry, The Oak Ridge Boys, Pam Tillis, Patty Loveless, Ray Stevens, Reba McEntire, Rodney Atkins, Ronnie McDowell, The Roys, Sam Moore, Shooter Jennings, Stonewall Jackson, Suzy Bogguss, T. Graham Brown, Tanya Tucker, Teea Goans, TG Sheppard, Thompson Square, Tracy Lawrence, Travis Tritt, and Vince Gill … plus some surprise guests!!!!

Although the show is SOLD OUT, a special VIP package which includes a show ticket, a VIP pre-show reception with Nancy Jones, and other special items are available on a limited basis. These packages are only available at http://cwired.co/GJ13VIP22

Playin’ Possum! The Final NO SHOW is being produced by Mike Smardak of Outback Concerts, with Suzzane Skinner serving as Talent Producer, Kirt Webster serving as Show Producer, Bobby Birkhead serving as Music Director, Sherry Hohimer handling VIP ticketing, fan club, and serving as assistant to Nancy Jones, and Getty Images will serve as exclusive photojournalists for the evening.







Source: http://www.georgejones.com/news.php/2013/10/30/playin-possum-the-final-no-show-releases

George Jones celebrated at Nashville tribute concert

http://blogs.tennessean.com/tunein/2013/11/22/stars-remember-george-jones-at-nashville-tribute-concert/

Found this article by Nick Tosches from '94 online:



The Devil in George Jones
The survivor of a long and torturous journey, George Jones stands alone as the greatest country singer alive. - See more at: http://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/the-devil-in-george-jones/#sthash.agOKYG1H.dpuf

http://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/the-devil-in-george-jones/