Well, I’m informed that they did call George Jones the Rolls-Royce of Country Music, but I’m not sure it fits. A Rolls is posh. A Rolls isn’t for driving, it’s for being driven in. And a Rolls is British, and that’s way out of bounds for George. I understand the sentiment. Pretty much every country singer wanted to sing like George Jones. Calling him a Cadillac might seem like faint praise.
More to the point, George was a serious wildman. He stands stock-still, his lantern jaw moving in Clutch Cargo fashion, his hair laid out with a spirit level, so you might be forgiven for thinking that man in the Nudie suit must be a taciturn sort of fellow. But he was anything but. He was an ex-Marine, a famed hellraiser, a skirt chaser, and occasionally had to be put in a straitjacket and carted off to the hospital to dry out. He, ahem, liked to drink a bit. A bit of a still at a time.
No, his voice was clear and powerful, butter and a headbutt at the same time, so he’s no Rolls-Royce. We can do better than that, nickname-wise. Once, his wife tried to keep him from going out and getting drunk, and she hid all the car keys, and went to bed. When she woke up, George was missing. She drove eight miles on the highway to the next town, to the closest place he could conceivably get drunk at, and found George sitting at the bar. Their riding mower was parked out front.
The John Deere of Country Music. There, I fixed it.
11 Responses
I’ve always heard his nickname was “The Possum”
And why from here-
https://thecinemaholic.com/why-was-george-jones-called-the-possum-explained/
Old Country is the best Country – most of it, anyway.
Back then, I didn’t listen to it, except that Hee-Haw was a TV staple. Speaking of hair, it seemed to me that Country was characterized by Brylcreem and Aqua-Net.
I grew up with country and western. Nowadays, nobody even knows what Western music was. It was generally pretty happy music, like Cajun music, and wasn’t as sad as country was so often. My stepfather was a big country fan, and that’s all we ever heard on the radio. A lot of the old country artists were great but there are some new ones that are pretty good too. We used to watch Hee Haw a lot. I thought Roy Clark was an amazing musician but I couldn’t get over how goofy guys like Waylon Jennings and Buck Owens looked.
The only country album I ever wore out was by Bobby Gentry. I think it was the only album she ever put out. If I had to pick one country song or tune that is my favorite of all time that would be easy. Lester flat and Earl Scruggs 1949 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_Y3mnj-8lA&list=RDz_Y3mnj-8lA&start_radio=1 I am also partial to Dolly Parton’s Mule Skinner Blues
> I couldn’t get over how goofy guys like Waylon Jennings and Buck Owens looked.
For me, it was Conway Twitty – perhaps the King of mail hairdos.
Lately, I’ve been discovering Patty Loveless.
Patty Loveless is wonderful. Lately I have been listening to a lot of Tyler Childers I don’t think there’s anybody out there singing like him right now he’s got a wonderful voice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvvzX5mCIj0&list=RDFvvzX5mCIj0&start_radio=1
Ooh…I vote for Patsy Cline. One of the Aqua Net queens. “Crazy”.
I agree I don’t think Patsy Cline ever made a bad song. I remember aquanet, we used to put a match to it when I was a kid and turn it into a flamethrower
omg
It worked well in potato guns too.
Jones was and is a Marine- that’s ferever if you have an Honorable Discharge from the USMC
Hi Bill- You’re right of course, and I understand the distinction.