乔治·琼斯

生平

1931年9月12日，乔治·琼斯生于美国得克萨斯州哈丁县，长于橙县。七岁时，琼斯从父母送他的收音机中第一次听到乡村音乐，九岁时得到第一把吉他，之后不久便开始在得克萨斯州博蒙特的街头卖艺赚钱。

12岁时，琼斯来到杰斯帕县做电台歌手，1949年，著名乡村音乐歌手汉克·威廉斯遇到琼斯，并劝说年轻的琼斯更应展示自己的特点而不要一味模仿Roy Acuff等一些流行歌手。

19岁时，琼斯与Dorothy Bonvillion结婚，但很快即在他们的女儿出生前离婚。朝鲜战争爆发后，琼斯加入美国海军陆战队，但未赴前线，自1950年入伍后一直在加利福尼亚州服役。

1953年退伍后，琼斯签约了唱片公司Starday Records，1954年，他发行了第一首单曲 No Money in This Deal，同年琼斯与第二任妻子Shirley Corley结婚。

2013年4月26日，因病于田纳西州纳什维尔逝世。

George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice and phrasing. For the last two decades of his life, he was frequently referred to as "the greatest living country singer" and "The Rolls-Royce of Country Music".

In 1959, Jones recorded "White Lightning", written by The Big Bopper, which launched his career as a singer. Years of alcoholism and drug addiction severely compromised his health and led to his missing many performances, earning him the nickname "No Show Jones". He died in 2013, aged 81, from hypoxic respiratory failure.

Life and career

Early years (1931–1953)

George Glenn Jones was born on September 12, 1931, in Saratoga, Texas, and was raised with a brother and five sisters in Colmesneil, in the Big Thicket region of southeast Texas. His father, George Washington Jones, worked in a shipyard and played harmonica and guitar; his mother, Clara (née Patterson), played piano in the Pentecostal church on Sundays. When Jones was born, his arm was broken when one of the doctors dropped him. He heard country music for the first time when he was seven, when his parents bought a radio. Jones recalled to Billboard in 2006 that he would lie in bed with his parents on Saturday nights listening to the Grand Ole Opry, and would insist that his mother wake him if he fell asleep so that he could hear Roy Acuff or Bill Monroe.

In his autobiography I Lived To Tell It All, Jones recalled that the early death of his sister Ethel worsened his father's drinking problem, which caused him to be physically and emotionally abusive to his wife and children.……

Artistry

Billboard wrote: "His baritone evoked yearning, hard living and heartache in tales that echoed country music's deepest traditions."

Legacy

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 promoted younger country singers that he felt shared his passion about the music. In 1995, Alan Jackson said, "Everybody knows he's a great singer, 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!"

Duets

Jones released many duets over the course of his career. While his songs with Tammy Wynette are his best known, Jones claimed in his autobiography that he felt his duets with Melba Montgomery were his best. Jones also recorded duet albums with Gene Pitney and his former bass player Johnny Paycheck. Jones also recorded the duet albums My Very Special Guests (1979), A Taste of Yesterday's Wine with Merle Haggard (1982), Ladies Choice (1984), Friends In High Places (1991), The Bradley Barn Sessions (1994), God's Country: George Jones And Friends (2006), a second album with Merle Haggard called Kickin' Out The Footlights...Again (2006), and Burn Your Playhouse Down (2008).

Discography

Number-one country hits

"White Lightning" (1959)

"Tender Years" (1961)

"She Thinks I Still Care" (1962)

"Walk Through This World with Me" (1967)

"We're Gonna Hold On" (with Tammy Wynette) (1973)

"The Grand Tour" (1974)

"The Door" (1975)

"Golden Ring" (with Tammy Wynette) (1976)

"Near You" (with Tammy Wynette) (1977)

"He Stopped Loving Her Today" (1980)

"Still Doin' Time" (1981)

"Yesterday's Wine" (with Merle Haggard) (1982)

"I Always Get Lucky with You" (1983)