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'''George Glenn Jones''' (born September 12, 1931), sometimes called '''The Possum''', is an iconic American country singer known for his distinctive voice and phrasing that frequently, and often heart-breakingly, evoke the raw emotions caused by grief, unhappy love, and emotional hardship.  He is also known for the disordered, tempestuous life he has led; his divorces, his abuse of both alcohol and drugs, his drunken brushes with the law and near-death, all are the familiar themes grappled with in his emotion-driven and frequently desperate songs.  In spite of his career's turmoil, however, Jones has had more individual songs than any other singer on the country charts, 167 as of June, 2007, but, according to a formula derived by [[Joel Whitburn]], is second to [[Eddy Arnold]] in his overall ranking for hits and their time on the charts. He has also had the most Top 40 Hits, 143, and is second to Arnold with the most Top 10 Hits, 78.  Since at least the early 1980s he has frequently been referred to as "the greatest living country singer."  Almost as often he is called "the Rolls-Royce of country singers."  [[Frank Sinatra]] once called him "the second best white male singer."  And as the scholar Bill C. Malone writes, "For the two or three minutes consumed by a song, Jones immerses himself so completely in its lyrics, and in the mood it conveys, that the listener can scarely avoid becoming similarly involved."<ref>''Country Music U.S.A'', Bill C. Malone, page 288</ref>
'''George Glenn Jones''' (born September 12, 1931, near Saratoga, Texas), sometimes called '''The Possum''', is an iconic American country singer who is "by most accounts...the finest vocalist in the recorded history of country music" <ref>''All Music Guide to Country Music'', page 387</ref> He is known for his distinctive voice and phrasing that frequently, and often heart-breakingly, evoke the raw emotions caused by grief, unhappy love, and emotional hardship.  He is also notorious for the disordered and tempestuous life he has led; his divorces, his abuse of both alcohol and drugs, his drunken brushes with the law and near-death, all are the familiar themes grappled with in his emotion-driven and frequently desperate songs.  In spite of his career's turmoil, however, Jones has had more individual songs than any other singer on the country charts, 167 as of June, 2007, but, according to a formula derived by [[Joel Whitburn]], is second to [[Eddy Arnold]] in his overall ranking for hits and their time on the charts. He has also had the most Top 40 Hits, 143, and is second to Arnold with the most Top 10 Hits, 78.  Since at least the early 1980s he has frequently been referred to as "the greatest living country singer."  Almost as often he is called "the Rolls-Royce of country singers."  [[Frank Sinatra]] once called him "the second best white male singer."  And as the scholar Bill C. Malone writes, "For the two or three minutes consumed by a song, Jones immerses himself so completely in its lyrics, and in the mood it conveys, that the listener can scarely avoid becoming similarly involved."<ref>''Country Music U.S.A'', Bill C. Malone, page 288</ref>




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* ''Country Music U.S.A.,'' Bill C. Malone, University of Texas Press, 1985, ISBN 0-292-71096-8
* ''Country Music U.S.A.,'' Bill C. Malone, University of Texas Press, 1985, ISBN 0-292-71096-8
* ''Joel Whitburn's Top Country Songs, 1944 to 2005'', Record Research, Inc., Menomonee Falls, WS, 2005, ISBN 0-89820-165-9
* ''Joel Whitburn's Top Country Songs, 1944 to 2005'', Record Research, Inc., Menomonee Falls, WS, 2005, ISBN 0-89820-165-9
 
* ''All Music Guide to Country Music: The Definitive Guide to Country Music'', edited by Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, 2nd edition, Backbeat Books, San Francisco, California, 2003
==Notes==
==Notes==
<references/>
<references/>

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George Glenn Jones (born September 12, 1931, near Saratoga, Texas), sometimes called The Possum, is an iconic American country singer who is "by most accounts...the finest vocalist in the recorded history of country music" [1] He is known for his distinctive voice and phrasing that frequently, and often heart-breakingly, evoke the raw emotions caused by grief, unhappy love, and emotional hardship. He is also notorious for the disordered and tempestuous life he has led; his divorces, his abuse of both alcohol and drugs, his drunken brushes with the law and near-death, all are the familiar themes grappled with in his emotion-driven and frequently desperate songs. In spite of his career's turmoil, however, Jones has had more individual songs than any other singer on the country charts, 167 as of June, 2007, but, according to a formula derived by Joel Whitburn, is second to Eddy Arnold in his overall ranking for hits and their time on the charts. He has also had the most Top 40 Hits, 143, and is second to Arnold with the most Top 10 Hits, 78. Since at least the early 1980s he has frequently been referred to as "the greatest living country singer." Almost as often he is called "the Rolls-Royce of country singers." Frank Sinatra once called him "the second best white male singer." And as the scholar Bill C. Malone writes, "For the two or three minutes consumed by a song, Jones immerses himself so completely in its lyrics, and in the mood it conveys, that the listener can scarely avoid becoming similarly involved."[2]


Songs In Top 100 Since 1955

In parentheses: weeks at #1, #2, or #3[3]

No. First Charted Peak Position Weeks Charted Title
1 10/29/55 4 18 Why Baby Why, co-written by Jones
2 1/28/56 7 7 What Am I Worth, co-written by Jones
3 7/14/56 7 8 You Gotta Be My Baby, written by Jones
4 10/20/56 3 (1) 11 Just One More, written by Jones
5 5 Gonna Come Get You (Juke Box flip side hit, apparently, of Just One More), written by Jones
6 1/26/57 10 1 Yearning (with Jeanette Hicks), co-written by Jones
7 3/9/57 10 2 Don't Stop The Music, written by Jones
8 1 Uh, Uh, No (Juke Box flip side hit, apparently, of Don't Stop The Music), written by Jones
9 6/10/57 13 6 Too Much Water, co-written by Jones
10 4/14/58 7 10 Color of the Blues, co-written by Jones
11 11/17/58 6 16 Treasure of Love, co-written by Jones
12 12/8/58 29 1 If I Don't Love You (Grits Ain't Groceries), flip side, apparently, of Treasure of Love, co-written by Jones
13 3/9/59 1 (5) 22 White Lightning
14 7/20/59 7 13 Who Shot Sam, co-written by Jones
15 11/23/59 15 12 Money To Burn
16 11/23/59 19 12 Big Harlan Taylor, flip side, apparently, of Money To Burn
17 4/4/60 16 12 Accidentally On Purpose, co-written by Jones
18 4/25/60 30 1 Sparkling Brown Eyes, flip side, apparently, of Accidentally On Purpose
19 8/22/60 25 2 Out Of Control, co-written by Jones
20 11/7/60 2 (1) 34 The Window Up Above, written by Jones
21 5/29/61 16 2 Family Bible
22 6/19/61 1 (7) 32 Tender Years
23 9/18/61 15 (1) 3 Did I Ever Tell You (with Margie Singleton)
24 2/24/62 5 12 Aching, Breaking Heart
25 4/14/62 1 (6) 23 She Thinks I Still Care Grammy: Hall of Fame
26 4/28/62 17 5 Sometimes You Just Can't Win, flip side, apparently, of She Thinks I Still Care
27 6/16/62 11 10 Waltz Of The Angels (with Margie Singleton)
28 7/21/62 13 11 Open Pit Mine
29 8/25/62 28 1 You're Still On My Mind
30 10/6/62 3 (4) 18 A Girl I Used To Know (& The Jones Boys)
31 10/13/62 13 9 Big Fool Of The Year (& The Jones Boys), flip side, apparently, of A Girl I Used To Know
32 2/9/63 7 18 Not What I Had In Mind (& The Jones Boys)
33 4/6/63 29 1 I Saw Me (& The Jones Boys), co-written by Jones
34 5/4/63 3 (1) 28 We Must Have Been Out Of Our Minds (with Melba Montgomery)
35 7/13/63 5 22 You Comb Her Hair
36 11/30/63 20 5 What's In Our Heart (with Melba Montgomery), co-written by Jones
37 12/7/63 17 7 Let's Invite Them Over (with Melba Montgomery), flip side, apparently, of What's In Our Heart
38 2/1/64 5 18 Your Heart Turned Left (And I Was On The Right)
39 2/8/64 15 9 My Tears Are Overdue, flip side, apparently, of Your Heart Turned Left (And I Was On The Right)
40 3/28/64 39 3 The Last Town I Painted
41 6/6/64 31 7 Something I Dreamed
42 6/20/64 10 16 Where Does A Little Tear Come From, flip side, apparently, of Something I Dreamed
43 9/5/64 31 5 Please Be My Love (with Melba Montgomery)
44 9/26/64 3 (6) 28 The Race Is On
45 12/12/64 25 15 Multiply The Heartaches (with Melba Montgomery)
46 1/30/65 15 15 Least Of All
47 3/13/65 9 21 Things Have Gone To Pieces
48 4/24/65 16 10 I've Got Five Dollars And It's Saturday Night (George & Gene) (with Gene Pitney)
49 6/5/65 14 12 Wrong Number, co-written by Jones
50 7/3/65 25 7 Louisiana Man (George & Gene) (with Gene Pitney)
51 8/28/65 6 18 Love Bug
52 10/9/65 40 3 What's Money, co-written by Jones
53 11/6/65 8 18 Take Me, co-written by Jones
54 11/20/65 50 2 Big Job (George & Gene) (with Gene Pitney)
55 3/12/66 6 17 I'm A People
56 3/12/66 46 3 World's Worse Loser
57 6/4/66 47 3 That's All It Took (George & Gene) (with Gene Pitney), co-written by Jones
58 6/25/66 30 7 Old Brush Arbors
59 7/30/66 5 16 Four-O-Thirty-Three, co-written by Jones
60 11/19/66 70 3 Close Together (As You And Me) (with Melba Montgomery)
61 1/21/67 1 (2) 22 Walk Through This World With Me
62 5/20/67 5 17 I Can't Get There From Here
63 9/9/67 24 10 Party Pickin' (with Melba Montgomery)
64 10/7/67 7 18 If My Heart Had Windows
65 2/3/68 8 14 Say It's Not You
66 4/13/68 35 11 Small Time Laboring Man, co-written by Jones
67 7/6/68 3 (1) 13 As Long As I Live
68 9/28/68 12 12 Milwaukee, Here I Come (With Brenda Carter)
69 11/23/68 2 (2) 17 When The Grass Grows Over Me'
70 3/29/69 2 (2) 18 I'll Share My World With You
71 7/19/69 6 14 If Not For You
72 11/15/69 6 14 She's Mine
73 11/22/69 72 13 No Blues Is Good News, flip side, apparently, of She's Mine
74 3/14/70 28 10 Where Grass Won't Grow
75 7/4/70 13 14 Tell Me My Lying Eyes Are Wrong (And The Jones Boys)
76 11/21/70 2 (1) 1 A Good Year For The Roses
77 3/20/71 10 13 Sometimes You Just Can't Win, new version of his 1962 hit
78 6/12/71 7 14 Right Won't Touch A Hand
79 10/2/71 13 12 I'll Follow You (Up To Our Cloud)
80 12/25/71 9 13 Take Me (with Tammy Wynette), new version of his 1965 hit, co-written by Jones
81 2/12/72 6 14 We Can Make It
82 2/12/72 30 8 A Day In The Life Of A Fool
83 5/20/72 2 (1) 14 Loving You Could Never Be Better
84 7/8/72 6 15 The Ceremony (with Tammy Wynette)
85 10/14/72 46 7 Wrapped Around Her Finger, co-written by Jones
86 10/28/72 5 16 A Picture Of Me (Without You)
87 11/25/72 38 9 Old Fashioned Singing (with Tammy Wynette)
88 3/3/73 6 14 What My Woman Can't Do, co-written by Jones
89 4/7/73 32 9 Let's Build A World Together (with Tammy Wynette)
90 6/23/73 7 13 Nothing Ever Hurt Me (Half As Bad As Losing You)
91 9/1/73 1 (2) 17 We're Gonna Hold On (with Tammy Wynette), co-written by Jones
92 11/24/73 3 (1) 16 Once You've Had The Best
93 2/9/74 15 13 (We're Not) The Jet Set (with Tammy Wynette)
94 4/6/74 25 12 The Telephone Call (with stepdaughter Tina)
95 6/8/74 1 (1) 17 The Grand Tour
96 7/27/74 8 12 We Loved It Away (with Tammy Wynette)
97 10/26/74 1 (1) 13 The Door
98 3/22/75 10 14 These Days (I Barely Get By), co-written by Jones
99 5/17/75 25 13 God's Gonna Get'cha (For That) (with Tammy Wynette)
100 7/26/75 21 11 Memories Of Us
101 11/1/75 92 4 I Just Don't Give A Damn, flip side, apparently, of Memories Of Us, co-written by Jones
102 2/7/76 16 12 The Battle
103 5/22/76 37 9 You Always Look Your Best (Here In My Arms)
104 6/5/76 1 (1) 15 Golden Ring (with Tammy Wynette)
105 9/4/76 3 (2) 16 Her Name Is
106 12/11/76 1 (2) 16 Near You (with Tammy Wynette)
107 5/21/77 34 8 Old King Kong
108 7/16/77 5 13 Southern California (with Tammy Wynette)
109 8/13/77 24 10 If I Could Put Them All Together (I'd Have You)
110 1/7/78 6 14 Bartender's Blues (James Taylor vocal harmony)
111 7/1/78 11 13 I'll Just Take It Out In Love
112 12/9/78 7 13 Mabellene (with Johnny PayCheck)
113 5/26/79 14 11 You Can Have Her (with Johnny PayCheck)
114 6/30/79 22 11 Someday My Day Will Come
115 3/1/80 2 (1) 14 Two Story House (with Tammy Wynette)
116 4/12/80 1 (1) 18 He Stopped Loving Her Today
117 6/2/80 31 9 When You're Ugly Like Us (You Just Naturally Got To Be Cool) (with Johnny PayCheck)
118 8/23/80 2 (1) 17 I'm Not Ready Yet
119 9/6/80 19 11 A Pair Of Old Sneakers (with Tammy Wynette)
120 12/13/80 18 12 You Better Move On (with Johnny PayCheck)
121 1/17/81 8 15 If Drinkin' Don't Kill Me (Her Memory Will)
122 10/3/81 1 (1) 17 Still Doin' Time
123 2/6/82 5 19 Same Ole Me (Oak Ridge Boys backing vocals)
124 8/7/82 1 15 Yesterday's Wine (with Merle Haggard)
125 12/4/82 10 19 C. C. Waterback (with Merle Haggard)
126 1/15/83 3 (2) 19 Shine On (Shine All Your Sweet Love On Me)
127 5/7/83 1 (1) 18 I Always Get Lucky With You
128 9/10/83 2 (1) 22 Tennessee Whiskey
129 12/17/83 6 18 We Didn't See A Thing (with Ray Charles and Chet Atkins)
130 4/7/84 3 (2) 19 You've Still Got A Place In My Heart
131 9/22/84 2 (3) 23 She's My Rock
132 12/22/84 15 16 Hallelujah, I Love You So (with Brenda Lee)
133 4/27/85 19 18 Size Seven Round (Made Of Gold) (with Lacy J. Dalton)
134 8/3/85 3 (1) 20 Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes?
135 11/23/85 3 (2) 22 The One I Loved Back Then (The Corvette Song)
136 4/19/86 9 21 Somebody Wants Me Out Of The Way
137 9/13/86 10 23 Wine Colored Roses
138 1/17/87 8 20 The Right Left Hand
139 5/16/87 26 18 I Turn To You
140 12/19/87 26 14 The Bird
141 2/26/88 52 10 I'm A Survivor
142 6/4/88 63 6 The Old Man No One Loves
143 9/3/88 43 10 If I Could Bottle This Up (with Shelby Lynne)
144 12/17/88 5 20 I'm A One Woman Man
145 4/29/89 26 13 The King Is Gone (So Are You)
146 7/29/89 31 16 Writing On The Wall
147 11/11/89 62 6 Radio Lover
148 9/8/90 8 20 A Few Ole Country Boys (with Randy Travis)
149 8/31/91 32 20 You Couldn't Get The Picture
150 1/11/92 55 14 She Loved A Lot In Her Time
151 4/11/92 60 7 Honky Tonk Myself To Death
152 10/17/92 34 20 I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair (with Vince Gill, Mark Chesnutt, Garth Brooks, Travis Tritt, Joe Diffie, Alan Jackson, Pam Tillis, T. Graham Brown, Patty Loveless, and Clint Black)
153 3/20/93 65 6 Wrong's What I Do Best
154 11/13/93 24 20 High-Tech Redneck
155 3/12/94 52 10 Never Bit A Bullet Like This (with Sammy Kershaw)
156 11/12/94 56 7 A Good Year For The Roses (with Alan Jackson)
157 7/1/95 69 4 One (with Tammy Wynette)
158 9/14/96 66 6 Honky Tonk Song
159 9/20/97 14 20 You Don't Seem To Miss Me (with Patty Loveless)
160 5/08/99 30 20 Choices
161 11/6/99 45 20 The Cold Hard Truth
162 11/20/99 30 13 A Country Boy Can Survive (Y2K Version) (with Hank Williams, Jr. and Chad Brock)
163 5/13/00 55 12 Sinners And Saints
164 8/4/01 47 9 The Man He Was
165 10/13/01 24 20 Beer Run (B Double E Double Are You In?) (with Garth Brooks)
166 3/30/02 55 1 50,000 Names
167 4/23/05 26 23 4th Of July (with Shooter Jennings)


Further reading and Reference

  • In The Country of Country: A Journey to the Roots of American Music, Nicholas Dawidoff, Vintage Books, 1998, ISBN 0-375-70082-X
  • Country Music U.S.A., Bill C. Malone, University of Texas Press, 1985, ISBN 0-292-71096-8
  • Joel Whitburn's Top Country Songs, 1944 to 2005, Record Research, Inc., Menomonee Falls, WS, 2005, ISBN 0-89820-165-9
  • All Music Guide to Country Music: The Definitive Guide to Country Music, edited by Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, 2nd edition, Backbeat Books, San Francisco, California, 2003

Notes

  1. ↑ All Music Guide to Country Music, page 387
  2. ↑ Country Music U.S.A, Bill C. Malone, page 288
  3. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Country Songs, 1944 to 2005, pages 194-196
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