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Amazon.com essential recordingIn or out of context, George Jones's "comeback" album of 1980 is an unassailable classic of modern country music. Since 1975, Jones's solo career had been in a tailspin, taking him to the Top 10 only twice in four years, so that by late 1979, he had soused and doped his body from 150 to 100 pounds. He might
Amazon.com essential recording
In or out of context, George Jones's "comeback" album of 1980 is an unassailable classic of modern country music. Since 1975, Jones's solo career had been in a tailspin, taking him to the Top 10 only twice in four years, so that by late 1979, he had soused and doped his body from 150 to 100 pounds. He might have died, were it not for the musical and commercial resurrection of I Am What I Am. Produced by Billy Sherrill, the sound is stunningly advanced, full of complex, layered guitar tones, exquisitely placed harmonies, and an elegant melding of lyrical spaciousness and hard honky-tonk. Opening with perhaps the greatest country single ever, "He Stopped Loving Her Today," Jones lends both a regal authority and a humble sorrow to lyric after lyric, all uniformly graceful and stately. The only weak track is "His Lovin' Her Is Gettin' in My Way," an anticipation of the cloying bounce of Hot Country, though even that slight number is redeemed by Jones's underrated comic gifts. This 2000 reissue includes a wise essay by Glenn Gass, a personal reflection by the Possum himself, and four previously unreleased cuts, all of which are as memorable as the haunting, original recordings themselves. Essential doesn't begin to describe the treasures you'll find here. --Roy Kasten
"I've always said that someday"--perceptible, heart-shattering pause, followed by the line's nearly swallowed completion--"Iwasgonna leeeave you." "I'm Not Ready Yet" isn't the one most listeners remember when they talk about George Jones's 1980 comeback album I Am What I Am; that would be "He Stopped Loving Her Today," a grand, fatalistic ballad about romantic obsession. "Stopped" is a masterful recording, a now-legendary match of artist and song, but it's only one of the classic tracks here. Even filler such as a cover of "Good Hearted Woman" captures the newly detoxed Jones in top form, and while this disc is no substitute for a killer greatest-hits disc or two, it gave firm notice that the man--The Man--was back to stay. --Rickey Wright
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