Tag: George Jones

Who Was Frank Sinatra’s “Best Singer”?

Frank Sinatra Best After George Jones passed away, a number of articles about him recalled a famous quote from Frank Sinatra where Sinatra called George Jones “the second-best singer” in the world. The Kennedy Center uses the quote on its page about Jones, and after Jones’s death, The Atlantic used the “second-best” quote in its headline. Some articles asserted that Sinatra said that Jones was the second-best “white” singer, implying that Sinatra recognized the great history of great non-white singers, and others claimed Sinatra used the qualification “in America,” while Philly.com claimed that Sinatra added the qualification “male.” While Jones is a great singer and any one of these statements is high praise coming from Ol’ Blue Eyes, it also raises the question about who did Sinatra then think was “the best”?

Most articles did not answer that question and encouraged or left the impression that Sinatra meant that he himself was the best singer. For example, Examiner.com and NBC’s Today Show website stated the quote about Sinatra saying Jones was the second-best “white” singer with both adding, “No prizes for guessing first place,” as if it should be obvious that Sinatra’s ego would lead him to put himself in the top spot. George Jones’s own website implies that Sinatra saved the top spot for himself: “Frank Sinatra famously (and coyly) referred to Jones as ‘the second greatest singer in America.'” The legendary Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards made the same mistake in his otherwise touching statement about the passing of the great country singer: “Sinatra called him the second best singer ever. (The number one obviously being Frank!).”

But Sinatra did not put himself in the top spot, which he reserved for Tony Bennett. I have not found a reliable source for Sinatra’s entire quote about George Jones and Tony Bennett to verify whether Sinatra used any of the qualifications such as “white,” “in America,” or “male.” But other sources give us a good idea who Sinatra put in the first place spot. Throughout his career, Sinatra often claimed that Tony Bennett was the best singer, so it does make the most sense that he was ranking Jones in the second slot not because of himself but because of his love for Bennett. For example, a 1965 Tony Bennett album featured this quote from Sinatra: “For my money Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business.” Frank Sinatra, even in death, does not need me to defend his ego. But these articles in their attempts to praise the great George Jones unfortunately made Frank Sinatra sound like an egomaniac (or more of one than he was) and slighted Tony Bennett at the same time.

So to right this wrong, watch this video of Tony Bennett singing “Body and Soul” with Amy Winehouse and note what a great singer he is (as well as what a great singer the late Winehouse was). Their duet on “Body and Soul” appeared on Bennett’s 2011 Duets II album.



Who is your favorite singer of all-time? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Marty Brown’s Tribute to George Jones: “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes”

    Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes George Jones Marty Brown This weekend, country singer Marty Brown posted a video tribute to George Jones with Brown appropriately singing Jones’s classic song, “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes.” Regular readers of Chimesfreedom know that we are big Marty Brown fans, so we cannot pass up posting Brown’s touching tribute here.

    “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes” was written by Troy Seals (who co-wrote “Seven Spanish Angels“) and Max D. Barnes. George Jones released the song as the title track on a 1985 album of the same name. “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes” mentions a number of country music legends including Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Patsy Cline, and Willie Nelson. Apparently because Jones recorded the song it does not mention him, but as Marty Brown notes in his introduction, Jones left some pretty big empty shoes.

    What is your favorite tribute to George Jones? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    They Placed a Wreath Upon His Door: George Jones RIP

    George Jones Collection George Jones, one of the greatest country singers, and the owner of one of the best voices in any genre, passed away today. The Possum was 81.

    You may find more detailed accounts of his life in the obituaries, but each one will mention “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” the great song written by Bobby Braddock and Curly Putnam and recorded by Jones in 1980 not long after his divorce from Tammy Wynette disintegrated into cocaine use and added to the legend of “No Show Jones.” Many call the song, which is about a man who never loses his desire for a lost love, the greatest country song of all time. It also has one of the best twist endings of any song. And the brokenhearted have probably played “He Stops Loving Her Today” on more honky tonk jukeboxes than any other song. Here’s a live performance on The Ronnie Prophet Show in July 1980.

    While any discussion of Jones will begin and end with “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” Jones had other hits and other great songs like “The Race is On,” “White Lightning,” and “A Good Year for the Roses.” As the hits stopped in later years he remained a respected country music living legend. In 1999 he had some success with an album I love, Cold Hard Truth. The album included the wonderful song “Choices,” which, like “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” seemed to fit Jones like a glove:

    “I was tempted, by an early age I found,
    I liked drinkin’, oh, and I never turned it down;
    There were loved ones but I turned them all away;
    Now I’m living and dying with the choices I’ve made.”

    When Jones was supposed to perform “Choices” at the 1999 Country Music Association Awards show, the producers asked him to omit verses from the song, apparently so they could focus on younger artists. Jones stood up for what was right and refused to cut the song and boycotted the show. But Jones was so respected that Alan Jackson cut his own performance of “Pop a Top” short to sing Jones’s song, a tribute that yielded a standing ovation.

    Below is Jones’s version of “Choices,” added to a video played during George Jones’s 2013 Farewell Tour. It is a perfect way to say goodbye to the man. RIP.

    What is your second-favorite George Jones song? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    The Fourth of July in Song

    american flag There are a number of popular songs that reference the Fourth of July and Independence Day. There are songs that take a historical approach to focus on the drafters and signers of the Declaration of Independence as in the play and movie 1776. And there are popular songs about America like the version of “America the Beautiful” by Ray Charles or the song we discussed on Chimesfreedom last year, Paul Simon’s “American Tune.” But there are also a number of songs that refer to the modern version of the holiday without singing about Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, or purple mountains majesty.

    Shooter Jennings: “Fourth of July”

    Shooter Jennings, son of the great Waylon Jennings, recorded an excellent song about the holiday in “Fourth of July” off his debut album, Put the O Back in Country (2005). Although the song does not mention the Declaration of Independence or our Founding Fathers, it evokes the Fourth of July that is more familiar to Americans today of having a nice holiday.

    Unlike many of the other Fourth of July patriotic songs, Shooter Jennings’s song is completely about the holiday. And it is a fun song. A live version is here.

    “Independence Day”

    There are two excellent songs titled “Independence Day” that focus on personal escape and independence. In Bruce Springsteen’s song from The River (1980), he sings about leaving home, not necessarily on the Fourth of July.  The song highlights the tension between father and son, with the son leaving:  “Well say goodbye it’s Independence Day / It’s Independence Day all boys must run away.”

    While Springsteen’s “Independence Day” portrays a bittersweet aspect of growing up and escaping, Martina McBride sings her “Independence Day” as an angry and empowering anthem. In the song, written by Gretchen Peters, the singer recounts her mom standing up to domestic abuse.

    The “Independence Day” in this song refers both to the mother’s action asserting independence as well as to the holiday:  “So I took myself down to the fair in town / On Independence Day.” Here is McBride’s video of the song, which appeared on her album The Way That I Am (1993).

    “Fourth of July, Asbury Park”

    Springsteen actually does have a song that, unlike his “Independence Day,” is set on the holiday. “Fourth of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” first appeared on Springsteen’s second album, The Wild, The Innocent and The E Street Shuffle (1973) album.  The song captures a moment of young love on a summer holiday down by the shore.

    Here is a young Boss playing the song in 1975 at Hammersmith Odeon. Like Shooter’s song, this one does a great job of capturing the holiday spirit.

    Songs About Fireworks

    I suspect that many firework displays feature Katy Perry’s “Firework,” from her Teenage Dream (2010) album. Although the song mentions the Fourth of July, it does so in the context of asking the object of the song to “Just own the night like the Fourth of July.”

    Like McBride’s “Independence Day,” Perry’s “Firework” is a song of empowerment, but without the arson.

    Another song that evokes the annual holiday explosives is Ryan Adams’s excellent song, “Firecracker” from his Gold (2001) CD. The song is about courtship instead of going out to see fireworks on the Fourth of July: “I just want to be your firecracker / And maybe be your baby tonight.”

    In this video, Adams performs “Firecracker” in an acoustic version.

    “The Great Compromise”

    John Prine invokes patriotic imagery as he remembers “a girl who was almost a lady” born on the Fourth of July in his wonderful “The Great Compromise.” The song appeared on Prine’s album Diamonds In The Rough (1971).

    The girl in “The Great Compromise,” however, really represents the United States.  Prine’s song about disillusionment with the country during the Vietnam War is one of the great songs about our country. [Thanks to Lucia Ferrara for reminding me about the Prine song.]

    Other Singing References to the Fourth

    Many other singers and songwriters have planted references to the holiday in their songs.  For example, there are songs by James Taylor (“On the Fourth of July”), U2 (the instrumental “4th of July”), Elliott Smith (“Independence Day”), X (“4th of July”), Ariel Abshire (“Fourth of July”), and Aimee Mann (“4th of July”).

    Tom Waits mentions the holiday in “This One From the Heart.” So does Chicago in “Saturday in the Park” but the band was not completely sure about the day:  “Saturday in the park/ I think it was the Fourth of July.”

    And Lucinda Williams sang about a “Metal Firecracker,” although the song title referred to a tour bus. PopMatters has a good list of July Fourth songs, and check out the comments below for some more additions.

    What is your favorite Fourth of July song? Let us know in the comments. And have a happy and safe Fourth of July.

     

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    Thanksgiving with Marty Stuart: The Pilgrim

    Stuart, Marty – The Pilgrim (Act I) (featuring Emmylou Harris) “The Pilgrim (Act I)” — featuring Emmylou Harris

    With Thanksgiving approaching in the U.S., it seems appropriate to discuss one of my all-time favorite CDs, Marty Stuart’s The Pilgrim (1999). In another post, we discuss another Marty Stuart CD that covers the other side of the original Thanksgiving table.

    Marty Stuart The Pilgrim
    Click album photo to see outstanding Amazon reviews.

    Although we often associate the word “pilgrim” with the English colonists who sailed on the Mayflower ship, settled in Plymouth, and dined on the first Thanksgiving meal, the word in its broader meaning applies to any traveler or more specifically, “one who embarks on a quest for something . . .sacred.”

    It is in this sense that Marty Stuart’s concept album uses the word “pilgrim.”  On the album, we first hear the word in Emmylou Harris’s voice on one of the first songs on the CD (above): “I am a lonesome Pilgrim, far from home/ . . . I might be tired and weary, but I’m strong / ‘Cause pilgrims walk, but not alone.”

    The True Story Inspiration

    The Pilgrim is based on a true story about people Stuart knew in his hometown of Philadelphia, Mississippi. Over the years, Stuart continued to think about the tale, and after attending Bill Monroe’s funeral, he began putting the story into an album.

    The Pilgrim begins with the words of a man — the Pilgrim — who is in love with a friend, Rita. But unknown to the Pilgrim, Rita was married to Norman, who was jealous of his former beauty queen wife.

    In the song “Harlan County,” bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley, reveals Norman killed himself because he believed he had been betrayed. In “Reasons,” Marty Stuart recounts Norman’s suicide note, where Norman explained, “I keep looking for reasons.”

    Norman’s suicide sends the Pilgrim on the road as he struggles with how his love for Rita led to Norman’s death. He drowns his troubles in alcohol (“Red, Red Wine and Cheating Songs“) and travels as a hobo, heading west for the Pacific Ocean and “trading sorrows for tomorrows,” while “Goin’ Nowhere Fast.”

    During the Pilgrim’s travels, an observant crow sees the Pilgrim passing by in “Observations of a Crow”:

    Take a look at that pilgrim, passing by;
    He’s looking for love, I can see it in his eyes;
    He’s running ’round in circles, you can take it from me;
    His shadow begs for mercy of every lost and found,
    In city after city, town after town,
    Tortured by the memory of a love he thought was supposed to be.

    Eventually, across the miles, in “The Greatest Love of All Time” and “Draggin’ Round These Chains of Love,” the Pilgrim thinks back on Rita.  He considers his love for her despite everything that has happened.

    The Pilgrim visits a small graveyard where his mother is buried. At his mother’s grave, in “Redemption,” he says, “I keep hearing her and Jesus say ‘Surrender son and rest.'” The Pilgrim finally is able to forgive himself and accept his love for Rita. He returns home to marry her and raise a family.

    The Music: “A Fabulous Journey”

    Of course, an album would not be great with just a good story. The music on the album is wonderful too, covering a number of styles of country music, including rockabilly, a drinking song, and some excellent short bluegrass instrumentals. While the songs together tell a story, they each may stand on their own outside the story too.

    Marty Stuart’s voice tells most of the tale, but a few friends show up to help out, including Ralph Stanley, Earl Scruggs, Pam Tillis, and George Jones. The music fits the Pilgrim’s tale perfectly throughout.

    Unfortunately, the album did not do well in sales when it was first released, even though critics gave it good reviews.  Because of the poor sales, MCA Nashville dropped Stuart from his record deal at the time.

    In retrospect, Stuart has accepted the loss well, realizing he created something worth more than a sales number.  Stuart recognizes, “But when all of those plastic things that came out around that time are gone, The Pilgrim will still be around.”

    The Pilgrim is one of the great overlooked country CDs of recent decades. Johnny Cash called it “a fabulous journey.” You might discount Johnny’s statement because he was friends with Stuart.  Also, he helped with the album, as his deep booming voice provides the final words on the album, quoting Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Sir Galahad.”

    But if you do not trust Johnny’s assessment, you can trust me.

    I am a lonesome Pilgrim, far from home,
    And what a journey I have known.
    I might be tired and weary, but I’m strong;
    ‘Cause pilgrims walk, but not alone.

    May your journeys this Thanksgiving and throughout the holiday season all be safe and happy ones.

    What do you think of The Pilgrim? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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