George Jones
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George Glenn Jones (born near Saratoga, Texas, September 12, 1931 - April 26, 2013), sometimes called The Possum, was 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) |