George Jones 50 Years Of Hits CD

Personnel: George Jones (vocals, guitar); Melba Montgomery (vocals); Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Merle Haggard, Randy Travis, Tammy Wynette, Waylon Jennings.
Liner Note Author: George Jones.
The idea sounds good, and it may even make sense: collect one song from each of the 50 years that George Jones has been recording, and present them in one exhaustive triple-disc set, appropriately titled 50 Years of Hits. Seems simple enough, but in practice, the set doesn't quite work, either as an overview of Jones' career or as an enjoyable listening experience. Although Bandit has done an impressive job with cross-licensing between labels, the compilers acknowledge that they weren't able to work out a deal with Musicor to feature Jones' late-'60s hits, so they were forced to substitute re-recordings of "Walk Through This World With Me," "She's Mine," "I'll Share My World With You," and "A Good Year for the Roses" for the originals here. While it's regrettable that the originals aren't here, their absence is understandable and the remakes are professional and rather strong. The bigger problem with the collection is its very construction: Jones has a rich, long legacy, but it's not best represented by sampling every year equally. Like most veteran artists, George Jones' commercial and creative peak came early and, like most country artists, that peak extended over several years where he hit the Top Ten on a regular basis. For the Possum, this was a long time indeed -- nearly 25 years, which is an extraordinary run by any measure, but it's only half of 50, which means that half of this 50-track collection represents music he recorded after his peak. There is still good stuff here, particularly in the '80s when he was slowly descending from his peak and settling into veteranship, but these highlights are few -- duets with Merle Haggard ("Yesterdays Wine," 1981) and Garth Brooks ("Beer Run," 2001), "Same Ole Me" from 1982, and "I'm a One Woman Man" from 1989. Outside of that, pretty much everything after "He Stopped Loving Her Today," which arrives at the midpoint of the collection, isn't essential, and when that counts for half a collection, that's a pretty big handicap to surmount. That's what keeps 50 Years of Hits from being either a good summation of Jones' career, an encapsulation of his greatness, or even a fun listen, particularly when compared to 1994's Essential George Jones: The Spirit of Country, which may stop at the end of the '80s but covers George's important music much better. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Even the title of the three-disc George Jones collection 50 YEARS OF HITS should be enough to tell you that the man being anthologized is one of the all-time giants of country music. A towering influence on all that followed him, not only in country but in rock and pop as well, Jones started out in the 1950s as a Hank Williams-influenced honky-tonk man who wasn't afraid of a little rockabilly either (the Hank influence is clearly audible on such early tracks as "Just One More"). By the '60s, he'd refined his approach, taking a bit from the jazz-inflected style of Lefty Frizzell and becoming a striking balladeer. "She Thinks I Still Care" and "Color of the Blues" stand as templates for how to sing a country ballad.
For most performers, that would have been enough, but Jones never stopped turning out heart-stopping performances. This is underscored by the presence of the mid-period mind-blower "He Stopped Loving Her Today," which reaches a superhuman level of pathos, and latter-day tracks such as the unstintingly bleak "The Cold Hard Truth," as well as the high-spirited, good-humored "Beer Run (B Double E Double Are You In?)." In case future generations want to know what country music was all about back in the 20th century, there should be a copy of 50 YEARS OF HITS placed in a time capsule.Entertainment Weekly (p.93) - "Strict chronology allows for fun realizations..." - Grade: A