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LOST GEORGE JONES HITS -- FIRST TIME EVER ON CD! Includes 2 Unreleased Tracks!

Many consider George Jones to be the greatest singer in country music history, but a number of his best-loved recordings from his chart-topping years have never been available on CD. Jones recorded for Musicor Records from 1965 until 1972,
when he was at the peak of his vocal form, and for years these tracks have been tied up in litigation and haven't been available on CD, until now.
Time Life is proud to release GEORGE JONES: THE GREAT LOST HITS and conducted extensive research to identify the best sources for sound quality on this fabulous collection. The productions are simple and to the point -- a voice like
George's needs no more ornamentation than it has here. This is the gold standard of country singing.
Our 34-song, 2-CD collection includes his all-time classics like 'A Good Year for the Roses,' 'Walk through this World with Me,' 'I'll Share My World with You,' 'Love Bug,' and 'When the Grass Grows over Me.' We've also included the original version of 'Beneath Still Waters' (later a #1 country hit for Emmylou Harris) and 'Your Angel Steps out of Heaven' (later recorded by Elvis Costello, Flying Burrito Brothers and others). Plus we've got the original version of 'Where Grass Won't
Grow,' later re-recorded by George with Trisha Yearwood, Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris.
George Jones is the gold standard of country vocalists, and his distinctive voice evokes the raw emotions caused by grief, love, and emotional hardship. There is no doubt that Jones helped set the standard for modern country music.

User Reviews about George Jones: The Great Lost Hits (2CD)

I have to admit that I'm not as big a fan of "the Possum" as others who have posted reviews here. I'm more a "white Lightening" and " "Love Bug" listener. But when I saw Colin Escott's name on the package I knew I was going to get, not only, interesting material, but also authoritative liner notes. (Escott's Hank Williams' reissues are primo products.). There are a lot of tracks squeezed onto each of the CDs here (34!) which is a hefty sampling for an album with an under $20. list price. The variety of styles is not as interesting to me as the Epic material on the Sony box sets (which, again, are pricier). I think it's a matter of personal taste as to whether you like the stripped down versions of Jones' hits or the fully produced ones. (Since the later became the "hits" I guess public opinion - well, through sales) determined the answer. But Jones fans want it all and its great that Time-Life is finally making these sides available. Sure, there will be gripes, but don't expect better quality transfers for ALL the tracks soon. Remember, you aren't "investing" in a Bear Family box set.

And if Time Life promotes the CD on cable TV - as they do with many of their projects - it can only mean that more folks will discover Jones material. I don't see Sony out there doing this.

So my rating is based on 1) the final availability of these tracks, 2) The package including the liner notes, and the fair price being charged by TL.

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"
-- Making these "lost" - through copyright hassles - tracks available for Jones fans

I have a huge GJ collection but I still find songs of his I don't have or original versions I don't have. I thought these sounded great especially "Where Grass Won't Grow." I've never listened to another artist that I like as much as George. It's amazing how his voice has lasted as long as it has inspite of what he has done to his body. It's a shame what all of his fans missed from all of his no shows. He is a true original country hero. Great addition for any collector of George's missing songs. -- More of George's Best!!

Jones recorded lots of music during his tenure with the Musicor label. Some of it was awesome, much of it was OK, and the rest was kind of crappy. The two Bear Family boxed sets that compile the entirety of Jones' Musicor output are, to be very honest, kind of difficult to endure. For every great song, you've got to endure ten or so that just don't make (or even come close to making) the grade.

The beauty of this compilation is that it gathers all the gems from that period (both hits and great album tracks) and leaves the crud behind. As far as great 60's country music goes, it really doesn't get much better than this.

Some will argue that this is Jones at his peak. Others will say earlier or later tracks were more definitive. My sense is that, from late 50's through the late 70's, Jones peaked a number of times at different labels. The peaks of each period are all worthwhile, but for different qualities. Which period you prefer will depend on lots of subjective stuff. It's just good now to finally have a definitive document of his Musicor best moments to go along with similar compilations of his best moments for other labels! -- A great compilation of his best Musicor sides

George Jones' recordings for the Musicor label weren't so much lost as hung up in legal limbo. When Jones left Musicor for Epic in a rancorous split with label owner and manager Pappy Daily, seven years (1965-71) of prime recordings were left to haphazard reissue and illegitimate copying, and worse yet, inferior contemporary re-recordings. This is a textbook example of the cultural blockades created by the multiparty complexity of music licensing, restrictive copyright laws and the lawyer tax that attaches to just about everything. Jones waxed over 250 master recordings for Musicor during the early prime of his recording life, so the riches that have been locked in the vault are substantial.

True, the Musicor sessions didn't always live up the standard of "Walk Through This World With Me," "Where Grass Won't Grow" or "A Good Year for the Roses," but these simpler productions provide key contrast to the more complex arrangements Billy Sherrill would employ at Epic. Among the thirty-four tracks are twenty-three charting hits (missing only "No Blues is Good News" and the Melba Montgomery duet "(Close Together) As You and Me"), and eleven album sides. Lesser known singles like "Small Time Laboring Man" are complemented by excellent obscurities later resurrected by Keith Whitley, Elvis Costello, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Emmylou Harris and others. Listening to the high quality of these performances it seems criminal for seven prime years of Jones' career to have been available only to collectors who'd maintained a turntable.

Bear Family produced the full Musicor output on a pair of 2009 box sets (Walk Through This World With Me and A Good Year for the Roses), but the price tag of these imports is out of reach for many. Time Life's two-CD set gets to the core of Jones' greatness in the latter half of the 1960s, and though a couple dozen more sides could have fit on these discs (their absence no doubt a by-product of the U.S. per-track royalty structure), what's here is true country gold. A few tracks seem to have been re-mastered from vinyl as there are a few minor pops and ticks, but the fidelity is excellent and the performances uniformly superb. The sixteen page booklet includes terrific photos and informative liner notes by Colin Escott. If you can't afford the box sets, this is a must-have. [©2010 hyperbolium dot com] -- Terrific cherry-picked set of Jones' 1965-71 Musicor sides