Great start to the weekend.
Of course it’s not often that we get to hear new music from the legendary George Jones. The Possum passed away back in 2013 after scoring fourteen #1 hits and an incredible 143 top 10 hits, and a catalog of songs that put him firmly in the conversation for the greatest country artist of all time.
And now, over a decade after he passed away at the age of 81, we’re getting a listen at some rare recordings from the country music legend.
The Lost Nashville Sessions, which dropped today, features 16 previously-unreleased recordings of some of Jones’ biggest hits, including songs like “She Thinks I Still Care,” “White Lightnin'” and “Tender Years.”
And before you ask: No, these are not AI-generated recordings. These are the real-deal performances from the legend himself that were originally made for radio to use to promote his singles back in the 1970s. The recordings were made in one or two takes, and were often just discarded when the radio station was done with them.
But this treasure trove of recordings from Jones was discovered shortly after his death, and thanks to producer Paul Martin, now they’re being released for the world to hear.
According to Nancy Jones, the widow of George Jones and his wife of 30 years, the tapes were in need of some work after sitting in a box for nearly 50 years:
“They were not in good shape…
Paul Martin went ahead and redid them all. Just fixed them all up to where they’re supposed to be, because, you know, you can just keep something so long if it’s not stored right. It’s not good. So he really worked hard to get this up to par, and I think he did a wonderful job, because some of that, remember, was back in the seventies.”
Nancy says the recordings were made by several different radio stations, and after the stations were finished with them, they would generally just toss them – which makes it all the more special that we’re able to hear them now:
“I’ll do anything to keep George’s name out there, because I know how much that George Jones loved country music…
The man loved country music. He lived, he breathed it. You’d say something about some rock and roll. ‘I’m country, I’m country.’
He loved country music, and this album, he’s got 16 songs, and it’s all about how comfortable he was in this studio because he didn’t have to stop, wait for the band to do this, wait for the session pickers to do this…
So what it was is that it was so comfortable, but he just sung it the way he wanted to do it, and I think that’s what the fans are going to hear.”
Of course it’s always special to hear never (or rarely) heard recordings from a country music legend. But it makes at all the more special that these are recordings that were made the way George would have wanted them to be heard.
I firmly believe that George Jones is one of the greatest country music artists of all time – and for me it’s not particularly close. His voice, his songwriting, the emotion in his music is what country music should be.
And one of my favorite songs from his incredible catalog is “The Grand Tour” – so we’re excited to bring you one of the first listens to one of George’s biggest hits:
You can’t beat George Jones. And to hear unreleased recordings from the legend over a decade after his death is truly special.
