George Jones

There’s no better way to drown your sorrows than with country music on a jukebox, and when a discerning fella needs to drink a gal off his mind, he naturally reaches for George Jones. With songs like “She Thinks I Still Care,” “He Stopped Loving Her Today” and “If Drinkin’ Don’t Kill Me (Her Memory Will),” you know the ol’ Possum has been down in the dumps too. The Essential is a great sample of his earlier honky-tonk work as well as his later countrypolitan work; and of course, no Jones retrospective would be complete without a few duets with the late, great Tammy Wynette. If, like me, you’ve been waiting for the perfect Jones compilation to come out, this is the one; the transfers are top notch, the track listing has all the classics, and the liner notes ain’t half bad either. So, next time you hop on your riding lawnmower and head on down to the liquor store, be sure to pick this collection up; it’s one disc that lives up to its name—essential.