Lost George Jones Recordings to Be Released
Lurking on the shelves of record labels and old radio studios are often archival tapes of country legends just waiting to be discovered and see the light of day. Sometimes these things are rescued from dumpsters as big corporate owners move in and clean house. Other times they’re not, and that history is lost forever. Luckily in this case, they were saved.
Producer Thomas Gramuglia founded Country Rewind Records in 2014 after finding archived performances of some 100 country music performers from the ’60s and ’70s. Previously he’s taken unreleased recordings and made them into albums from Waylon Jennings, Connie Smith, Conway Twitty, and many more. His latest discovery deals with George Jones, and 16 previously-unreleased tracks.
George Jones: The Lost Nashville Sessions will be released on November 15th, and includes recordings Jones made in one or two takes for radio programs. This includes some of George’s most iconic songs such as “The Race Is On,” “The Grand Tour,” “White Lightnin’,” yet in different versions than fans are used to. It also includes rare recordings of other songs such as “Old Brush Arbors,” “Four-O-Thirty-Three,” and “The Honky Tonk Downstairs,” often attributed more to George Strait.
The recordings were said to be in somewhat poor condition due to years of neglect. But with the help of producer Paul Martin, the recordings were recovered as best as possible, and bolstered by adding instrumentation and background vocals where needed.
“Music truly is the gift that keeps giving,” says George’s widow Nancy Jones. “Even after all these years, we’re still releasing new music from George. This collection features sixteen songs, and while some may be familiar hits, these versions are ones you’ve never heard before. I’m thrilled to share them with all of his devoted fans.”
It’s important to note that this collection is different from the notorious George Jones Drug Tapes, which were other previously-unreleased recordings that at one point were used as bail collateral for drug smugglers David Snoddy and Donald Gilbreth. Those recordings appear to still be part of an ongoing legal dispute.
It’s also important to point out that the George Jones Estate continues to be represented by disgraced country music publicist Kirt Webster, who has been accused by multiple artists of rape, and by dozens of others of sexual harassment.
George Jones: The Lost Nashville Sessions is now available for pre-save.
Track Listing:
1. Window Up Above
2. I’ll Share My World With You
3. The Race is On
4. The Grand Tour
5. Once You’ve Had The Best
6. Love Bug
7. She Thinks I Still Care
8. Four O Thirty Three
9. The Honky Tonk Downstairs
10. Old Brush Arbors
11. A Picture Of Me Without You
12. Walk Through This World With Me
13. Tender Years
14. She’s Mine
15. White Lightnin’
16. Hey Good Lookin’
October 19, 2024 @ 11:53 am
“… bolstered by adding instrumentation…”
Ruh-Roh. Never a good sign.
October 19, 2024 @ 12:57 pm
Those songs – already released in other versions – would probably benefit from being stripped down.
It worked great for Willie and Glen Campbell. The choirs, the wall of sound… getting rid of that made the vocals and the great lyrics stand out.
October 19, 2024 @ 12:52 pm
Mostly, “lost” recordings are lost for a reason. And, as Picky points out above, fiddling with redubs – after 50-60 years or so – seldom works magic.
Jones recorded a lot of trash, and his vocals couldn’t save everything. I suffered through the Bear box sets, and somehow (sorry for saying this) Jones fell a few steps down the ladder for me. Compared to the Haggard Bear’s, it’s obvious who was the greater talent all in all.
I love Jones, he’s among the top five vocalists in any genre (along with Twitty), but he simply recorded way too much for his own good.
This compilation of lost records will probably be losers, not winners by any means.
October 19, 2024 @ 5:27 pm
Greater talent all in all? Jones sings circles around Hag. Sure Hags a greater songwriter and musician, and was more of a perfectionist around his output. Just depends on exactly what talent we’re talking here. Jones recorded a lot of fluff, but he recorded great stuff across 5 decades… No one matches Jones as a singer.
I don’t expect this to be great either way. The recordings of most of this stuff was so good, a live radio session probably won’t top the original.
October 19, 2024 @ 4:13 pm
I’m not terriby high on the idea of adding new instrumental portions to songs. I am wondering if these tapes came with documentation, as in who played on them, where and when recorded and so on. As a music nerd, that stuff matters to me enormously. I understand that some of it could be subpar, but I love the archeological dig for lost tapes, so im intrigued nonetheless. Im sure there’s something good in these, will be curious to hear them. Sofus, who commented on Jones as top five, I’m curious who you think was better in terms of vocalists. Agree Haggard was up there, but not above Jones or Price or Whitley or Frizzell.
October 19, 2024 @ 5:31 pm
Yep….you are spot on. No one tops Jones as a vocalist. Hag pretty much did Lefty, and said he did Lefty and found himself trying to sound more like him. Whitley, Randy Travis, and Singletary all did the Lefty phrasing with more power and range than Hag. Hags a top 10 country vocalist, maybe top 6-8. Jones is the top country vocalist and maybe the greatest vocalist in any genre. Power, range, control, versatility, soul and emotion. It’s not even close.
October 19, 2024 @ 6:40 pm
Jim Nabors is probably the greatest vocalist in any genre.
October 23, 2024 @ 4:27 am
I rewatched “Barney and the Choir” and I have to say, it is pretty hard to sing “Santa Lucia” while changing a tire…but then the producers of TAGS turned around and had him sing “The Marine’s Hymn” in Gomer voice. Kinda makes you wonder what they were thinking.
October 20, 2024 @ 12:40 am
Was hoping this could’ve been in the same vein as the lost Hank radio shows, but it sounds very doubtful. I’d never knock The Hag, Marty and Faron were damn good too, but I agree, nobody will ever top the Possum
October 20, 2024 @ 1:36 am
Whitley was probably the best pure country vocalist we ever had, and I’d put Clinton Gregory among the top 10’s. Jones was the golden standard, I won’t deny that, but he too was a pure country singer. Price, Haggard, Robbins and especially Twitty could reach out and embrace other genres seamlessly into their songs, without losing the “country” soul in the delivery. Jones was never comfortable outside the pure country boundaries, he was simply too country.
One interesting fact; in the mid/late-60’s, when Haggard and Jones found their trademark voices, they hung around Johnny Paycheck. And comparing them both to the pre-Paycheck influence, it’s easy to see how Paycheck’s twang and phrasing influenced Hag and especially the Possum. Twitty too obviously picked up a trick or two along the way.
But I want to be fair here; all four of them probably influenced each other (along with several other stylists. But Paycheck stands out.
P.S. Randy Travis was great, but a one-trick pony. He used every vocal trick Haggard ever used in every damned song. It becomes tiresome after awhile.
October 20, 2024 @ 2:08 pm
Sofus, at one point I tended to agree on the Paycheck theory. Deke Dickerson is a proponent of it and he writes about in the liner notes for a Bear Family Paycheck release. However, I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Don Adam’s pretty well. Don grew up with Paycheck, spent years playing with him, and Adams was also a very significant early member of Jones band from 60 to 65 and then later in the 70s. Adam’s and Paycheck both learned to sing by singing along to Jones Starday and early Mercury records. I asked him specifically, and he’s familiar with the controversy. But he firmly says, no way Paycheck influenced Jones. It’s noteworthy that Adam’s was in the band all during the time Paycheck was and he had a view of the whole phenomenon, from the side of the stage. Adam’s also sang harmony with both men and he sees Jones as the originator, not Paycheck. If anyone is ” in the know” it’s Adam’s, and his brother Arnie who was the drummer agreed. Now, personally, I still am of the mind that both men challenged each other and there had to be a certain amount of mutual influence along the way. Yet, I give a lot of weight to Don’s opinion. Regardless, that was a magic time, George Jones and The Jones Boys with Paycheck and Buddy Emmons and the Adam’s Boys all in the band. That’s quite a bit of talent assembled.
October 20, 2024 @ 4:15 pm
Clinton Gregory among the top 10 country vocalists of all time?
Hey, I liked “(If It Weren’t for Country Music) I’d Go Crazy” as much as anyone, but that sounds like a quirky, personal list that’s only tangentially connected to anybody else’s list, let alone a consensus of industry figures.
October 21, 2024 @ 2:15 am
Yes, if that sub-par song is all you’ve heard of him, I understand you.
October 21, 2024 @ 8:35 pm
I actually got the CD way back when. And also “Master of Illusion.” I like the guy. But Clinton Gregory wouldn’t be on a list of top 50 country vocalists of all time, put together by leading industry experts, producers, etc. That’s just a quirky personal pick of yours. He’s a pretty good fiddle player.
October 23, 2024 @ 8:39 pm
Jones the greatest country singer ever. Range, power, control, emotion. Ability to run up or down range with full control of voice. The guy was unmatched. There is no one else close. Down the line you can throw in Gosdin, Whitley, Singletary…. But it’s always Jones that gets the point across.
The whole Paycheck influencing Jones has been debunked so many times. Jones said Paycheck didn’t influence his style before he died, Paycheck talked about Jones influence. Just listen to the records. Jones style was well on its way when Paycheck joined his band. Of course Buck, Paycheck, Hag and every great singer after talks about Jones influence…. George is the greatest…. The debate is who’s after. As a singer, I’d take Gosdin or Whitley. Gosdin about as close to Jones for delivering pain with great range. Keith’s first album wasn’t great and we don’t know what could have been. He pushed his vocals morewith JD Crowe than he did on his country records. For as short as his career was, other singers of era (Travis, Strait, Chesnutt) ended up with definitive versions of stuff he recorded. Singletary had lower baritone range than any of them. Unfortunately he just came around 5 years too late.
October 20, 2024 @ 7:47 pm
Jones was an original. And that can be said for few others.
October 19, 2024 @ 5:19 pm
According to a quote from Lloyd Green on the steelguitarforum there are still tapes of other tracks from the Charlie Pride Live at Panther Hall show that were never released – and according to Lloyd they were as good if not better than the tracks released on that album. That is one of my favorite country albums. I would love to see a push to have those tapes brought to light and released.
October 19, 2024 @ 11:50 pm
I hope so. I grew up on that album. My father used to play it regularly. I now own the same copy and do the same. I also have it on cd but was disappointed that no more tracks were added.
October 19, 2024 @ 5:21 pm
I”ll take original version of “The Honky Tonk Downstairs” from “George Jones Sings the Songs of Dallas Frazier,” circa 1968, with background players and singer collaborating to make a classic hony tonk track, over this new version, where the hotshot musicians seem to be fighting the ghost of Jones to prove who’s in charge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07DVILwzbTc
October 19, 2024 @ 8:28 pm
The sounds a little off but i never heard the song and any jones is better than anyone else so im fine with it. Cant wait to check out the rest.
October 20, 2024 @ 12:35 am
I was excited until I saw who was involved. Of course she has another individual of ill repute associated with George’s legacy. He deserves so much better, his kids deserve better, and his fans deserve better. I so hoped he’d get wise after what happened with Tammy’s estate after she died. It’s often the wrong people benefitting from the estates of legends. George is sadly no exception 😞
October 20, 2024 @ 5:54 am
I went to the Troubadour festival in Celina Texas today and it was fantastic event. Well run, tons of bathrooms, two stages and 40 something of the best BBQ joints in Texas offering samples included in the price of my ticket.
Shane Smith and the Saints
Treaty Oak Revival
Tanner Usrey
Wilder Blue
Jason Boland and the Stragglers
The damn quails
The broken spokes
Logan Ryan band.
150 is a lot of money to a lot of people and I don’t want to disrespect that at all. I do however, feel like I got a lot for my money and that my money was respected if that makes sense.
October 20, 2024 @ 7:22 am
Glad to hear it went well. Wanted to make it up there and just couldn’t pull it off. Always hear good things about these Troubadour events.
October 20, 2024 @ 7:59 am
For whatever my vote counts my wife and I were very impressed. Multiple times she mentioned how clean the bathrooms were. The lines for drinks was never very long and we were about to park across the street for 12 bucks.
They said about 7000 tickets sold? Felt like more. Treaty oak is not for me, and It’s a sign I’m getting old. But they were the biggest crowd draw of the evening.
October 20, 2024 @ 5:55 am
Merle Haggard had the full set – the vocals, his songwriting and his musicianship….. Very difficult to compare when the unity of all of these is captured in one man. Haggard was the best hands down.
October 20, 2024 @ 7:53 am
The sum is always greater than the parts.
I think it was Jason Fine who did a long feature of him, even visiting Hag’s farm. Fine describes a session in the studio where Haggard records some rock/pop standards, among them Neil’s Everybody Talking and Zevon’s Carmelita. Excellent versions, according to Fine.
Probably lost forever inside that vault mrs. Haggard never would care to open.
October 20, 2024 @ 5:23 pm
George could smell a hit. Plum. Across town. The very best. For ever
October 21, 2024 @ 2:22 am
That’s why he recorded so few of them, and so much trash?
Truth is, Jones was either too drunk or too coked up to care about what he recorded. His lucky stroke was that he could sing most songs better than anyone else, turning even the turds into brownie cookies.
A shame he was over-producef for the better part of his career.
And, since nobody else says it; he wrote a load of damned fine songs before fame got the best of him
October 21, 2024 @ 7:09 am
Here’s some context regarding the origin of these vintage recordings.
As mentioned above, Country Rewind has now issued several CD’s for multiple country artists (including Waylon, Connie Smith, Conway Twitty) using a similar template. They have somehow obtained the rights to those recordings that were created for armed forces radio shows. Country Music Time (U.S. Air Force), Country Style U.S.A. (U.S. Army) Navy Hoedown (U.S. Navy) are a few of the programs in this category. It’s possible that those shows may now be in the public domain.
The original programs recorded studio performances by then-current country stars. In some cases the artist’s road band was used while other programs utilized a group of Nashville studio sidemen for the backing tracks. The host for each program was usually a member of the branch of the armed service featured in that program. Recruiting messages were offered between the songs.
Many country music stations aired the 15 or 30 minute shows in fringe hours such as overnights or on weekends. They were delivered to stations on reel-to-reel tapes or pressed on vinyl discs. To be sure those shows are a great time capsule to hear artists in their prime performing well-produced, alternate versions of their familiar commercially released recordings. There was usually some banter between the singer and the host as well as some comments about the songs. Unfortunately only the songs have been extracted. It is unfortunate that Country Rewind has overdubbed new/additional instrumentation and background vocals rather than issuing them in their original form that are likely quite good as they were recorded in Nashville studios with top-notch musicians.
The purpose of the recordings was to promote armed forces recruiting efforts. Participating artists may have received a tax credit for donating their performances or they may have been paid a nominal “union scale” for their efforts.
Some of these shows are sold on eBay or used music sites.