Alamo Jones may have not been a chart topper. But he lived one of the most interesting lives within country music, and made country music a lot more interesting through his life.
There is a lot one can say about the passing of Eddie Van Halen, and virtually none of it is relevant to country music. But it’s all relevant. If you grew up in the late 70’s, 80’s or early 90’s, or rock music is in any way important to your little universe and Van Halen doesn’t loom large in it, you missed out on the preeminent American experience.