| Author | Message | ||
| alembic76407
Senior Member Username: alembic76407 Post Number: 724 Registered: 5-2002 |
We lost a great one at 81 years old They hung a wreath on his door | ||
| bigredbass
Senior Member Username: bigredbass Post Number: 1978 Registered: 9-2002 |
George and I were from the same corner of East Texas; I was born in Beaumont, him next door in Vidor, a rough and rowdy little spot if there ever was one, full of pine tree cutters and oilfield roughnecks. Like a lot of other Texas musicians, we were surrounded and involuntarily immersed in many styles of music just because of the geography: South Louisiana only minutes away with Cajun and Zydeco and New Orleans. North Texas and Oklahoma to the north, with lots of 'Okie' country music and Western Swing, from Lefty Frizzell to Bob Wills. Of course, the tremendous Texas Blues influence, just pick a name from T-Bone to Lightnin' Hopkins. But George was mostly influenced by Opry Greats. You hear a lot of Roy Acuff, and some Bill Monroe and Lefty thrown into the mix. Country music is like most styles of music: Among the great spread of it all, there's always the handful of great innovators and stylists. And that era of country music was, I believe, blues for a segregated society that did not listen to the real thing from black artists, it was just that time / space in history. I was still living in East Texas in the late 70's and early 80's. By this time, George's demons had well and truly inhabited him, the alcohol overlaid with cocaine mostly. He had gotten to the point he was seeing and talking to a Duck that only he could see, between blackouts, that is. This was when he became 'No Show Jones', infamous for NOT showing up for his road dates due to his condition. He'd had an incendiary marriage to Tammy Wynette, by then history: He wouldn't leave the bottle for her. At that time you could still get a lot of indulgences from the record company and a lot of the industry, but he made the fatal (career-wise) mistake of screwing over promoters across the country by not making his dates, and once you do that, you're finished. He returned to East Texas with his new wife, Nancy, and opened a country music park up in the Piney Woods at Colmesneil. He still had lots of big artist friends that would swing through to help him out. His opening act was always his childhood best friend, Benny Barnes and his band. They were two peas in a pod: Drank like Russian sailors, sang alike, played alike, sounded alike, you get the picture. Except George got famous, and Benny stayed a local act. I once watched Benny in a club drink a fifth of Canadian a set, two 50 minute sets in a row, and come off stage looking and acting as if he'd been sipping the same beer since 5 o'clock. Amazing . . . My brother-in-law at the time played pedal steel for Benny. I'd tag along to watch and hang. Whenever any of George's artist friends offered to take him out to their bus and 'relax', Nancy would shoo them away like a harpy, and you could not get to him without going through her, and generally, you weren't going to get by her. She was an RN, and had that tough side all good nurses have. Little by little she brought him around, and he survived to essentially have a second career, and,except for a few backslides, have a fairly quiet life past all of his history. And to reach that rare place where he was appreciated and revered while he was still alive to enjoy it, both for his career and talent, and for living to tell about it ! Keith Richard (Woody, too) always had a soft spot for traditional country music, and Keith would never come to Nashville without hooking up with 'the Jones'. Boy, to have been a fly on the wall in those conversations . . . GJ charted 167 singles over a 50-odd year career, Opry member, USMC veteran, Kennedy center honoree, and surely as big a figure in country music as Hank, Sr. or Cash. They really DON'T make them like that any more. J o e y | ||
| pauldo
Senior Member Username: pauldo Post Number: 970 Registered: 6-2006 |
Joey, Thanks for sharing that, it shows a great insight into George's life that I certainly didn't know about. | ||
| richbass939
Senior Member Username: richbass939 Post Number: 1206 Registered: 11-2004 |
Joey, In reading your telling of George's story my heart feels glad and sad all at the same time. I am happy for George that he came back around, with his wife's help. He had a great, classic voice for the country genre. Despite the years that he played into the hands of his demons, his contribution to country music was huge, as evidenced by the honors bestowed upon him. For me, the painful part of your story is that a very talented musician that I know is currently on the losing end of that same battle. I really hope that he can find some way to turn things around. I quit his band about six weeks ago. He didn't take it well and launched into a verbal assault. It's not that it hurt my feelings; that was his schizoholic side. I just hope that he can find his way back. So very sad. Again, thanks Joey for sharing your insight into George's life. Rich | ||
| hankster
Advanced Member Username: hankster Post Number: 319 Registered: 6-2004 |
He was the real deal. | ||
| cozmik_cowboy
Senior Member Username: cozmik_cowboy Post Number: 1466 Registered: 10-2006 |
George Jones = country. Anything currently on "country" radio < country. Peter (Who really wishes the keyboard codes would do "does not equal" - but "is less than" works, too. We'll miss you, Mr. Jones.) | ||
| bigredbass
Senior Member Username: bigredbass Post Number: 1979 Registered: 9-2002 |
Rich, only this week my sister celebrated her 26th birthday in AA, so there are avenues and ways for these terribly ill people to recover IF they want to do it. If they don't, they will join the hundreds of other successful entertainers like Elvis, Whitney, MJ, and Hendrix. I played for 25 years stone cold sober. I'm just no good with drink, and I was terrified of drugs. In those 25 years with hundreds of semi-pro and club musicians like me, I only met one other guy the same way. It's ultimately why I no longer care to gig, and rarely think about playing at all. I played with so many stoners, drunks, and burnouts, it's a wonder I didn't become some sort of serial killer . . . and ultimately it robbed every bit of joy that music gave me as far as playing out. Out of those 25 years I can think of over two dozen OD's, DUI crashes, a few suicides, jealous exes, wrong place at the wrong time deaths that WOULD NOT have happened to sober people, among the guys I played with. I can think of far more who are/were famous. We are a frail creation in a lot of cases, and people will sort thru many remedies for whatever pain and despair and anguish and insecurity haunts them, and those usual remedies are rarely constructive to recovery and a successful life. That the music business and musicians themselves consider these as normal goings-on is criminally tragic, and beneath contempt that 'sex, drugs, and rock + roll' is still uttered aloud. Which makes me all the more glad for the few 'back from the brink' successes like Jones, or Eric, or Stevie Ray. Life is too short. And it's often very hard. Don't make it even harder. If you need help, it's out there. I pray for them all. J o e y (Message edited by bigredbass on April 28, 2013) | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 5430 Registered: 7-2004 |
Personally I thoroughly enjoy sex (with senior management), drugs (non-toxic and in moderation), and rock 'n roll (at reasonable volumes with players who listen to each other). And I suspect it may be at least equally true that the type of person who is compelled to play professionally is often the type that easily succumbs as it is that the life style corrupts the person. Bill, tgo | ||
| richbass939
Senior Member Username: richbass939 Post Number: 1207 Registered: 11-2004 |
Thanks for the words of hope. As Joey said, the help is there if the person wants it. In the case of the person I know, I don't know what it will take for him to decide to get off of alcohol. He already got a DUI (his BAC was somewhere in the 0.23 - 0.25 range), he walked and rode his bike for 5 years, he has managed to hold a responsible day job, and ALMOST always performed his musical gigs. He will probably always find people to play in his band (he really is THAT good) even though he has run off quite a few. Club owners refuse to deal with him. Most of the ones that I know are just like he is. Part of the gig problem is that the gigs are almost always in places where alcohol flows freely, either from the owners or patrons. Whenever you have to interact with him, especially if there may be a conflict, you never know which side of his schizoholic nature you will get. His sober side is reasonable and fun to hang with. If he's had a few shots of whiskey, he can explode in literally 5 seconds. The tragedy of his life has nothing to do with squandering his talent. It's painful to watch his life going down the toilet. His parents are the nicest people in the world and can only watch it happen. I have two kids and can't imagine the pain his parents must feel. Telling this story is not intended to be philosophical or political. It is just about the hope that a fairly young life can somehow get off of the destructive slide that it is on and be pulled back onto a path that has a brighter future. Rich (Message edited by richbass939 on April 29, 2013) | ||
| jcdlc72
Advanced Member Username: jcdlc72 Post Number: 242 Registered: 11-2009 |
I do COMPLETELY agree on what Joey and others have stated. Throughout life I've shared stage with musicians from all beliefs and convictions, and I must say I've had the luck of finding a nice group of serious people who, if ever did, managed to pull off the path of addictions. I've also shared with people I've seen taking the walk down, and have seen them slowly vanish, their talents diminishing, their focus on life (in every aspect) slowly disappearing. Although I couldn't say I was seriously hooked on anything, I can say I have fought some of the lesser demons myself, and can assure you the light you see once you get out of it is something wonderful!. Once you start to get your act together and bring your chops (both in music and life) back, the whole thing gets a fresher, brighter vibe that no high can get compared with.  And there's nothing like working with sober, responsible and talented fellow players | ||
| hankster
Advanced Member Username: hankster Post Number: 320 Registered: 6-2004 |
I was on the road in the early 80's with an alcoholic drummer. He was variously abusive and cajoling, sometimes threatening, always broke and in debt to the clubs or the rest of the band, and genuinely disruptive. He was also about 15 years older than the rest of the band, and to a surprising degree, given all I've said above, held us in thrall with his road stories and I've-been-around-the-block demeanor. He finally fell off the back of a riser and broke both his arms, allowing us to find another drummer and get on with our lives. I knew then and know now that his condition was an addiction, and needs to be treated as an illness and with some compassion, but there are a lot of social cost and disrupted careers involved in these things. Sounds like we've all seen our share! | ||
| bigredbass
Senior Member Username: bigredbass Post Number: 1980 Registered: 9-2002 |
Several links to more included at the bottom of the article, besides this great remembrance from the NASHVILLE SCENE paper: http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/nashvilles-sinatra-billie-holiday-or-john-coltrane-andmdash-that-was-george-jones-the-voice-of-heartbreak/Content?oid=3386044 J o e y | ||
| richbass939
Senior Member Username: richbass939 Post Number: 1209 Registered: 11-2004 |
Wow! I hope this can turn out well. I posted on this thread a story about a musician friend who is having a really tough fight with his alcohol demons. Two days ago he called me and said he was going to Al Anon and trying to turn his life around. He apologized for the last conversation we had (he really laid into me) and for the way he treated a musician friend of mine a little while ago. I guess his life finally hit rock bottom (he is in some alcohol related legal trouble) and he realized that things have to change. He is a good guy, but when alcohol has its hooks in him he has little control over himself. I know he has a long, hard road ahead of him but this is a start. I hope for the best for him. Rich |
