Fairfax, VA (Top40 Charts/ Time Life/ Webster PR) -
George Jones is the gold standard of country singing, but many of his most important and best-loved songs have long been unavailable to his fans. On February 23rd, Time Life will issue
George Jones: The Great Lost Hits, a historic 2-CD collection of his rare and largely out-of-print recordings that were originally released by the Musicor record label between 1965 and 1972. On the same date, a special 12 track, single CD version will be exclusively available at Wal-Mart as well as digitally at Walmart.com.
Fans and critics alike point to this era of Jones' career as his best, and the 34 songs painstakingly culled from the over 250 recordings Jones made for Musicor were carefully selected to reflect this. Even more significantly, this marks the first time that music from his entire career is available to fans on CD. The tracks included in The Great Lost Hits are a mix of songs that have become classics and rarities that few have heard in many years. During the Musicor years, Jones recorded with spare and economical accompaniment, leaving fans with little distraction from his unrivaled talent in drawing such incredible, raw emotion from a song.
The Great Lost Hits is filled with the songs that propelled one of the greatest careers in country music including "A Good Year for the Roses," "Walk through this World with Me," "I'll Share My World with You," "Love Bug," and "When the Grass Grows over Me." The original version of "Beneath Still Waters" (which later became a No 1 country hit for Emmylou Harris) and "Your Angel Steps out of Heaven" (later recorded by Elvis Costello, Flying Burrito Brothers and others) are other remarkable standouts, as well as the original version of "Where Grass Won't Grow" that George later recorded with Trisha Yearwood, Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris. There are also country treasures 'World of Forgotten People,' written by Loretta Lynn just for Jones, and Tammy Wynette anonymously singing on 'Never Grow Cold' soon after they began their relationship. It was actually Jones's marriage to Wynette that prompted his departure from Musicor for her label, Epic. After leaving Musicor, Jones' songs took on a different style, bearing more embellishments than his signature sound. The Musicor collection captures George at his unadorned best, at long last available after a series of exceedingly drawn-out legal proceedings left the vast bulk of the recordings unavailable, out-of-print or never before pressed in CD format.
George Jones is the No 2 best-charting country artist of all time, with a staggering list of hit singles in every decade since the '50s. Jones also has 143 Top 40 hits to his name, two Grammy Awards, is inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and holds a National Medal of Arts. At 78, Jones continues to be an active country music superstar, headlining dozens of concerts each year.
About Time Life
Headquartered in Fairfax, VA, Direct Holdings Americas Inc.'s history began in 1961 as Time Life, a direct marketing division of Time Inc., specializing in music and books. The business has been operated as a separate company since the mid-1970s when it relocated to Virginia, and has since grown to become one of the world's largest direct marketers of audio and video products throughout North America, Europe and Australia. The Company has set the standard in the direct response industry by pioneering direct marketing techniques and building one of the most trusted and recognized brands in commerce. Time Life now also sells its products through major traditional and non-traditional retailers around the world as well as via the Internet. The Company was sold in 2003 to private investors. Time Life and the Time Life logo are registered trademarks of Time Warner Inc. and affiliated companies, used under license by Direct Holdings Americas Inc., which is not affiliated with Time Warner Inc. or Time Inc.
GEORGE JONES: THE GREAT LOST HITS Tracklisting:
Compact Disc 1
01 Walk through this world with me
02 I can't get there from here
03 Things have gone to pieces
04 Love bug
05 If my heard had windows
06 Take me
07 Four-o-thirty three
08 I'll share my world with you
09 Say it's not you
10 Small Time Laboring Man
11 Milwaukee here I come
12 As Long As I Live
13 When the Grass Grows Over Me
14 If Not For You
15 I'm a people
16 She's Mine
17 Where grass won't grow
Compact Disc 2
01 A Good Year for the roses
02 Tell me lying eyes are wrong
03 World of forgotten people
04 Sometimes You Just Can't Win
05 Right Won't Touch a Hand
06 A Day in the life of a fool
07 Burn another honky tonk down
08 Your angel steps out of heaven
09 I'll follow you
10 Never grow cold
11 The honky tonk downstairs
12 We must have been out of our minds
13 Developing my pictures
14 Old Bursh Arbors
15 Beneath Still Waters
16 Feeling single, seeing double
17 Will you visit me on Sunday
