WELL, THE SUBJECT OF OUR NEXT STORY APPEARED IN LOTS OF PHOTOS HIMSELF DURING HIS LIFE.
COUNTRY MUSIC STAR GEORGE JONES DIED ON APRIL 26.
THE COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAMER WAS 81, AND LIVED WHAT SOME WOULD CALL "A HARD LIFE."
BUT GEORGE JONES RECORDED MORE THAN 150 ALBUMS AND DOZENS OF HITS IN HIS CAREER.
ON ASSIGNMENT'S PHILIP ALEXIOU DISCOVERED THIS AND MUCH MORE FROM VOA MUSIC BLOGGER
AND RADIO HOST KATHERINE COLE, WHEN THEY TALKED ABOUT THE LIFE OF THIS COUNTRY MUSIC LEGEND.
"IT'S JUST A GREAT FEELING I HAVE LASTED THIS LONG.
YOU KNOW, USUALLY WHEN YOU GET MY AGE YOU JUST RETIRE AND SETTLE DOWN AND WORK ON THE
FARM, YOU KNOW."
KATHERINE COLE, GEORGE JONES -- AN ORDINARY NAME BUT NO ORDINARY FIGURE.
WHAT MADE HIM SO UNIQUE?
OH, SO MANY THINGS.
HIS VOICE FOR ONE.
"I DON'T NEED YOUR ROCKING CHAIR...."
THIS GUY COULD SELL ANY KIND OF SONG.
THERE WAS NOBODY BETTER AT SINGING SAD SONGS.
HE COULD REALLY BRING THE TEARS OUT WHEN HE SINGS, PROBABLY MORE THAN ANYBODY ELSE.
OH YEAH.
HE'S JUST GOT SO MUCH FEELING.
OH, THERE WERE A COUPLE.
PEOPLE ARGUE ABOUT THIS, "THE SADDEST SONG IN COUNTRY MUSIC."
MY FAVORITE IS THE ONE CALLED THE GRAND TOUR...
"STEP RIGHT IN, COME ON IN IF YOU'D LIKE TO TAKE THE GRAND TOUR ..."
...WHICH IS THIS GUY TAKING YOU ON A TOUR OF HIS HOUSE RIGHT AFTER HIS WIFE LEFT.
AND IT IS JUST THE SADDEST SONG EVER, I SAY.
SOME PEOPLE THINK "HE STOPPED LOVING HER TODAY" IS THE SADDEST.
AFTER SEEING THE VERSION THAT ALAN JACKSON SANG AT THE GEORGE JONES FUNERAL I THINK I
MIGHT CHANGE MY MIND AND THAT SONG "HE STOPPED LOVING HER TODAY" WHICH REALLY WAS GEORGE
JONES' BIGGEST HIT.
I GUESS THAT REALLY IS THE SADDEST SONG.
AND IT TELLS THE STORY OF A GUY THAT LOVED THIS WOMAN UP UNTIL THE MOMENT THAT THEY CARRIED
OUT OF HIS HOUSE IN A CASKET.
THAT WAS THE ONLY WAY HE WAS EVER GOING TO STOP LOVING HER.
AND HIS LIFE, YOU KNOW, WHEN TAKE A LOOK AT IT WAS, I THINK OF JOHNNY CASH'S LIFE KIND
OF THE WAY GEORGE JONES'S LIFE WAS.
OH, WELL, GEORGE HAD HIS PROBLEMS.
AND HE'S BEEN MARRIED A NUMBER OF TIMES.
HE MARRIED TAMMY WYNETTE, THE QUEEN OF COUNTRY MUSIC.
HE'S CONSIDERED THE KING.
RIGHT, THEY WERE THE KING AND QUEEN OF COUNTRY MUSIC TOGETHER.
AND ACTUALLY THERE IS A GREAT STORY ABOUT THEM, THAT YOU KNOW, THEY HAD MET, THEY HAD
LIKED EACH OTHER, SHE WAS MARRIED TO SOMEBODY ELSE.
I DON'T REMEMBER IF HE WAS MARRIED TO SOMEBODY ELSE AT THE TIME.
BUT, YOU KNOW, THE LORE IS, THE FAMOUS STORY IS HE WENT OVER TO HER HOUSE AND SHE WAS FIGHTING
WITH HER HUSBAND AND HE WALKED IN AND HEARD THIS ARGUMENT AND SAID, 'COME WITH ME, GET
OUT,' AND HE GRABBED TAMMY AND THE KIDS AND SHE JUST LEFT.
BUT ALSO HE WAS SOMEBODY WHO DID NOT ALWAYS SHOW UP TO HIS CONCERTS.
'NO SHOW JONES.'
YEA, WELL HE HAD PROBLEMS AS WE SAID BEFORE.
HE HAD DRINKING PROBLEMS, HE HAD DRUG PROBLEMS ..
"IF DRINKING DON'T KILL ME, HER MEMORY WILL.
I CAN'T HOLD OUT MUCH LONGER THE WAY THAT I FEEL."
AND THERE WAS A PERIOD OF TIME WHERE EARNED THAT NICKNAME, 'NO SHOW JONES' BECAUSE HE
DIDN'T SHOW UP FOR SHOWS.
WHAT DOES COUNTRY MUSIC MEAN TO AMERICA ?
IT'S A TYPE OF AMERICAN POPULAR MUSIC AND IT REALLY GOT ITS START FROM FOLK MUSIC.
FROM THE MUSIC THAT CAME OVER FROM ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND AND ALL THE MUSIC THAT THE IMMIGRANTS
BROUGHT OVER WITH THEM.
AND REALLY WHAT IT WAS IS KIND OF LIKE FOLK MUSIC, IT WAS A WAY TO TELL THE STORIES OF
THE DAY.
RIGHT?
YOU STARTED SINGING ABOUT OR TELLING THE STORY OF WHAT WAS GOING ON IN YOUR TOWN OR THE PEOPLE
AROUND YOU.
THE SOUNDS WERE A LITTLE DIFFERENT.
THEY WEREN'T AS SLICK AS POP MUSIC AND THAT'S KIND OF WHAT PEOPLE LIKE.
IT'S NOT AS CALCULATED, OR IT WASN'T BACK THEN.
WERE YOU ALWAYS A COUNTRY GIRL OR HOW DID YOU END UP...
I WAS NEVER.
THEN HOW DID YOU END UP...
I DON'T KNOW, I HEARD A SONG ONE DAY.
I HEARD A HANK WILLIAMS SONG AND I SAID, OH, WHAT IS THAT I'VE GOT TO LEARN MORE AND, YOU
KNOW, YOU JUST START, YOU HEAR ONE THING AND YOU START RESEARCHING AND LEARNING AND YOU
REALIZE YOU LIKE THIS STUFF AND THEN YOU'VE GOT TO ADMIT IT TO OTHER PEOPLE.
YOU'VE GOT YOUR BLOG.
WHAT HAVE PEOPLE SAID TO YOU ABOUT GEORGE JONES?
OH, EVERYBODY LOVES GEORGE JONES.
I MEAN EVERYBODY LOVES A BAD BOY DON'T THEY?
ARE THEY COMING FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD?
WE ARE, WE'RE GETTING...
REALLY?
YEAH, YEAH, YEAH.
WE'VE HAD POSTS FROM PEOPLE IN AFRICA WHO LOVE GEORGE JONES.
SOMEONE FROM EGYPT WHO SAID TO ME HE HAD FIRST, NOW THIS ONE WAS NOT ON THE BLOG, THIS WAS
AN EMAIL, WHO SAID HE HAD FIRST HEARD GEORGE JONES IN A TAXI CAB WHEN HE WAS IN NEW YORK
CITY WHEN HE WAS VISITING THE UNITED STATES.
BEFORE HE RETURNED HOME, HE WENT AND BOUGHT EVERY SINGLE GEORGE JONES CASSETTE HE COULD
FIND.
AND HE STILL LISTENS TO THEM.
SO, GEORGE JONES, THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT HIM THAT JUST STRUCK A NERVE WITH ANY MUSIC
LOVER.
I MEAN JUST THE WAY HE TOLD THOSE STORIES.
WHO'S GONNA FILL THEIR SHOES, WHO'S GONNA STAND THAT TALL...WHO'S GONNA FILL THEIR SHOES....
IMRAN, IT IS INTERESTING TO KNOW THAT GEORGE JONES WAS NOT JUST A KING OF THE COUNTRY MUSIC
WORLD.
HE WAS ACTUALLY REVERED BY LOTS OF OTHER MUSIC LEGENDS, INCLUDING FRANK SINATRA, JAMES TAYLOR,
ELVIS COSTELLO...
JUST TO NAME A FEW.
IN FACT SOME OF THE PEOPLE ALSO SAID THAT HE COULD BE CONSIDERED AS THE ELVIS OF COUNTRY
MUSIC.
EXACTLY, ELVIS PRESLEY OF COUNTRY.