Given that George Jones is pretty much Honky Tonk 101, this collection of early recordings may as well be the syllabus for learning about an entire genre. Time Life issued this compilation in 2007, by which point nine of these fifteen recordings were at least 50 years old. The sound quality is about what you'd expect; white noise and pops abound, but they don't hamper the listening experience in the least.
His vocal aesthetics may have evolved over the years, but it's unmistakably Jones singing on this old school classics. The collection leads off with his immortal recording of "Why Baby Why," and what follows is an interesting survey of the first eight years The Possum worked as a recording artist. Among the highlights are his versions of "Life to Go" and "Tall, Tall Trees." Stonewall Jackson's version of the former, and Alan Jackson's cover of the latter, were both hits for those artists, but the songs began life through Jones, who wrote both of them (co-writing "Tall, Tall Trees" was Roger Miller).
In fact, that may be the most interesting part about this survey of Jones's nascent career: he wrote five of the songs included, and co-wrote another seven. The remaining three songs are a pair of covers ("Yes I Know Why," originally recorded and written by Webb Pierce, and "Run Boy," originally written by Hy Heath and recorded by Ray Price), and "For Sale or Lease," a previously unissued track from Jones's first recording session that goes uncredited, its writer's identity apparently lost to time.
These recordings are more than a footnote in history; they include five Top Ten hits, as well as the aforementioned Jones originals of songs that were hits for other artists. "Early Hits: The Starday Recordings" isn't a distillation of Jones's discography; for that, you'll need to look elsewhere. But if you have even a passing interest in the recording career of "the greatest living country singer," this is as good a place as any to start.
Although this Time-Life collection was published in 2007;some of the songs were recorded over 50 years ago.Most,but not all, were written or co-written by Jones.Several were top hits,but all are good and give an excellent reminder of what Jones sounded like in his early
recordings.These songs were recorded in the fifties,making them over 60 years old.Though there have been great improvements made over the years in recording,these songs have stood the test of time and it is a great reminder what Jones and his recordings sounded like so long ago.Any fan of Jones will want to add this set to their collection.The set also includes a brochure about this period in Jones' career,when few ever imagined the legendary career that was in his future,and continues today.
