Disco de George Jones: “Burn Your Playhouse Down: The Unreleased Duets”

Descripción (en inglés) :

Personnel: George Jones (vocals); Louis Nunley (vocals). <p>Audio Mixer: John Kelton. <p>Arranger: D. Bergen White. <p>While duet recordings are a dime a dozen in the world of country music, nobody does duets like George Jones, whose recordings with Tammy Wynette and Melba Montgomery virtually defined the form. BURN YOUR PLAYHOUSE DOWN collects the honky-tonk hero's previously unreleased duet performances from the 1993 BRADLEY BARN SESSIONS and 1988's FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES, as well as a lost '70s track with Wynette and a 21st-century tune by Jones and his daughter Georgette. <p>While the cuts with artists like Wynette and Dolly Parton--both old hands at the duet game--are as great as you might expect, one of the surprise highlights is a version of the title track with Keith Richards, who turns in one of the finest vocal performances of his career. And revisiting his classic "The Window Up Above" with the help of Leon Russell, Jones proves that he still hasn't exhausted all the interpretive possibilities of even his best-known material.

George Jones's latest disc "Burn Your Playhouse Down" is a collection of duets George has recorded between 1977 and 2006 but never released. Listening to this album you wonder WHY these were never released until now. The whole album is pure Jones country, but the highlight of the album is the duet between George and his daughter with Tammy Wynette, Georgette, "You And Me And Time". Georgette looks an awful lot like her mom and vocally she sounds more like LeeAnn Womack, but on the first line of the chorus she sounds a lot like Tammy. The other stand out tracks for me are the Ricky Scaggs, Vince Gill, Jim Lauderdale, Shelby Lynne and Mark Chesnutt tracks. The duet with Dolly Parton, "Rockin' Years" would later be redone with Ricky Van Shelton and would hit #1. A prior review suggests that Jones's original vocal may have just been edited out and Ricky Van Shelton's inserted, that's not the case, the version heard here is a completely different recording, Dolly's vocals included. The album wraps up with a lost duet with Tammy Wynette from 1977. Anytime a new Tammy song is uncovered it's a treat and this one is no exception.

If you like George Jones, or just great real country music, this is the disc for you.

I just got my CD this last week, and I've played it at least 20 times. There are very few singers in country music today who can convey emotion like George. He's paired on this album with some of the best country has to offer, and every song is a masterpiece. I'm amazed some of these weren't already released and counted as hits for him.

My favorite is "Lovin' You Lovin' Me" with Tammy Wynette. But I have "You and Me and Time", his duet with his daughter Georgette, stuck in my head. She sounds and looks so much like her mother! I also love the harmonies in "Selfishness in a Man" with Vince Gill.

If you're a George Jones fan, this is a rare new collection you will enjoy.

All good songs with great performances. The opening track with daughter Georgette will stop any Jones/Wynette fan in their tracks. I've been getting a kick out of playing it for family and friends. The reactions range from goosebumps to just shaking their head in amazement. A most enjoyable and varied collection that will be in my rotation for a long time.