Disco de George Jones: “Walls Can Fall”

Descripción (en inglés) :

Personnel: George Jones (vocals); Biff Watson, Billy Joe Walker, Jr. (acoustic guitar); Steve Gibson (acoustic & electric guitars); Reggie Young (electric guitar, bass); Buddy Emmons, Sonny Garrish, John Hughey (steel guitars); Glen Duncan, Stuart Duncan (fiddles); John Barlow Jarvis, Pig Robbins (piano); Emory Gordy, Jr. (bass); Owen Hale (drums); Curtis Young, Liana Young, Cindy Richardson-Walker, Patty Loveless, Vince Gill, Carol Chase, Ronny Gaddis, Andrea Zonn (background vocals). <p>Additional guest artists: Alan Jackson, T. Graham Brown, George Foreman. <p>1992's WALLS CAN FALL arrived at a time when many suspected that too much hard living had taken its toll on the ol' Possum and that neither he nor his voice had much left to offer. Confounding expectations as usual, "no-show" Jones showed up with one of his best albums in years. In fact, the lead off track, "I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair," which features cameos from Garth Brooks, Patty Loveless and several other '90s country stars, became a mainstream country radio hit. <p>Rather than turning into a cheesy "hat act" showcase, however, the song makes glaringly obvious the fact that there still ain't nobody who can sing like George. Most of the other tunes here are also first rate. "There's the Door" is absolutely classic Jones in the tear-jerking vein of "The Grand Tour." "Drive me to Drink" is a potential honky-tonk standard that would also be perfect for Johnny Paycheck or David Allen Coe. On WALLS CAN FALL, the man who Sinatra once called "the world's second best singer" proves once again that Frank may have been underestimating.

With this album, George showed that he could still record great music in his sixties, although the upbeat songs are done in a slightly more restrained manner than George would have done when he was younger.

The set begins with the defiant, upbeat, I don't need your rocking chair, which features a stellar cast of backing vocalists - Vince Gill, Mark Chesnutt, Garth Brooks, Travis Tritt, Joe Diffie, Alan Jackson, Pam Tillis, T Graham Brown, Patty Loveless and Clint Black. It is a great song but it stretches him vocally just a little. The album closes with another upbeat song, Finally Friday - again, it is not as up-tempo as it might have been but it still sounds great.

Between those two songs are eight wonderful slow and mid-tempo songs, all of which suit George ideally. Best known among these songs is Bottle let me down, the old Merle Haggard classic. In his prime, George might have done this differently, but it works very well here as a mid-tempo song. Of the other songs, I particularly like Walls can fall, There's the door and You must have walked across my mind today - but all the songs here are brilliant.

Despite showing occasional signs of his age, George managed to find ten high-quality songs that he could deliver effectively. This may not be the best place to start a George Jones collection but if you are interested in buying some of George's original albums, this is one that is worthy of consideration.