Anniversary (Ten Years Of Hits)

Amazon.com By 1972, George Jones was already a legend with nearly two decades of classic country recordings to his credit. But when he teamed with producer Billy Sherrill in 1972, he may have even outdone himself. On the countrypolitan hit "The Door," Sherrill has the strings there from note one, softly providing the singer emotional support, and as Jones anguishes through a litany of all he's ever lost, it sure sounds like he needs it. In fact, on each of these 22 classics of honky-tonk heartache, Jones chokes down tears and swallows notes--his voice twisting, soaring, crying--as he weaves drunkenly down the thin line between despair and one more last chance. Country music has never sounded this devastated. Maybe it never will again. --David Cantwell Product Description Released in 1982 to commemorate a decade at Epic Records, Anniversary is a double LP (later reissued as a single CD) spanning 22 tracks and containing all of George Jones' big hits, from 1972's "A Picture of Me (Without You)" to 1982's "Same Ole Me," all produced by Billy Sherrill. Broken down to the details, it's an impressive, weighty collection and would be essential just for having such exquisitely crafted and sang hits as "We Can Make It," "The Grand Tour," "The Door," "Once You've Had the Best," and "He Stopped Loving Her Today." What makes Anniversary transcendent, one of the best country albums of all time, is the context and subtext, how it reads like an autobiography of the most turbulent, heartbreaking decade in Jones' life. When this was released in 1982, he was hitting rock bottom after a decade of substance abuse and erratic behavior, much of it kick started by his rocky marriage with Tammy Wynette. Anniversary doesn't explicitly tackle any of this -- although some of the songs were written with these events in mind -- but it does something better: it dramatizes it, largely due to Sherrill's near-operatic productions and the song sequencing. The first half of the album starts with songs of devotion, and they slowly give way to songs about heartbreak and loss, ending with the remarkable second half of the record where the songs find Jones broken and alone, drinking and pining for his lost love, even from beyond the grave. It's a thrilling journey that doesn't just showcase his ballad style at its finest, it has a devastating emotional impact that eclipses his excellent '70s albums because of the scope of the narrative; each of the proper LPs were snapshots of a time, while this takes a long view of his troubled decade and the results are heartbreaking and unforgettable and, because of the narrative, utterly necessary even if you have all the actual albums. It's unquestionably one of the 25 greatest country albums of all time. ~~~ AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
ASIN: B0000025T3
VSKU: DBV.B0000025T3.G
Condition: Good
Author/Artist:George Jones
Binding: Audio CD
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