It took over a year to record. George had hell with it.
RIP George Jones America loved you.
Another great one from George.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpBiVpSggNs
There’s purple hearts and packs of gum
fatherless daughters and fatherless sons
and there’s 50,000 names carved in the wall
They come from all across this land
In pickup trucks and mini vans
Searching for a boy from long ago
They scan the wall and find his name
The teardrops fall like pouring rain
and silently they leave a gift and go
There’s Stars of David and rosary beads
and crucifixion figurines
and flowers of all colors large and small
There’s a Boy Scout badge and a merit pin
Little American flags waving in the wind
and there’s 50,000 names carved in the wall.
Yeah, legend has it that George had no trouble with the portion of the song he had to sing. But he kept botching the brief, spoken section of the lyrics that are one of the more distinctive parts of “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” The reason? Ol’ Possum was often drunk during the recording sessions. Luckily for him, Billy Sherrill was a patient man.
But you’ve got to give George his due. Still the greatest singer in the history of country music, and that takes in a pretty wide swath of musical history. And he did that despite decades of self-destructive behavior that would have killed a lesser man. Compared to George, Keith Richards is a piker.