Golden Ring | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | August 9, 1976 | |||
Recorded | December 12, 1974–April 1976 | |||
Studio | Columbia (Nashville, Tennessee) | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 26:12 | |||
Label | Epic | |||
Producer | Billy Sherrill | |||
George Jones and Tammy Wynette chronology | ||||
| ||||
George Jones chronology | ||||
| ||||
Tammy Wynette chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Golden Ring | ||||
|
Golden Ring is the seventh studio album by American country music artists George Jones and Tammy Wynette,released in August 1976 [1] on the Epic Records label. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Country Album chart. The singles "Near You" and "Golden Ring" both reached No. 1 on the Country Singles chart.
Although Jones and Wynette had divorced in 1975, [2] Epic still released duets they had recorded together because public interest in the couple remained so intense. In fact,Golden Ring would be their only number one LP together,and the pair would score four top five hits between 1976 and 1980. As Bob Allen points out in his biography George Jones:The Life and Times of a Honky Tonk Legend,the couple,who had endured a very bitter,public divorce,were forced to make appearances together because "After the divorce,the demand for concert bookings with either Tammy or George,separately,fell off drastically...Tammy found herself strangely ill at ease in front of disappointed and often angry audience members,a few of whom never failed to holler and scream,even in the middle of one of her songs:'Where's George!?'" (In a 1995 television special on The Nashville Network,Wynette recalled that she would often reply,"I don't know and he doesn't know,either.") Jones was faring little better:his 1975 album Memories of Us had barely broken the top 50 on Billboard,stalling at number 43. Jones,who at the time made no secret of the fact that he still carried a torch for his ex-wife,later addressed the issue of reteaming with Wynette in his 1996 memoir by insisting,"That wasn't my idea. In fact,I hated to work with her. It brought back too many unpleasant memories,and when some fans saw us together,they got it in their heads that we were going to get back together romantically." The album cover,which looks like the stoic couple are silently watching television at home together,is a far cry from the beaming faces that appeared on their earlier albums just a few years before. Jones accepted the responsibility for the failure of the marriage but vehemently denied Wynette's allegations in her autobiography that he beat her and fired a shotgun at her. Their next album,Together Again,would not come until four years in 1980.
The song "Golden Ring" was conceived by songwriter Bobby Braddock,who had seen a television drama about the life of a handgun. The story showed the gun changing hands several times,with a hunter,police officer,criminal and a father of a 2-year-old child all owning the gun at one point,with the consequences played out in each segment. Braddock applied the same concept to a song about the life of a wedding ring. Here,a young couple from Chicago - apparently very much in love - goes to a pawn shop to shop for a ring for their upcoming wedding. The man (both characters are unnamed in the song) laments that he is unable to pick out a more expensive band,but he's willing to buy it to show how much he loves his bride-to-be,whom - in the song's second verse - he marries in a small wedding chapel later on that afternoon. In the third verse,the couple has been fighting which leads to "their final round". The man accuses his wife of planning to leave town;the woman retorts by telling her husband she doesn't love him anymore and throws down the ring "as she walks out the door." The final verse features the ring once again in a pawnshop waiting for its next owners. The refrains tell about the meaning of the ring through its lifecycle with the couple with the hook:"By itself,it's just a cold metallic thing,only love can make a golden wedding ring". The song could not have been a better fit for Jones and Wynette in 1976 in the wake of their broken marriage and shot to the top of the charts. This was followed with another number one,"Near You",a pop standard written and originally recorded by Francis Craig and His Orchestra in 1947 with lyrics provided by Kermit Goell. Recorded in the winter of 1974,it reached the top of the country charts in 1977,its atypical arrangement proof positive that country fans still had an appetite for any music performed by the estranged couple. Golden Ring also includes a painfully sad version of the Buck Owens composition "Cryin' Time".
Writing for AllMusic,Thom Jurek deems Golden Ring "simply a classic," enthusing:"This is a set full of heartbreak songs accompanied by real heartbreak. Jones went on a multi-year bender after the divorce was final,putting his health,reputation,and even career on the line. It's no stretch to say that these songs are loaded with emotion..." [1] In July 2013 Uncut called the LP "A collection of brutal songs...sung by two people breaking each other's hearts."
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | link |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Golden Ring" | Bobby Braddock, Rafe Van Hoy | 3:04 |
2. | "Even the Bad Times Are Good" | Carl Belew, Clyde Pitts | 2:49 |
3. | "Near You" | Francis Craig, Rob Goellner, Kermit Goell | 2:22 |
4. | "Cryin' Time" | Buck Owens | 2:42 |
5. | "I've Seen Better Days" | Red Lane, Danny Morrison | 3:40 |
6. | "Did You Ever?" | Bobby Braddock | 2:07 |
7. | "Tattletale Eyes" | Jody Emerson | 2:41 |
8. | "I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me)" | Ray Price, Rusty Gabbard | 1:55 |
9. | "If You Don't, Somebody Else Will" | Johnny "Country" Mathis, Jimmy Lee Fautheree, Geraldine Hamilton | 1:55 |
10. | "Keep the Change" | Carmol Taylor, Billy Sherrill, Monroe Fields | 2:57 |
Tammy Wynette was an American country music singer and songwriter, considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Lynn, Wynette helped bring a woman's perspective to the male-dominated country music field that helped other women find representation in the genre. Her characteristic vocal delivery has been acclaimed by critics, journalists and writers for conveying unique emotion. Twenty of her singles topped the Billboard country chart during her career. Her signature song "Stand by Your Man" received both acclaim and criticism for its portrayal of women's loyalty towards their husbands.
George Glenn Jones was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice and phrasing. For the last two decades of his life, Jones was frequently referred to as "the greatest living country singer", "The Rolls-Royce of Country Music", and had more than 160 chart singles to his name from 1955 until his death in 2013.
Billy Norris Sherrill was an American record producer, songwriter, and arranger associated with country artists, notably Tammy Wynette and George Jones. Sherrill and business partner Glenn Sutton are regarded as the defining influences of the countrypolitan sound, a smooth amalgamation of pop and country music that was popular during the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Sherrill also co-wrote many hit songs, including "Stand by Your Man" and "The Most Beautiful Girl".
"He Stopped Loving Her Today" is a song recorded by American country music artist George Jones. It has been named in several surveys as the greatest country song of all time. It was released in April 1980 as the lead single from the album I Am What I Am. The song was Jones's first solo No. 1 single in six years. It was written by Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman. The week after Jones' death in 2013, the song re-entered the Hot Country Songs chart at No. 21. As of November 13, 2013, the single has sold 521,000 copies in the United States. Since 2008 it has been preserved by the Library of Congress in the National Recording Registry. The song was ranked no. 142 on Rolling Stone's 2021 500 Greatest Songs of All Time ranking.
One is the ninth and final studio album by American country music artists George Jones and Tammy Wynette. This album was released on June 20, 1995, on the MCA Nashville Records label. It was Jones and Wynette's first album together in 15 years; it would also turn out to be their last album together. The album was Wynette's last studio album she would record before her death in 1998.
Together Again is a studio album by country music artists George Jones and Tammy Wynette, released in 1980 on Epic Records. It was their first album since their 1976 hit album Golden Ring; their next album would not come until 1995 with One.
Memories of Us is an album by American country music artist George Jones, released in 1975 on the Epic Records label. It peaked at #43 on the Billboard Country Albums chart. It is Jones’ 51st Album Release.
The Grand Tour is an album by the American country music artist George Jones, released in 1974 as his fifth album for Epic Records. It peaked at #11 on the Billboard Country Albums chart and contained the hit title track, which reached a peak of #1 in August 1974. It is Jones’ 50th Album Release.
We're Gonna Hold On is the fifth studio album by country music artists George Jones and Tammy Wynette. It was released in 1973 on the Epic Records label.
Me and the First Lady is the second studio album by country music artists George Jones and Tammy Wynette, released on August 7, 1972, on the Epic Records label.
We Go Together is the first studio album by American country music artists George Jones and Tammy Wynette. This album was released on October 18, 1971 on the Epic Records label. This is Jones' first album with Epic and his then wife Tammy Wynette. This is also Jones' first album with producer Billy Sherrill.
"Golden Ring" is a song written by Bobby Braddock and Rafe Van Hoy, and recorded by American country music singers George Jones and Tammy Wynette. It was released in May 1976 as the first single and title track to their duet album of the same name. It was a number-one hit on the Billboard country chart.
"D-I-V-O-R-C-E" is a song written by Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman, and recorded by American country music artist Tammy Wynette. It was released in May 1968 as the first single and title track from the album D-I-V-O-R-C-E. Wynette's version was a number one country hit in 1968 and earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female.
"Two Story House" is a song recorded American country music artists George Jones and Tammy Wynette. It was released in February 1980 as the first single from their album Together Again. The song reached #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and #1 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada.
The discography of American country artists George Jones and Tammy Wynette contains the recordings they made as a vocal duo. Their discography includes nine studio albums, 14 compilation albums, 15 singles and one music video. In October 1971, the duo's first studio album was released by Epic Records and was titled We Go Together. It peaked at number three on the American Billboard Top Country Albums chart and number 169 on the Billboard 200 list. Included on the disc was the duo's first single, "Take Me". It reached the top ten on the American Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and the top 20 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart. It was followed by their second studio album called Me and the First Lady, which charted at number six on the Billboard country list. Featured on the disc was their second top ten single, "The Ceremony".
"Take Me" is a song written by George Jones and Leon Payne. Jones originally released the song on the Musicor label in 1966 and scored a No. 8 hit. However, the song is best remembered for being the first single release by Jones and his third wife Tammy Wynette in 1971 on Epic Records. That version was also a top ten hit, peaking at No. 9.
"The Ceremony" is a duet by country artists George Jones and Tammy Wynette. It was released by Epic Records as the married couple's second single together in 1972 and reached No. 6 on the Billboard country survey.
"Southern California" is a song written by George Richey, Billy Sherrill and Roger Bowling, recorded by American country music artists George Jones and Tammy Wynette. It was released in June 1977 as the first single from their Greatest Hits. The reached number five on the Billboard country chart.
Greatest Hits is an album by country music artists George Jones and Tammy Wynette. It was the first compilation by Epic Records that collected some of their biggest hits, including the number-one singles "We're Gonna Hold On", "Golden Ring", and "Near You". It is also significant for containing the new song "Southern California", which rose to number five in 1977. Although Jones and Wynette had divorced in 1975, they remained a valuable commercial commodity for Epic, scoring their biggest chart hits after their split. The album peaked at number 23 on the Billboard country albums chart and eventually went Gold in the U.S.
Tammy's Touch is a studio album by American country artist, Tammy Wynette. It was released on April 27, 1970 via Epic Records and contained 11 tracks. The album's material centered around themes of heartbreak and romance. Many of the album's songs were new recordings while others were covers. Among its new recordings was the singles "I'll See Him Through" and "He Loves Me All the Way". Both songs became chart-topping tracks on the country music charts in 1970. The album itself also reached top positions on multiple charts in the United States.