| The Gospel Collection | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 4, 2003 | |||
| Genre | Country, gospel | |||
| Length | 76:28 | |||
| Label | Bandit Records | |||
| Producer | Billy Sherrill | |||
| George Jones chronology | ||||
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The Gospel Collection is the 58th studio album by American country music singer George Jones, released on April 4, 2003 on the Bandit Records label, and the first single, "I Know A Man Who Can" was released through Rick Hendrix Company.
Jones's fondness for gospel music is well documented. The singer revealed to Jessica Walden of The 11th Hour magazine that his first musical memory was singing in church with his mother Clara and, in the 1989 documentary Same Ole Me, he recalls that he learned how to play the guitar at the church where his mother, a devout woman, played piano. The church was run by Brother Burl Stephens (with whom Jones would credit as co-writer of several songs on his 1959 gospel album Country Church Time) and Sister Annie, who George remembered "taught me my first chords on the guitar, like C, G, and D and things like that, and I started hangin' out over there more often. She'd get her guitar and we'd pick and sing together...We used to do all the really old gospel songs." Jones love of gospel music actually predated his exposure to country music, which he would not hear until his family acquired their first radio. Jones had also recorded a gospel album with his then-wife Tammy Wynette in 1972 called We Love To Sing About Jesus on Epic Records, which had been produced by Billy Sherrill. For nearly two decades, Jones and Sherrill would form one of the most successful artist/producer relationships in country music history, which included the recording of "He Stopped Loving Her Today", until Jones left Sony Music for MCA Nashville in 1991. Sherrill had actually been retired for years near the end of their run, producing only Jones. He came out of retirement to produce The Gospel Collection. Jones decision to record the album is said to have been informed by his near-fatal crash in 1999, when he ran his SUV off the road while driving drunk. The crash was a significant turning point, as he explained to Billboard in 2006: "...when I had that wreck I made up my mind, it put the fear of God in me. No more smoking, no more drinking."
Jones's 58th album peaked at number 19 on the Billboard country albums chart and number 3 on the Billboard Christian albums chart. It received positive reviews but it was also the first album that - after fifty years of singing, forty years of drinking, and literally thousands of shows - reveals cracks in the singer's legendary, mercurial voice. Thom Jurek of AllMusic notes: "There is no doubt he is still a great singer, but his ability to throw his voice around and hit the higher notes in his baritone register is all but gone. With his more limited stylistic vernacular, however, Jones digs deep and gets the tunes across, making them swing and sway with emotion and honky tonk swagger." John Morthland of Amazon.com compliments Sherrill's production, writing that "Circuit-preacher’s son Billy Sherrill, who guided Jones’s 1970s commercial ascension, came out of retirement to produce these 24 songs (on two discs) and, especially for a guy accused back then of gussying up country too much, he forges an austere sound."
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   link |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Amazing Grace" | John Newton | 3:23 |
| 2. | "It Is No Secret" | Stuart Hamblen | 3:12 |
| 3. | "Just a Little Talk with Jesus" | Cleavant Derricks | 2:11 |
| 4. | "Never Grow Old" | James Cleveland Moore, Sr. | 3:19 |
| 5. | "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" | Traditional | 2:50 |
| 6. | "Why Me Lord?" | Kris Kristofferson | 2:58 |
| 7. | "I'll Fly Away" | Albert E. Brumley | 3:00 |
| 8. | "Precious Memories" | J. B. F. Wright | 4:16 |
| 9. | "Just a Closer Walk with Thee" | Traditional | 3:01 |
| 10. | "In the Garden" | C. Austin Miles, Johann Pachelbel | 3:28 |
| 11. | "Lonesome Valley" | Traditional | 3:39 |
| 12. | "When Mama Sang (The Angels Stopped to Listen)" | Danny Walls, Bob Warren | 3:32 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Peace in the Valley" | Thomas A. Dorsey | 3:26 |
| 2. | "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" | Charles Crozat Converse, Joseph M. Scriven | 4:13 |
| 3. | "Softly and Tenderly" | Will Lamartine Thompson | 3:08 |
| 4. | "The Lily of the Valley" | William Charles Fry, William Shakespeare Hays | 2:35 |
| 5. | "The Old Rugged Cross" | George Bennard | 3:13 |
| 6. | "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" | Elisha Hoffman, Anthony Johnson Showalter | 3:04 |
| 7. | "Family Bible" | Walt Breeland, Paul Buskirk, Claude Gray | 3:33 |
| 8. | "Mansion Over the Hilltop" | Ira Stanphill | 3:34 |
| 9. | "If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again" | James Rowe, James W. Vaughan | 3:19 |
| 10. | "How Beautiful Heaven Must Be" | A. P. Bland, A. S. Bridgewater | 3:21 |
| 11. | "Jesus Hold My Hand" | Albert E. Brumley | 3:31 |
| 12. | "I Know a Man Who Can" | Jack Campbell, Jimmie Davis | 4:02 |
George Glenn Jones was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", as well as his distinctive voice and phrasing. For the last two decades of his life, Jones was frequently referred to as the greatest living country singer. Country music scholar Bill Malone writes, "For the two or three minutes consumed by a song, Jones immerses himself so completely in its lyrics, and in the mood it conveys, that the listener can scarcely avoid becoming similarly involved." The shape of his nose and facial features earned Jones the nickname "The Possum". Jones has been called "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 best known for his association 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.
Cold Hard Truth is the 56th studio album by American country music singer George Jones. The album was released on June 22, 1999, on the Asylum label.
I Am What I Am is an album by American country music artist George Jones released in 1980 on Epic Records label. On July 4, 2000, the CD version was reissued with four previously unreleased bonus tracks on the Legacy Recordings label.
You Oughta Be Here with Me is an album by American country music singer George Jones. This album was released in 1990 on Epic Records. It includes the singles "Hell Stays Open " and "Six Foot Deep, Six Foot Down", neither of which charted.
Jones Country is an album by American country music artist George Jones released in 1983 on the Epic Records label.
My Very Special Guests is a duet album by American country music artist George Jones released in 1979 on the Epic Records label.
Baretender's Blues is an album by American country music artist George Jones released in 1978 on the Epic Records label. It was re-released on CD on the Razor & Tie label in 1996.
The Battle is an album by American country music artist George Jones released in 1976 on the Epic Records label.
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.
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.
In a Gospel Way is an album by American country music artist George Jones, released in 1974 on the Epic Records label.
A Picture of Me (Without You) is an album by American country music singer George Jones. It was released in 1972 on the Epic Records label.
Walk Through This World with Me is an album by American country music artist George Jones released in 1967 on the Musicor Records label.
I've Got Something to Say is an album released by country musician David Allan Coe. It was released in 1980 on Columbia. Guy Clark, Bill Anderson, Dickey Betts, Kris Kristofferson, Larry Jon Wilson, and George Jones are all featured on this album.
Burn Your Playhouse Down – The Unreleased Duets is the 60th and final studio album by American country music singer George Jones released on August 19, 2008 on the Bandit Records label. It features duets never before released, including some that were cut from his 1994 duets album The Bradley Barn Sessions. The only new recording in the collection is "You And Me And Time", a song Jones recorded with his daughter by Tammy Wynette, Georgette. A music video accompanied the song. The album features several duets with artist from outside the country music pantheon, including Mark Knopfler, Leon Russell, and Keith Richards. The album peaked at number 15 on the Billboard country albums chart. Of the album's title track, Andrew Meuller of Uncut opined in July 2013, "The segue from Richards trying to sing like Jones to Jones actually singing like Jones is hilarious."
I Wanta Sing is an album by country singer George Jones. It was released in 1977 on the Epic record label.
"Bartender's Blues" is a song written by James Taylor and first released on his 1977 album JT. It was also released as the B-side of the lead single from JT, "Handy Man". It has since been covered by George Jones and other artists.
Darlin', Darlin' is an album released by the country musician David Allan Coe on Columbia Records in 1985.
