Press - George Jones - Birth Of A Legend - The Truly Complete Starday And Mercury Recordings -
Wall Street Journal
When George Jones died in 2013, at the age of 81, his standing as the greatest of male country vocalists had been in place for decades. As color artwork in this typically lavish new Bear Family Records set “George Jones: Birth of a Legend—The Truly Complete Starday and Mercury Recordings 1954-1961” illustrates, by the mid-1960s the Starday and Mercury labels for which he first recorded were touting him on LP covers—reasonably—as “King George” and “Country and Western #1 Male Singer.” In the decades that followed, the Texan’s singular, even mysterious genius for lyric interpretation, emotional nuance in performance and communication with audiences—and the evidence of over a hundred singles and even more albums—cemented that reputation.
Wall Street Journal
When George Jones died in 2013, at the age of 81, his standing as the greatest of male country vocalists had been in place for decades. As color artwork in this typically lavish new Bear Family Records set “George Jones: Birth of a Legend—The Truly Complete Starday and Mercury Recordings 1954-1961” illustrates, by the mid-1960s the Starday and Mercury labels for which he first recorded were touting him on LP covers—reasonably—as “King George” and “Country and Western #1 Male Singer.” In the decades that followed, the Texan’s singular, even mysterious genius for lyric interpretation, emotional nuance in performance and communication with audiences—and the evidence of over a hundred singles and even more albums—cemented that reputation.