I have been listening this last week to George Jones. I was pretty much unaware of his work until his dying brought it to my attention. I linked to a couple of his tunes last week. Here are a couple more. A Girl I Used to Know. Am I That Easy to Forget? Here is an essay on Jones by Jim Goad.
In the interests of full disclosure: I am not now, and never have been, a southerner or a redneck. Worse than the redneck, however, is the librul who mocks him. Trying mocking him to his face.
As far as I know, Jones never had a crossover hit, but they were the way I learned about country music back in the day. Here are some of my favorite crossover numbers first heard via KRLA, KHJ, and KFWB, Los Angeles. My Favorite DJ? B. Mitchel Reed! (one 'l.')
Jim Reeves, He'll Have to Go, 1959. Ry Cooder's Tex-Mex version, 1977, is oddly fetching.
Floyd Cramer, Last Date, 1960
Don Gibson, Sea of a Heartbreak, 1961
Bobby Edwards, You're the Reason, 1961
Patsy Cline, She's Got You, 1962. A very funny parody. That such a heart-felt tune invites and receives parody is an illustration of the collision of Nagel's two standpoints.
Bobby Bare, Detroit City, 1963
Roger Miller, Dang Me, 1964
Roger Miller, King of the Road, 1965
Buck Owens, Tiger by the Tail, 1966