Similar Albums:
- Artist: George Jones
- Rating:
- Release Date: 1982
- Total Time: 61:53
- Type: Compilation (best of)
- Genre: Country
Review
Released in 1982 to commemorate a decade at Epic Records, Anniversary is a double LP (later reissued as a single CD) spanning 22 tracks and containing all of George Jones' big hits, from 1972's "A Picture of Me (Without You)" to 1982's "Same Ole Me," all produced by Billy Sherrill. Broken down to the details, it's an impressive, weighty collection and would be essential just for having such exquisitely crafted and sang hits as "We Can Make It," "The Grand Tour," "The Door," "Once You've Had the Best," and "He Stopped Loving Her Today." What makes Anniversary transcendent, one of the best country albums of all time, is the context and subtext, how it reads like an autobiography of the most turbulent, heartbreaking decade in Jones' life. When this was released in 1982, he was hitting rock bottom after a decade of substance abuse and erratic behavior, much of it kick started by his rocky marriage with Tammy Wynette. Anniversary doesn't explicitly tackle any of this -- although some of the songs were written with these events in mind -- but it does something better: it dramatizes it, largely due to Sherrill's near-operatic productions and the song sequencing. The first half of the album starts with songs of devotion, and they slowly give way to songs about heartbreak and loss, ending with the remarkable second half of the record where the songs find Jones broken and alone, drinking and pining for his lost love, even from beyond the grave. It's a thrilling journey that doesn't just showcase his ballad style at its finest, it has a devastating emotional impact that eclipses his excellent '70s albums because of the scope of the narrative; each of the proper LPs were snapshots of a time, while this takes a long view of his troubled decade and the results are heartbreaking and unforgettable and, because of the narrative, utterly necessary even if you have all the actual albums. It's unquestionably one of the 25 greatest country albums of all time. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music GuideTracks
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| We Can Make It | Billy Sherrill, Glenn Sutton | George Jones | (2:03) |
| Loving You Could Never Be Better | George Jones | (3:05) | |
| A Picture of Me (Without You) | George Jones | (2:32) | |
| What My Woman Can't Do | George Jones, Billy Sherrill, |
George Jones | (2:35) |
| Nothing Ever Hurt Me (Half as Bad as Losing You) | Bobby Braddock | George Jones | (2:19) |
| Once You've Had the Best | Johnny Paycheck | George Jones | (2:38) |
| Her Name Is... | Bobby Braddock | George Jones | (2:17) |
| Old King Kong | George Jones | (2:18) | |
| Bartender's Blues | James Taylor | George Jones | (3:45) |
| I'll Just Take It Out in Love | Bob McDill | George Jones | (3:09) |
| Someday My Day Will Come | George Jones | (2:32) | |
| The Grand Tour | Carmol Taylor, |
George Jones | (3:05) |
| The Door | Billy Sherrill, |
George Jones | (2:42) |
| These Days (I Barely Get By) | George Jones, Tammy Wynette | George Jones | (3:01) |
| Memories of Us | Dave Kirby, |
George Jones | (3:14) |
| The Battle | George Jones | (2:45) | |
| He Stopped Loving Her Today | Bobby Braddock, |
George Jones | (3:15) |
| I'm Not Ready Yet | Tom T. Hall | George Jones | (2:58) |
| If Drinkin' Don't Kill Me (Her Memory Will) | George Jones | (3:10) | |
| Good Ones and Bad Ones | George Jones | (2:46) | |
| Still Doin' Time | George Jones | (2:50) | |
| Same Ole Me | Paul Overstreet | George Jones | (2:54) |
