The Definitive Collection 1955-1962

• Artist: George Jones
• Rating:
• Release Date: June 22, 2004
• Type: Compilation (best of)
• Genre: Country

Review

There have been many George Jones collections over the years, and many of them have concentrated on his early recordings for Mercury (often including some Starday sides, which Mercury acquired). Given that surplus of comps, it's easy to be suspicious of another new collection of Mercury sides, but Mercury/Chronicles' 2004 The Definitive Collection 1955-1962 isn't an average, run-of-the-mill comp, it's the best single-disc distillation of Jones' seminal early work. Running a generous 22 tracks, this contains all of the big hits and usual suspects from the Starday/Mercury vaults: "Why Baby Why," "Just One More," "Cup of Loneliness," "Color of the Blues," "If I Don't Love You (Grits Ain't Groceries)," "White Lightning," "Who Shot Sam," "Big Harlan Taylor," "You're Still On My Mind," "The Window Up Above," "Tender Years," "Achin' Breakin' Heart," and "She Thinks I Still Care." All these may be on the more extensive double-disc set Cup of Loneliness, but no other single disc contains all of them, nor is any other single-disc Mercury comp is quite as listenable as this. Sure, there are good songs missing -- for instance, "Tall Tall Trees" should have been here -- but it's hard to argue with what's included, and there's no finer concise summary of this timeless music than this. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Why Baby Why (Lyrics)	George Jones, Darrell Edwards	George Jones	(2:18)
I'm Ragged But I'm Right	George Jones	George Jones	(2:21)
Just One More	George Jones	George Jones	(2:43)
Don't Stop the Music	George Jones	George Jones	(2:15)
Too Much Water	Sonny James, George Jones	George Jones	(2:11)
Cup of Loneliness	George Jones, Burl Stevens	George Jones	(2:40)
Color of the Blues (Lyrics)	George Jones, Lawton Williams	George Jones	(2:52)
Will the Circle Be Unbroken (Lyrics)	A.P. Carter	George Jones	(2:24)
If I Don't Love You (Grits Ain't Groceries)	George Jones, J.P. Richardson	George Jones	(1:57)
Treasure of Love	George Jones, J.P. Richardson	George Jones	(2:20)
White Lightning	J.P. Richardson	George Jones	(2:48)
Mr. Fool	George Jones, Darrell Edwards, Herbie Treece	George Jones	(2:30)
Who Shot Sam	George Jones, Ray Jackson, Darrell Edwards	George Jones	(2:23)
Big Harlan Taylor (Lyrics)	Roger Miller	George Jones	(2:03)
Money to Burn	Johnny Nelms	George Jones	(2:39)
You're Still On My Mind	Luke McDaniel	George Jones	(2:38)
Family Bible	Claude Gray, Walt Breeland, Paul Buskirk	George Jones	(3:03)
Life to Go	George Jones	George Jones	(2:28)
The Window Up Above	George Jones	George Jones	(2:35)
Tender Years	George Jones, Darrell Edwards	George Jones	(2:26)
Achin' Breakin' Heart (Lyrics)	Rick Hall	George Jones	(2:49)
She Thinks I Still Care (Lyrics)	Dickey Lee Lipscomb, Steve Duffy	George Jones	(2:34)

Credits

George Jones (Main Performer), Andy McKaie (Compilation Producer), Kevin Reeves (Digital Remastering), Rich Kienzle (Liner Notes), Vartan (Art Direction), Junie Osaki (Design), Beth Stempel (Production Coordination), Ryan Null (Photo Research), Jenny Shapiro (Licensing)