On this day (August 6) in 1966, George Jones released I’m a People. It was his first and only album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. The album stayed at the top of the chart for two weeks.
Since the early days of his career, fans and critics alike hailed Jones as the greatest country singer to ever live. His voice was one-of-a-kind. At the same time, he could make his voice do things other singers could only hope to copy. While this made him an in-demand performer in his heyday and a household name even now, more than a decade after his death, it didn’t always translate to chart success. For instance, he released eighty studio albums—not counting his work with Tammy Wynette—and launched a single album to the top of the country chart. Out of nearly 200 singles, only ten reached No. 1. In short, Jones is an example of how popularity and quality don’t always translate to chart success.
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George Jones Scores a No. 1 Album with I’m a People
George Jones has a long list of timeless and iconic songs. “The Grand Tour,” “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” “A Good Year for the Roses,” “White Lightning,” and “The Race Is On” are among them. Surprisingly, none of those songs appear on his sole No. 1 album, I’m a People.
The album’s title track was its only official single. The novelty song sees Jones taking on the role of a man watching monkeys at the zoo and lamenting the fact that humans don’t have their carefree life. The song peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. “Four-O-Thirty-Three” and “Old Brush Arbors” also appeared on the album. However, they were also title tracks and singles from other albums—We Found Heaven Right Here on Earth at “4033” (1967) and Old Brush Arbors (1965). The former was a No. 6 hit for Jones, and the latter track peaked at No. 30.
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