George Jones: The Songwriter

4)  “You Done Me Wrong” with it’s rare 3/4 shuffle groove, cajun fiddle, and honky tonk pedal steel guitar, sounds like it was written on the Texas-Louisiana border.  Written with Ray Price, the man who popularized the 4/4 shuffle in country music and former friend and roommate of George’s hero Hank Williams.  The fiddle intro and first line of the verse melody that it’s based on add even more forward propulsion to the 3/4 shuffle groove with six fast eighth notes climbing up the scale. In the verse they build tension “Well, you tell me that you” and then release on a whole note for “care.”  The melody peaks in the bridge when the conversation turns and George makes the argument “Well, you know it’s not so.”

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The song form is as unusual as the groove and worth taking a closer look at.  As you listen to the song, follow along with the lyrics and you will notice that Ray and George didn’t adhere to any of the standard song forms.  That’s what’s beautiful about this song.  I don’t think they were thinking about time signature, song form, or anything else they were just writing, making up something that felt good.  I so wish I could have had the opportunity to ask both of them about the writing of this song.   Also, take note that the title or hook of the song appears halfway in the first verse and only again at the end of the second full verse.  It never appears in any of the half verses or B sections.

Ray Price’s version of “You Done Me Wrong” went to number #7 on the country charts as the B-side to his mega hit and now country standard “Crazy Arms” in 1956.  While George recorded their co-write and played it live he never released a single.

It’s worth mentioning that The Everly Brothers recorded “You Done Me Wrong” on their concept album “Roots” in a 1968 Los Angeles country/rock fashion.

5) “Take Me” is in my humble opinion George’s most timeless composition that could be recorded in many genres.  Written with Leon Payne, the legendary songwriter who wrote Hank Williams’ “Lost Highway” and “They’ll Never Take Her Love From Me”.  “Take Me” was recorded for Jones’ album, “George Jones Sings the Great Songs of Leon Payne” and also later for George and Tammy Wynette’s first album “We Go Together.”  It was released as a single and went to #9 on the country charts in 1971.  George and Tammy singing this song together with it’s laid back groove, over the top romantic lyrics, and Billy Sherrill’s lush production sounds like a lover’s dream.  Tammy’s verse starts off with sparse instrumentation in the key of A and then modulates to D for George’s verse as the production starts to build.  The bridge changes key back down to A for the bridge and then back to D for the last verse.  By landing on the b7 note at the end of the verse’s middle line and bridges last line, the writers give us a little tension and jazz flavor that adds to the sophisticated feel of this country classic.  And lastly, it can’t go unnoticed that George and Leon got away with using the word “Siberia” in the lyrics of a country song!  It might have been the way the greatest country music singer of all time laid it out there but I love it.

6) Honorable Mentions: “Tall Tall Trees,”“Four-O-Thirty Three,”“Out Of Control,” and “Revenoorer Man”.

 

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