GEORGE JONES’ SHOES

 So let’s ask the question, even though we’ve been told time and again in the days following the death of the great George Jones that the answer is “no one,” “Who’s gonna fill his shoes?”

Actually, his funeral, if not offering a direct answer, put up several artists who at the very least should be standing beside him now in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Starting with Tanya Tucker, who was spectacular in opening the service with “The Old Rugged Cross.” She deserves induction for her landmark teen hits (“Delta Dawn,” “What’s Your Mama’s Name,” “Would You Lay with Me [In a Field of Stone]”), but her 1980s comeback hits (“One Love at a Time,” “Love Me Like You Used To”) sealed the deal.

That Randy Travis isn’t already in is a travesty. Travis, who beautifully sang “Amazing Grace,” paved the way for Garth Brooks, who went in last year—not to mention an entire “new traditionalist” era in country music.

Same with the Oak Ridge Boys, who came on the scene before Alabama, which was inducted in 2005. The Oaks, who shared a hit with Jones in 1982 with “Same Ole Me,” obviously overcame unbearable sorrow in their magnificent reading of the gospel song “Farther Along.”

A lesser case, but not an insubstantial one, can be made for Charlie Daniels, who performed “Softly And Tenderly,” and while Travis Tritt, who was perfect on Kristofferson’s “Why Me,” is probably too big a stretch in terms of influence and magnitude of stardom, few country singers surpass him vocally.

Barbara Mandrell, who’s already in the Hall, spoke, and was followed by Kid Rock, who sang an original song “Best Of Me,” and merits eventual induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Vince Gill is already in, and Patty Loveless sang beautifully with him (on Gill’s “Go Rest High on that Mountain”) as she had with Jones, but like Tritt, good as she is, she probably falls just short of the mark.

Brad Paisley, however, is a shoe-in, and he was great on Hall of Famer Tom T. Hall’s “Me and Jesus.” Great, too, was Ronnie Milsap, on Jones’ “When the Grass Grows Over Me”—but he should have gone in long ago.

Wynonna’s “How Great Thou Art” served to remind that The Judds are overdue for induction, and with Garth in, Alan Jackson, who was the right choice for “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” shouldn’t be far behind. And there you have it: country artists who might not quite fill George Jones’ shoes, but certainly are worthy of trying them on.

Jim Bessman