{"id":9497,"date":"2013-05-05T15:12:27","date_gmt":"2013-05-05T22:12:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=9497"},"modified":"2013-05-05T15:13:19","modified_gmt":"2013-05-05T22:13:19","slug":"george-jones-shoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2013\/05\/george-jones-shoes\/","title":{"rendered":"GEORGE JONES\u2019 SHOES"},"content":{"rendered":"

GEORGE JONES\u2019 SHOES<\/b><\/h1>\n

\u00a0\"George-Jones-1\"<\/b>So let\u2019s ask the question, even though we\u2019ve been told time and again in the days following the death of the great George Jones that the answer is \u201cno one,\u201d \u201cWho\u2019s gonna fill his shoes?\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Starting with Tanya Tucker, who was spectacular in opening the service with \u201cThe Old Rugged Cross.\u201d She deserves induction for her landmark teen hits (\u201cDelta Dawn,\u201d \u201cWhat\u2019s Your Mama\u2019s Name,\u201d \u201cWould You Lay with Me [In a Field of Stone]\u201d), but her 1980s comeback hits (\u201cOne Love at a Time,\u201d \u201cLove Me Like You Used To\u201d) sealed the deal.<\/p>\n

That Randy Travis isn\u2019t already in is a travesty. Travis, who beautifully sang \u201cAmazing Grace,\u201d paved the way for Garth Brooks, who went in last year\u2014not to mention an entire \u201cnew traditionalist\u201d era in country music.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cSame Ole Me,\u201d obviously overcame unbearable sorrow in their magnificent reading of the gospel song \u201cFarther Along.\u201d<\/p>\n

A lesser case, but not an insubstantial one, can be made for Charlie Daniels, who performed \u201cSoftly And Tenderly,\u201d and while Travis Tritt, who was perfect on Kristofferson\u2019s \u201cWhy Me,\u201d is probably too big a stretch in terms of influence and magnitude of stardom, few country singers surpass him vocally.<\/p>\n

Barbara Mandrell, who\u2019s already in the Hall, spoke, and was followed by Kid Rock, who sang an original song \u201cBest Of Me,\u201d 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\u2019s \u201cGo Rest High on that Mountain\u201d) as she had with Jones, but like Tritt, good as she is, she probably falls just short of the mark.<\/p>\n

Brad Paisley, however, is a shoe-in, and he was great on Hall of Famer Tom T. Hall\u2019s \u201cMe and Jesus.\u201d Great, too, was Ronnie Milsap, on Jones\u2019 \u201cWhen the Grass Grows Over Me\u201d\u2014but he should have gone in long ago.<\/p>\n

Wynonna\u2019s \u201cHow Great Thou Art\u201d served to remind that The Judds are overdue for induction, and with Garth in, Alan Jackson, who was the right choice for \u201cHe Stopped Loving Her Today,\u201d shouldn\u2019t be far behind. And there you have it: country artists who might not quite fill George Jones\u2019 shoes, but certainly are worthy of trying them on.<\/p>\n

Jim Bessman<\/p>\n

\"George-Jones-2\" \"George-Jones-3\"<\/a> \"George-Jones-4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GEORGE JONES\u2019 SHOES \u00a0So let\u2019s ask the question, even though we\u2019ve been told time and again in the days following the death of the great George Jones that the answer is \u201cno one,\u201d \u201cWho\u2019s gonna fill his shoes?\u201d Actually, his funeral, if not offering a direct answer, put up several artists who at the very […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4976],"tags":[4340],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9497"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9497"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9505,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9497\/revisions\/9505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}