Search - George Jones :: Burn Your Playhouse Down: The Unreleased Duets

Sensational duets

Jerry McDaniel | 08/19/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This duets CD from George Jones is essential hearing in my opinion. I gave the CD five stars because each and every duet is great. The duets range from 1977, 1988, 1994, and more recently 2006. The most recent recording, "You and Me and Time", is the kick off track. It is a duet with Georgette, his daughter with Tammy. Georgette in places sounds like Tammy. This isn't the first time the two have recorded together, though. If you've been a fan for decades like i have you'll all remember George and Georgette's song "Daddy Come Home" on the 1981 SAME OLE ME album. However, that recording took place when Georgette was 11 i think? This 12 song duet fest runs the gamut of emotions and besides the duet with his daughter another highlight is the 1977 duet with Tammy herself, "Lovin' You, Lovin' Me". It's a sing-a-long song in the tradition of "We Loved It Away". The fold-out cover features a picture of George and Tammy from 1977 and a picture of George and Georgette from 2006. Sonny Throckmorton is the credited songwriter of "Lovin' You, Lovin' Me". Georgette is listed as a co-writer of the song she sang with George. Keith Richards appears singing with George on the title track, "Burn Your Playhouse Down". The duet was recorded in 1994 and left off THE BRADLEY BARN SESSIONS. In fact, as i mentioned earlier, all of these duets with the exception of "You and Me and Time" were all recorded 14 years ago or more. The pace is slowed down on "When The Grass Grows Over Me" from the 1968 original. George and Mark Chesnutt trade lines on that recording. One of the other highlights among the many is the duet "Rockin Years" with Dolly Parton. This recording took place in 1988 and it's interesting that three years later the song would be a hit for Dolly and Ricky Van Shelton. Dolly's recording sounds similar to the way she sang it with Ricky in 1991...in fact, i wouldn't be surprised if Ricky didn't over-dub his voice in place of George's to create his and Dolly's recording. George sings the song very differently than Dolly and so you can hear George singing the song in a different melody while Dolly is singing in the style of which people will be more accustomed to. Another song from the 1988 era is "Tavern Choir" with songwriter Jim Lauderdale that has a good hand clapping feel to it. Having THE BRADLEY BARN SESSIONS as I do it's fun to hear the songs that were recorded for that project that didn't make the final cut. Marty Stuart appears on "You're Still On My Mind" with George but the cut that made the 1994 project was "I'm A One Woman Man". Marty and George really get into the lyrics of "You're Still On My Mind" with George doing even more vocal bending on this particular performance than any other on this CD. Guitarist Mark Knopfler appears on this CD on the track "I Always Get Lucky With You". The recording features George singing the first verse and chorus and Mark singing the close. Oh...another highlight is "I Always Get It Right With You", a duet from 1988 with Shelby Lynne. The two of them recorded a minor hit in 1988 called "If I Could Bottle This Up" and so "I Always Get It Right With You" came from that session. It might be just my ears but parts of that song sound similar in melody to Steve Wariner's hit "What I Didn't Do", which George himself recorded on his album THE ROCK in 2001. The picture of George on the front of the CD i believe is a 1978 picture? I've seen it before...it's in the box set THE ESSENTIAL GEORGE JONES...but i forget if it's a 1977 or 1978 picture. I hope this becomes a good seller for George...it has all the ingredients...and there's nothing like hearing unreleased material from vintage George Jones...and i know we're talking about mostly 1988 and 1994 recordings but vintage is certainly the way i describe these duets."

They just don't make 'em like this anymore

Allen Chapman | STAFFORD SPRINGS, CT USA | 08/20/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"George Jones's latest disc "Burn Your Playhouse Down" is a collection of duets George has recorded between 1977 and 2006 but never released. Listening to this album you wonder WHY these were never released until now. The whole album is pure Jones country, but the highlight of the album is the duet between George and his daughter with Tammy Wynette, Georgette, "You And Me And Time". Georgette looks an awful lot like her mom and vocally she sounds more like LeeAnn Womack, but on the first line of the chorus she sounds a lot like Tammy. The other stand out tracks for me are the Ricky Scaggs, Vince Gill, Jim Lauderdale, Shelby Lynne and Mark Chesnutt tracks. The duet with Dolly Parton, "Rockin' Years" would later be redone with Ricky Van Shelton and would hit #1. A prior review suggests that Jones's original vocal may have just been edited out and Ricky Van Shelton's inserted, that's not the case, the version heard here is a completely different recording, Dolly's vocals included. The album wraps up with a lost duet with Tammy Wynette from 1977. Anytime a new Tammy song is uncovered it's a treat and this one is no exception.

If you like George Jones, or just great real country music, this is the disc for you.

"

THE GREATEST LIVING COUNTRY SINGER

K. Carlucci | Corpus Christi, Texas United States | 08/19/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The gentleman with the last review sums everything up nicely. This is George Jones, do you really need any other reason to buy it? Basically there is no bad George Jones song old or new. He is one of the greatest country singers ever! Every song on here is great especially his new duet with his daughter Georgette. I can't believe how much she looks like her mother Tammy Wynette. Just compare the side by side pictures on the inside of the CD cover and you'll see what I'm talking about. I took my Dad on Fathers Day a couple of years ago to see George Jones in concert and we still talk about that show to this day over some cold beers. This is a great album with great duets - BUY NOW!!!!!!!"