Search - George Jones :: The Grand Tour / Alone Again

Back to back classics

Jerry McDaniel | 05/26/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This 21 song treat of good country music is delivered to us by George Jones...and the two albums contained on this CD have long been out of print and are consistently hailed as two of his all-time best. The first album we hear is THE GRAND TOUR from 1974. This was at the time of his marriage to Tammy and it's many ups and downs. Arguably geared to exploit the fascination the fans had with his personal life, "The Grand Tour" shot to #1 as many felt the song was about Tammy Wynette since there was a period where she and George separated...and the line "oh she left me without mercy..." near the end of the song help fuel the soap opera on vinyl. The remaining 10 songs on THE GRAND TOUR are all wonderful! "Once You've Had the Best" was actually the first single...released in late 1973 and hitting the Top-10. That song was written by Johnny PayCheck. Several of the highlights are "The Weatherman"; "She Told Me So"; "Borrowed Angel"; "Pass Me By" {which he re-recorded in 2005} and track #11, "Our Private Life". That song is a growling, intense rant about the public and media and the intrusion of a celebrities personal life and how celebrities are held to a higher standard even though they're human and have weaknesses and vulnerabilities like everyone else. Since every song on THE GRAND TOUR is great, you could be easily happy with just this album alone...BUT, we have 10 more tracks from 1976's ALONE AGAIN album included here. There was only one hit single, 1976's Top-5 hit "Her Name Is..." but the album as a whole was so country, when compared to the countrypolitan sounds of his previous two albums, MEMORIES OF US and THE BATTLE, in late 1975-early 1976. ALONE AGAIN was marketed as an album to exploit the George-Tammy divorce aftermath...the album cover shows George sitting alone in a diner. From the start of the album, "A Drunk Can't Be A Man", it sets the tone for the whole album. The bouncy "Ain't Nobody Gonna Miss Me" i feel was recorded because of the way George perhaps felt about his life at the time. On this album you are also treated to two obscure yet famous album tracks among the Jones fan base: "Stand On My Own Two Knees" and "Right Now I'd Come Back and Melt In Her Arms". These two albums are classics...i know that term is over-rated now-a-days but in this case, the classic label fits these two albums!!"

The grand '70s

Jerry McDaniel | 02/18/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"George Jones' career is legendary and during his EPIC era (which actually ran non-stop from early 1972 through mid 1990!) his output during EPIC has it's share of detractors (many adamantly oppose the countrypolitan sound that Billy Sherrill created to play behind Jones' voice) but i don't understand their argument. if you ever saw him in concert, he NEVER used that pop sound on stage...it was at best a five piece band- no symphonic strings, no background voices. having said that, this CD contains two of his 1970s albums. "Grand Tour" originally came out in 1974 and "Alone Again" debuted in 1976. on the first 11 tracks, we hear Jones lament on songs about what life is like after you've divorced or broke things off with your girlfriend. "The Grand Tour" was a marvelous song to begin with, but it was marketed as another chapter of the public soap opera in the lives of George and wife Tammy Wynette that EPIC and Billy Sherrill created to help sell records. the single reached #1 (his first Billboard solo #1 since 1967's "Walk Through This World With Me") and the album contains another big hit, the #3 "Once You've Had the Best", released prior to "The Grand Tour". when "Once You've Had the Best" arrived, the marriage of George and Tammy was in semi-recovery and this song echoed the happiness in their lives. however, when divorce started to become the talk of the town, EPIC released "The Grand Tour" single. aside from the two hits, the remaining songs are top-notch. "Pass Me By", "Darlin", and "Borrowed Angel" have been recorded by many country acts but never in Jones' unique style. the 11th track, "Our Private Life", is a hilarious novelty song blasting the celebrity tabloids.on "Alone Again", we hear an album EPIC issued to reflect the state of Jones' life after the divorce from Tammy after two previous albums ( "Memories of Us" and "The Battle") didn't give Jones a chance to wallow in lonliness. "Alone Again" is different. "Her Name Is..." was the only single released from the album and it reached #3. the rest of the songs are also great. "A Drunk Can't Be a Man", "Stand on My Own Two Knees", and my favorite "Ain't Nobody Gonna Miss Me". the whole album is so somber and under-produced that it got lost. albums that are under-rated or produce one or no hit songs have zero durability. look at Jones' mid '70s and mid '80s albums. his under-rated period produced his greatest material but because his greatest material isn't "commercial", it gets lost over time. this CD is excellent."

A Double Shot Of Jones, No Chaser...

Jim Gill | 12/30/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This album is the answer to any purist's prayer - two George Jones' albums on one disc, both records out of print. THE GRAND TOUR, released in 1974, and ALONE AGAIN, released after Jones' divorce from Tammy Wynette in 1976, include some fantastic performances and this Canadian release proves that you can never have too much of a good thing.



First we have THE GRAND TOUR, which includes the hit title track which went to number one on the country charts. Co-written by Tammy's future husband George Richey, the song features George pulling out all the stops with his classic vocal delivery. "Once You've Had The Best," written by George's buddy Johnny Paycheck, was also a hit, revealing the singer's tender side and remains a live favorite today. Other highlights include "Pass Me By (If You're Only Passing Through)," "Who Will I Be Loving Now," and "Borrowed Angel," a tune written by Mel Street. Of special interest is "Our Private Life," a song credited to Jones and Wynette, where the President and the First Lady seem to be taking aim at the media gossip that hovered around the daily soap opera that was their married life at the time.



By 1976 Jones and Wynette had divorced and ALONE AGAIN marks the beginning of George's long free-fall to the bottom, although his singing remained stellar. The opening track, "A Drunk Can't Be A Man," was written by George and his friend Earl "Peanut" Montgomery and is a cold heart-felt hard slab of country soul. The novelty hit "Her Name Is" is a veiled nod to Tammy, as could be "Right Now I'd Come Back And Melt In Her Arms" (Jones admits in his autobiography that he didn't give a damn about exploiting his personal life to sell a few records). Another great cut is "Stand On My Own Two Knees," a song about picking up the pieces and moving on, something he knew all about at the time.



THE GRAND TOUR and ALONE AGAIN both feature some filler material (such as "The Weatherman" and "Ain't Nobody Gonna Miss Me") but, as is always the case with this man, they also feature songs that will alter your conception of what a singer is capable of. It's a shame that all of Jones' albums with Epic from the seventies are not reissued, but this is a good start."