Overview

Critics, fans, and his peers, have called George Jones the greatest country singer of all time. His story is woven out of the richest American fabric: He was born to a God-fearing mother and booze-loving father in East Texas, one of eight children who grew up in the kind of poverty written about in many a country song. Whether he was singing hymns with a husband-wife evangelical team at ten, gigging in Beaumont’s rowdy honky-tonks at nineteen, producing spectacular, bestselling duets with Tammy Wynette at forty, or receiving the Kennedy Center Honors at seventy-seven, music and music alone drove him. His voice—raw, emotive, and passionate—made him a star and an influence on other singers. But as his star ascended, Jones wrestled with the demons that plague many artists—alcohol, divorce, drugs, debt, arrests, and violence. In this definitive biography, called by critics “unflinching” and “dazzling,” country music critic and historian Rich Kienzle paints a rich portrait of a modest man who overcame his darkest moments to create a lasting legacy.

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9780062309921

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Reviews

The Grand Tour...doesn't shy away from shining light into the dark corners or giving the highlights of the late George Jones' life a close, critical look. -- Winnipeg Free Press This unflinching new biography explains the significance of Jones' music while vividly capturing his wild and wooly life. -- Wall Street Journal Kienzle conducts a dazzling, somber, but always candid tour of the legendary life and award-winning music of George Jones...a cracking good story of the singer...This moving biography keeps Jones's voice alive and underscores his central role in American music history. -- Publishers Weekly [The Grand Tour] is perhaps the most honest portrayal of one of music's most controversial figures. -- Library Journal Refreshingly written. -- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rich Kienzle's comprehensive bio of George Jones is a great read and a dispassionate chronicle of his drive-in movie of a life. -- Vintage Guitar Review

Author Information

"A well-known and internationally recognized writer on country and western, RICH KIENZLE has been a music critic since 1975. He has been writing specifically about George Jones for decades and of course interviewed the artist himself (along with every other country great, from Willie Nelson and Glen Campbell to Dwight Yoakam and Ricky Skaggs). In addition to many national magazine articles about Jones, Kienzle wrote the liner notes to ""The Essential George Jones"" as well as all three of the artist's comprehensive box sets. Kienzle is a former editor/columnist (for more than 25 years) at Country Music Magazine and columnist for Request magazine"

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