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www.churchonthursday.com
George Jones
I Am What I Am
Some Major Label
1980
Supposedly, George Jones sang the best when was drunk; which he always was
during the 60's
and 70's. But, after getting picked up for a DUI on a riding lawnmower (it's
a long story), all factors indicated that it was time for The Possum to give
up the sauce, hoss.
I Am What I Am sounds like a 12-Step Program put to music. The songs run the country music song topic gambit: regret, loss, alcoholism, adultery, etc. Reading the lyrics makes them seem so mired in melancholy, it's hard to refrain from laughing and making "My wife left me, my dog got run over over" comparisons. Hearing Jones sing them, however, makes it difficult not to choke up in spite of it all.
I Am What I Am is probably most notable for including "He Stopped Loving Her Today", considered by many to be the best country music song ever written, and for being his biggest-selling record. It's biggest quality, however, is that while Jones may have been sober while recording it, listening to it makes me want to fill a bathtub full of whiskey and hold my head under.
--Felix Thursday