The Grand Tour

I'm not a country music fan,but this was quite pleasant.

I got Johnny Cash last week and this George Jones album this week. I am a bit surprised this album has a sub-3.00 rating. George Jones is a very important figure in music history, and these songs are unobtrusive and clever. I don't know enough about George Jones to determine if this is the best album that represents his sound and career, but I do know he needs an album in this book. This is country music. Not Morgan Wallen, not Luke Bryan, not any other bro-country artist that combines drum machines, stadium-sized choruses, and autotuned vocals about trucks, women, and whiskey. All of the cliches that are written to top the charts became cliches because none of the current country artists can do it like George Jones does on this record. Jones had his marriage falling apart and it's not hard to feel that happening in these songs. My favorite tracks: The Grand Tour Pass Me By (If You're Only Passing Through) She'll Love the One She's With Once You've Had the Best She Told Me So Our Private Life

These tales of heartache and lost love strike a melancholic, crack-open-a-longneck-and-listen mood right off the bat and are reinforced with exquisite arrangements and Jones’ rich, plaintive voice. The lyrics occasionally veer into well-trod country music rhetorical convention (“Pass me by if you’re only passing through”), but the songs are short and never outstay their welcome. Even if you don’t fancy country music, you have to acknowledge it is quality.

Well, now that I know (courtesy of Wikipedia and the "1001 Albums" entry) that George Jones is one of the great country vocalists, and this is likely his best album, I'm somewhat more appreciative of getting a chance to listen to his golden tonsils. But I'll also say that this is *not* the kind of country music that I find enjoyable, attractive or worthwhile. All polish, no burrs (or spurs for that matter), with the possible exceptions of the somewhat salty "The weatherman" and "Our private life". But I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised that this was kind of disappointing, given how spotty and random this project's country-music selections are; after all, if we get this kind of syrup, why not include a much more interesting Kenny Rogers album, especially given that Rogers at least wrote much of his own material?

This album is a masterpiece in the history of country music. The title track, "The Grand Tour," employs a deeply sorrowful narrative device: a husband, newly left by his wife, guides a stranger through his now-empty home, where every piece of furniture—an armchair, the bed, the children's room—is viewed as if in a museum dedicated to a shattered life. George Jones was reeling from his separation from ex-wife Tammy Wynette, and many of the songs are defined by heartbreak. His voice and soulful phrasing lend the tracks an inimitable depth. The music is dominated by wailing steel guitars, orchestral accompaniment, and the sounds of the dobro or banjo. Occasionally, a playful harmonica makes an appearance. "The Weatherman" stands out from the album's otherwise somber tracks with its more positive mood. All in all, it is a quintessential country album—perhaps with a bit too much pain in the songs. But then again, that is simply part of reality.

A random white guy appeared and will be forgot tomorrow

This is... Decent old country. I didn't feel all that much listening to it but it sure was pleasant.

What a voice! This is when country music was simple and could still convey genuine emotion!

Not my thing but not bad overall too repetitive and outdated.

Its OK. Old school. Easy to listen to but not my style so much. Maybe 2 or 3/5

Classic ol’ country sound.

I remember being given the option to exclude specific genres. Should have done it for country music.

country in its ideal form. very soothing and lovely. got me craving a long straw of wheat

Quite enjoyed that actually

What an amazing country voice this guy had. Wonderful album and if I feel like a bit of country, I will be putting this one on!

they always talk about their wives leaving but never WHY the wives are leaving

No es lo mío

Decent classic country album.

This wasn’t bad. Proper country. Does exactly as I thought it would. Enjoyable for what it is, but not really something I’d return to.

I think I will revisit this when I am in a different mood. Today I just couldn’t get into it.

I'm not a country fan, but I find I dig country from the 70s or earlier. This album was surprisingly (to me) pretty great. I liked it way more than I thought it would, and as a bonus it's only 28 minutes long so it doesn't outstay its welcome. I might actually check this one out again.

1 wat was dit

By no means life changing or revolutionary, but this is 30 mins of well performed classic country that is enjoyable whilst it's on.

The title track is a dream of a tune; the rest is by the numbers classic Nashville. Granted, those are pretty good numbers to go by. As a middling pedal steel player, I'm in awe at how effortless whoever that is sounds. "The Weatherman" is a welcome honky-tonk break from the syrupy self-pity that fills this one.

30 minutes of old school twang is exactly the right amount.

This is down home heartbreakin' 70's country. Especially heartbreaking: my departed, musically indifferent father loved country music, yet no one saw fit to introduce him to a George Jones album. Ain't my fault, I was five when this came out.

I love a pedal steel but it is amazing how repetitive a 28 minute album can get. 3.5/5

The last song is such an anthem, really like that one. It's a classic run-of-the-mill Country album with all the upsides and downsides of one. It's very short with less than half an hour runtime and only 11 shorter songs on it. It's one or two hits with a bunch of filler because they had to pump out like 5 Country albums a year. I think it's good and George Jones is a worthwile inclusion, but circumstances like that don't really allow for many albums of this genre to rise up to GOAT album territory. Doesn't really need to be, listening to this once or twice and remembering the best songs is good enough.

An impressive tale in 28 mins. A man’s life falling apart, the prying media, the road life. And he does it with set of beautiful and often fun tunes.

Songs are all about two minutes long. Each sounds remarkably similar to the one before. All songs talk explicitly about made up love stories and problems. Disappointing. Felt like the cassette that used to be on at market stalls in the UK in the early 00s selling music.

God, I hate country music like this.

It’s a strange sort of thrill to listen to this record and imagine the countless romantic moments Jones’ forlorn but assured crooning has surely soundtracked … and then to go again and try to work out if you can hear much, or any, of the cocaine-addled party warrior that Jones had full-time transmogrified into by the time of the Tour. On the record’s cover George Jones looks like an Elvis impersonator in Whoville – and in parts the record feels about as cartoonish. It’s tempting to read the earnest and somber meditation on promiscuity “She’ll love the one she’s with” as part one of a story that concludes with the jolly honky tonk of “Mary don’t go around” – what sympathy Jones might have afforded his subject across those tracks is instead banked and spent on the beleaguered, harried singer on “Our Private Life”. What I’d initially, and admittedly idly, picked as a sappy collection of hopelessly romantic ditties reveals itself on second listen as a crooner’s ode to the ancient art of boys will be boys. A Trojan horse of wounded male ego (tautology?) that really, really thinks it deserves that drink.

A BIG favorite of my Mom's. Listening to his soulful voice and heartbreaking lyriccs brings memories of my Mom smiling as she sang along, thororughly enjoying George Jones' music. For that alone he gets stars.

Great voice but only the first song stood out to me.

A great country album with some grit and depth that's easy on the ear but steers just far enough from pop to remain authentic

Love a country album about loving someone else's girl and how your girl don't love you

Very lovely. Exactly what you expect, no surprises, but very very sweet

Jesus Christ can I please get some upbeat shit that can keep my attention

'Over there sits the chair / Where she'd bring the paper to me.' I get it now - I get why I love this music so much. Tragedy is life's bottomline. We can either ignore this foundation, or we can sing that tragedy w/ clarity & heart, as the great country artists do. George Jones, like Tom T. Hall, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lyne, etc., has an unmatched clarity of desperation that somehow, w/ all those tragic contours, puts me in a reawakened & unwearied mood. I think George Jones is particularly adept at this transparency. E'en more tragic to the core than other masters, he's yet so spirited a vocalizer that he makes me want to live it thru to the end. 'You've got more love in your little finger than all the rest / & there's nothing better one you've had the best.'

The kind of soppy country music that now feels like a bit of a parody of itself. I'm sure it's good, but not for me.

not for me

Gosto muito desse estilo de música, voz foda, me transporta para um tempo diferente. Me imagino fazendo uma road trip pelo oeste dos Estados Unidos.

Meget country er til ho-downs i lader med savsmuld på gulvet. Det her er til en hotelbar med velourbeklædte loungemøbler.

Jangly and/or whiney country. Not many redeeming characteristics here. The only reason I'm giving this a 2 is that in all fairness I'm not great at judging which trashy country album is less bad than others.

The rockin' songs were rockin'. The sad ballads were cheesy and lame.

Forlorn love ballads is definitely George Jones bread and butter. He probably does it better than just about any other country singer around. But it makes a very dreary album. This may not be the most common take, but I honestly like his upbeat songs. My favorite songs on this album where "The Weatherman" & "Our Private Life"... and of course the title track, one of the most beloved country heartbreak songs. All the rest are various shades of what George Jones does best. I'm not sure if this is my favorite album of his, but it is a good album. Still songs like "She'll Love The One She's With", turning turning Stephen Stills peace-loving hookline into sad tale of a woman settling for second best, may have looked good on a piece of paper in Nashville, but it kind of made my eyes roll. But most the songs on here really by examples of the Nashville sound, even if I'm more of a "White Lightning" or "The Race Is On" fan of his. (8.15) ★★★★

Not my prefered style of country. It is too polished. 3 stars

This isn't really my style of country music. Not bad, but nothing that exciting either. Light 3 stars.

Country schmountry. Not the worst but not too interesting either. Still better than the current series of The Grand Tour sans Jeremy Clarkson although that is quite an easy bar to jump. You could pick 3 randos off the street outside a Sterlingshire Jobcentre and you would have a better presenter line-up for the current series of The Grand Tour.

I had previously heard of George Jones but did not know any material. This is a country album. There is an assortment of ballads and up-tempo songs. It is a fine listen, but I doubt I would come back to it.

It's pretty good country. I enjoyed his voice. I didn't connect with it, but it was a nice listen. 3 out of 5

70s country ballads but imo not as good as a dolly or glen. Enjoyable but forgettable.

⭐⭐⭐ Bra röst och solidt album. Det här kan jag tänka mig att lyssna på igen men framförallt utforska mer av George Jones. Saknar dock lite stand out spår så det blir bara en 3a. Bäst är Grand Tour, Pass me by, Once you've hade the best, WHO will I be loving now

A nice old fashioned sounding country album. Nothing too catchy and nothing too offensive here.

One of the best things about the Album a Day thing has been discovering some excellent pre-hickpop country music. This one just didn't connect for me at all, but it's fine as anodyne background desk music.

Another instance where his personal life is far more interesting than the music. It’s not bad! Just...sounds staid today.

A set of stark, almost haunting country tunes. These songs feel fairly empty, with nothing more besides some quiet drums, an occasional piano, and a guitar that fades into the background when it's not at its twangiest. This leaves room for Jones's voice, which is what carries these songs. The downside is that outside of a couple upbeat numbers to start and end the second side, this is full of ballads with the same tempo and sound. This album isn't even half an hour long, and they still get tiresome by the end. There are some good ones - "Borrowed Angel" is a nice twist on a classic love song. But others feel a bit clunky, especially the line "nothing's better once you've had the best." Jones's voice carries these songs, but it can't elevate it beyond any similar country music.

I was pretty low on this album at the start, but "She told me so" was actually pretty good. Jones is a talented singer, just not my style. At least it doesn't overstay its welcome.

Another name I'd heard of but wasn't familiar with. Enjoyed this one enough as I've developed an interest in old country probably from my significant other's musical tastes. He's got a good voice and I always like the steel guitar nothing stood out too much on my first listen in way of songs that I knew.

Good album, guy has great voice. Liked the bare acoustic guitar with vocals style a lot more than I thought I would

У George Jones хоть и приятный голос, но это все равно однотипное кантри. Я устал даже слушая эти 29 минут

this was good. cohesive. great voice. instrumentation is, well, country so that's what ya get. overall enjoyable, prob in the 4-5 range, but honestly, thank goodness it's something other than borderline indie late '80s-early '00s rock, so 5/5.

Overall relatively basic but in an enjoyable way. This kinda mellow country is nice. The Weatherman is fun, Mary dont go round is also very cool. Overall a good background listen but just nothing mind blowing.

No real standouts in this one, hoping for other George Jones to show up in the list because this is a weird album to include. Highlights: "Darlin'", "Pass Me By (If You're Only Passing Through)", "Our Private Life"

Old school country that's enjoyable but doesn't make a big impression for me.

Boring ol country. 2/5

Country music is always sad. Sometimes upbeat, but always sad. I get why this album is on the list. Best of the recent glut of country records… so far.

This isn't an album I enjoyed listening to. I mean, this is THE sound of sad 70s mopey heartachy country music. If that is what you're looking for, this is the record to pick. Ultimately, George Jones has a weird way of over-enunciating everything he sings, and the twang is thick and lasts the entire record. This record, good or bad, will be decided by your appreciation of this type of music.

Oh interesting! I never knew it, but it turns out George Jones is the reason why I always assumed country music sucked.

Formulaic country nonsense. It’s all so predictable and awful.

Ehh. Trying to be subjective here. Seems like a tight, cohesive album overall. I like the instrumentals a lot even though I'm not a big country fan. I really don't care for the vocals, personally. This feels well executed, but not my cup of tea.

BASTA COUNTRY. SPECIALMENTE QUELLO ANNI '60 E '70. MAGARI QUELLO ORIGINALE E' BELLO. 1/5

old country is just always gonna do it for me.

599/1089 - The Grand Tour is one of my favorite shows on TV. Love Clarkson May and Hammond. Not huge on this though.

I used to think it was just modern country that sucked. I stand corrected. Thanks, George. 0.5/5.0

i listened to another album from king george about 20 minutes before revealing this one. im not sure why this one was chosen for the list but it doesnt hold a candle to "i am what i am"

Vingt-huit minutes. Vingt-huit putains de petites minutes au compteur de ma platine, et c'est tout ce que je retiens de cette traversée du désert en carton-pâte. Je suis désolé mais quand on me parle de la country des années 70, j’imagine des types qui saignent, des bars miteux, le désespoir qui pue le bourbon et des histoires de bagnoles rouillées au bord d'un fossé. À la place, qu'est-ce qu’on me sert ici ? Un disque poli, propre sur lui, qui me donne l'impression d'écouter dix fois exactement le même morceau en boucle. Alors soyons clairs d'emblée : ce n'est pas une bouse infâme. George Jones n'est pas un manchot, le mec sait pousser la chansonnette, et techniquement, tout est calé au millimètre près. C’est propre, c'est appliqué, le son glisse tout seul mais bordel de merde, qu'est-ce qu'on s'emmerde ! C’est le degré zéro de la prise de risque, un disque tellement engoncé dans ses propres conventions qu’il en devient asphyxiant. Je suis très loin, mais alors à des années-lumière, de mes attentes en ce qui concerne la musique country. La country, pour moi, c'est censé être une entaille vivante, pas une visite guidée et aseptisée dans un musée des horreurs sentimentales où chaque refrain ressemble à la photocopie délavée du précédent. Dès l'ouverture, la recette est posée sur la table et le cuisinier refuse obstinément de changer d'ingrédients jusqu'au mot de la fin. Cette foutue pedal-steel qui pleure exactement au même moment, ces violons sirupeux qui débarquent pour souligner le moindre chagrin et cette voix qui minaude sur les décombres d'un foyer abandonné. Au bout de trois pistes, j'ai déjà décroché. Mon esprit divague, je regarde le mur et je réalise que l'album continue de défiler sans que rien ne dépasse. Pas un accroc, pas une aspérité, pas un truc qui me fait sortir de ma torpeur c'est juste une autoroute rectiligne, plate, bordée d'arbres en plastique, où le conducteur appuie mollement sur l'accélérateur en attendant que le réservoir se vide. On nous vend ça comme un sommet de la tragédie intime, mais le formatage de Nashville dans toute sa splendeur a méthodiquement étouffé la moindre étincelle de spontanéité. Tout est tellement surproduit, tellement calibré pour plaire aux programmateurs de radio de l'époque qu'on ne ressent aucune douleur véritable. C'est du chagrin sous vide, congelé, vendu au kilo. Le drame chez Jones devient un exercice de style prévisible, où la structure des couplets ne varie pratiquement jamais, le tempo reste vissé dans une nonchalance mollassonne, et les arrangements semblent avoir été recrachés par un automate fatigué. C'est la routine absolue d'un artisan qui fait juste son boulot. À force de vouloir chanter la rupture et la misère sentimentale sur tous les tons, le bonhomme finit par anesthésier son propre sujet. On devrait avoir la gorge nouée, on devrait avoir envie de se resservir un verre en fixant le vide ; au lieu de ça, on regarde la trotteuse de sa montre tourner en attendant désespérément la fin. Vingt-huit minutes, ça paraît court sur le papier, mais quand chaque seconde s'étire dans une redondance pareille, ça ressemble à une petite éternité. C’est le genre d’écoute qui ne laisse aucune trace, aucun souvenir marquant, juste une vague sensation de lassitude une fois que les dernières secondes laissent place à un silence soulageant. La note de 2 sur 5 reflète parfaitement mon état d'esprit face à ce pétard mouillé. Ce n'est pas un naufrage honteux, ce n'est pas une insulte aux oreilles, mais c’est un gouffre d'ennui qui ne m'apporte strictement rien. Une country classique incapable de m'arracher un frisson ou de justifier le quart du statut qu'on lui prête. Passez votre chemin, il n'y a absolument rien à voir ici.

He has a great honky tonk style voice. It was fine, his storytelling just didn't grab me and for me to get fully on board with a honky tonk style album, I need the stories to interest me a bit more. 3 stars

I've been up most of the night with a strained shoulder, in agony but also keenly anticipating what today's album might be. You can imagine the look on my face when this came up. One of sheer resignation and despondency. And it turns out it was every bit as bad as I was expecting.

Evokes a 50s-early 60s country vibe. Compared to the last country album, this has more soft rock instruments (steel guitars, drums). Seems to be have a lot of ballads and line dance songs. Personally found it formulaic. Put this on any country playlist and I couldn't tell you whose who. Guess I love my country with a fuller sound and with a rockier influence.

Nothing wrong with country as long as it’s badass like Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson or Hank Williams. But these are just sentimental songs from a sentimental drunk.

Not my thing

It grew on me

Comfy country album

Country as God intended it

in a weird way country is calming - i do not listen to the lyrics at all but I guess it;s like european folk music ish

solid pop country

Pretty much everything I dislike about country condensed into one album. Rugged cowboy sentimentality and yee-haw jigs are clearly things I'll never be able to appreciate, no matter how hard I try. I spent the whole album torn between bored and annoyed. He does have a powerful voice, I'll grant him that ; but that's pretty much the only good thing I can say about this record. 2/10

Cheesy country, with God, fringes and all the usual cowboy clichés. Everything sounds painfully predictable, polished and sentimental in all the wrong ways. Nothing much to add, except that last week was awful and this one is off to a really bad start.

Never heard before. It was ok. I don't mind a bit of country but it's only 3 days ago I was given Dolly Parton and I wasn't ready for some more!! The songs were pleasant enough although it was all a bit samey and nothing really stood out. I think Borrowed Angel was probably my favourite.

Now THAT'S what people are talking about when they say country music is sad.

This is a Country Album in all of its country-ness (whatever that means for you, since I’m not usually a fan of that sort of sound). The title track is definitely sad, regardless of whether you read it as a divorce song or one about death, but I feel Jones’s version is more maudlin than devastating. Aside from the first song, the only other one that’s memorable for me is the ender “Our Private Life.” The rest just kind of come-and-go for me. Not a fan, personally, but I can see why someone else might enjoy it more. (2/5)

Adult contemporary country. And I don’t mean like adult contemporary the genre, I mean adult contemporary the billboard chart, because its presence in culture for the many years it’s existed, and its ever-present base, is the only reason this album is even remotely relevant. Which is it really? I don’t even know if this guy is distinguishable from Glenn Campbell, and I don’t say that as a dig against someone as great an artist as Campbell was, I say that as a dig against whoever this guy is. Title track “The Grand Tour” is the only song on here that I believe I can accept as a truly good song, for it’s a genuinely melancholic little tune with some nice writing and obviously good instrumentation and vocals. Everything else on this thing? Pretty disposable. Dare I say this was better as a cast-off single. Would’ve been better off that way. 5.2/10

The usual cliches prevail, unrequited love, betrayal and love lost, all packed in to 29 minutes with added slide guitar

Much better than today's country

Not my cup of tea

Not my favorite country record on this list but I'll happily listen to this over modern country slop

I’m sure it appeals to someone

Textbook example of classic country. The band is great but I can only take so much schmaltzy crooning.

400/1089 not a bit of me at all, didn’t really enjoy this 11/100