Bandit Records
2004
50 Years Of Hits
About This Album
The idea sounds good, and it may even make sense: collect one song from each of the 50 years that George Jones has been recording, and present them in one exhaustive triple-disc set, appropriately titled 50 Years of Hits. Seems simple enough, but in practice, the set doesn't quite work, either as an overview of Jones' career or as an enjoyable listening experience. Although Bandit has done an impressive job with cross-licensing between labels, the compilers acknowledge that they weren't able to work out a deal with Musicor to feature Jones' late-'60s hits, so they were forced to substitute re-recordings of "Walk Through This World With Me," "She's Mine," "I'll Share My World With You," and "A Good Year for the Roses" for the originals here. While it's regrettable that the originals aren't here, their absence is understandable and the remakes are professional and rather strong. The bigger problem with the collection is its very construction: Jones has a rich, long legacy, but it's not best represented by sampling every year equally. Like most veteran artists, George Jones' commercial and creative peak came early and, like most country artists, that peak extended over several years where he hit the Top Ten on a regular basis.
Track List

Disc 1 (try tracks 2,4,9,11,13,14 and 15)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.

Disc 2 (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,7,10,12,13,14,15 and 16)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.

Disc 3 (try tracks 1,2,4,5,10,13 and 14)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.