GEORGE JONES LIVES

Back in the late sixties, all of the construction workers had WNYR stickers on their pickup truck windows. It was an AM country western station - New York redneck style. I never caught up with country music until I moved to Indiana where three much older men came knocking on my door while I was playing drums. I was certain they were there to complain, but they wanted me to join their band, "The Midnighters". They must have been desperate. I didn't know anything about what they now call classic country. But one rehearsal in a trailer (with a black velvet painting of John F Kennedy on the wall) and I was at the Elks Club, The Eagles Club, the Moose Club, the VFW, the American Legion and coon hunts on the back of flat bed trucks for the next two years. I grew to love the stuff, especially the cryin' in your beer songs.

I didn't like George Jones back then because the only thing I knew about him was the songs we did like "The Race Is On" and "White Lightning" which were goofy, upbeat, novelties. Around 1980 a good friend of mine gave me a cassette of George stuff that I played until my deck ate the tape. He said "George looks like a turkey but sings like an angel". I am a big fan of George now but I don't think I'm a country fan because that WBEE van that shows up at all the outdoor festivals scares the heck out of me.

So we jumped at the chance to see
GEORGE PERFORM LIVE at Turning Point Casino.