Track Listing
DISC 1:
1. Amazing Grace
2. It Is No Secret
3. Just a Little Talk With Jesus
4. Where We'll Never Grow Old
5. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
6. Why Me Lord
7. I'll Fly Away
8. Precious Memories - (featuring Patti Page)
9. Just a Closer Walk With Thee
10. In the Garden
11. Lonesome Valley
12. When Mama Sang (The Angels Stopped to Listen)
DISC 2:
1. Peace in the Valley
2. What a Friend We Have in Jesus
3. Softly and Tenderly
4. Lily of the Valley
5. Old Rugged Cross, The
6. Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
7. Family Bible
8. Mansion Over the Hilltop - (featuring Vestal Goodman)
9. If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again
10. How Beautiful Heaven Must Be
11. Jesus, Hold My Hand
12. I Know a Man Who Can - (featuring Sheri Copeland/Barry Smith)
| Details | | Contributing Artists: | Barry Smith, Patti Page, Sheri Copeland, Vestal Goodman | | Producer: | Billy Sherrill | | Distributor: | BMG (distributor) | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
Personnel: George Jones (vocals, guitar); Bruce Atkins (acoustic guitar); Brent Mason, Reggie Young, J.T. Corenflos, John Willis (electric guitar); Paul Franklin, John Hughy (steel guitar); Glen Duncan (fiddle); Gary Prim (keyboards); Michael Rhodes (bass); Eddie Bayers (drums); Louis Nunley, Bergen White, Curtis Young, Mark Ivey, Ray Walker, Michael Black, Gordon Stoker, Millie Kirkum, Sheri Copeland, The Smith Family (background vocals).
Although country icon George Jones had made gospel albums before this 2003 recording, both solo and with duet partner Tammy Wynette, this one bears a special significance. The two-disc set of spirituals marks the first time he'd tackled such material since an almost-fatal 1999 car accident. The mishap is said to have put him on spiritual notice, so to speak, and inspired this album (though he'd done some secular work in between). The arrangements, quite appropriately, steer clear of the customary gospel trappings and are squarely in the Billy Sherrill/classic Nashvile mold that suits Jones so well. The man's voice remains a marvel of tone and emotion, and hearing him lay into the likes of "Just a Closer Walk With Thee," "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms," and even the ubiquitous "Amazing Grace" is nothing short of heart-stopping. No other country singer can emotionally inhabit a song as fully as Jones, and hearing a lifelong hell-raiser try to mend his ways is doubly affecting.
Editorial Reviews
3 stars out of 5 - ...The pain in the songs is sublimated in Jones' still-pure voice. Get over the culture shock, and you may feel comforted...
Uncut (08/01/2003)
| See an error? Submit a change request |
All rights reserved.
