Playin' Possum by Nancy Jones

Author:Nancy Jones
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Forefront Books
Published: 2023-09-12T00:00:00+00:00

16 TAMMY AND GEORGE—NOT AGAIN!

WHEN LOVE IS LOST, it’s not always easy taking the high road. Throw in a messy divorce and new spouses and it gets even harder. And when your names are Tammy Wynette and George Jones, well… it’s nearly impossible. Maybe that’s why some people thought it was odd that I was instrumental in bringing George and Tammy back together to record an album entitled One.

George and I were talking casually one evening when I suggested, “Now that you and Tammy are happily remarried and everyone gets along fairly well, it might be a good time for the two of you to do a new album.”

George looked back at me as though I had lost my mind. “Heck, no, I ain’t doin’ an album with that woman,” he said. “You better just leave that idea alone.”

I didn’t. In fact, I made a similar suggestion to George Richey, Tammy’s husband. He, too, thought it was a grand idea. I stopped in at MCA and talked to Tony Brown to gauge his thoughts on a potential George and Tammy reunion album. “I think it will do well,” Tony said. To me it simply made sense. Holding on to bitterness and rancor never helped anyone. But it made sense from a musical perspective, and also from a financial standpoint. George and Tammy simply put on a great show.

I went back and suggested the idea to George again.

“I’ll do it,” he said, “but I’m telling you right now. I ain’t puttin’ up with no crap from that woman. Nothing. So you better be there at every recording session.”

“I’ll be there, George,” I promised. “And Richey will be there too. We’ll keep it all together.”

That was much easier said than done.

Norro Wilson did a superb job producing the album for MCA Nashville under the direction of the company president, Tony Brown. Renee Bell, MCA’s artist and repertoire director, sifted through hundreds of songs before helping everyone settle on enough for an album. Renee was also instrumental in coming up with the album title: One. It had been seventeen years since George and Tammy had last toured together, fifteen since they’d last recorded together. In the interim, they had barely spoken to each other. They didn’t get along in the studio and often fired searing remarks at each other during the sessions. But they did the album together—it took forever to get that album done—and I thought it came out rather well. So did Tammy and Richey, and so did the label. Everyone loved it, it seemed, except George.

Undeterred, I suggested to George Richey, “Wouldn’t it be great if George and Tammy did a show together?”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Richey hedged. “But I guess it wouldn’t hurt to ask them.”

Tammy responded positively to the idea of a reunion concert; George responded… let’s say, poorly.

“No!” he bellowed when I broached the idea of him doing a show with Tammy.

I knew it would be useless to attempt convincing him by myself, so I

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.