GEORGE JONES - WHO'S GONNA FILL THEIR SHOES

WHO'S GONNA FILL THEIR SHOES

GEORGE JONES

SONGWRITERS: MAX D. BARNES & TROY SEALS

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: WHO’S GONNA FILL THEIR SHOES

LABEL: EPIC RECORDS

GENRE: COUNTRY

YEAR: 1985

 

          George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", as well as his distinctive voice and phrasing. For the last two decades of his life, Jones was frequently referred to as the greatest living country singer. Country music scholar Bill Malone writes, "For the two or three minutes consumed by a song, Jones immerses himself so completely in its lyrics, and in the mood it conveys, that the listener can scarcely avoid becoming similarly involved." Waylon Jennings expressed a similar opinion in his song "It's Alright": "If we all could sound like we wanted to, we'd all sound like George Jones." The shape of his nose and facial features earned Jones the nickname "The Possum".

        Born in Texas, Jones first heard country music when he was seven, and was given a guitar at the age of nine. He married his first wife, Dorothy Bonvillion, in 1950, and was divorced in 1951. He served in the United States Marine Corps and was discharged in 1953. He married Shirley Ann Corley in 1954. In 1959, Jones recorded "White Lightning", written by J. P. Richardson, which launched his career as a singer. His second marriage ended in divorce in 1968; he married fellow country music singer Tammy Wynette a year later. Years of alcoholism compromised his health and led to his missing many performances, earning him the nickname "No Show Jones". After his divorce from Wynette in 1975, Jones married his fourth wife, Nancy Sepulvado, in 1983 and became sober for good in 1999. Jones died in 2013, aged 81, from hypoxic respiratory failure.

        George Jones has been called "The Rolls Royce Of Country Music" and had more than 160 chart singles to his name from 1955 until his death in 2013. Johnny Cash once said, "When people ask me who my favorite country singer is, I say, 'You mean besides George Jones?'"

        "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes" is a song written by Troy Seals and Max D. Barnes and recorded by American country music singer George Jones. It was released in June 1985 as the first single and title track from the álbum Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes. The song peaked at number three on the Hot Country Singles chart.

You know this old world is full of singers

But just a few are chosen

To tear your heart out when they sing

Imagine life without them

All your, radio heros

Like the outlaw that walks through Jesse's dream

 

No, there will never be another

Red-headed stranger

A Man in Black and Folsom Prison Blues

The Okie from Muskogee

Or Hello Darling

Lord I wonder, who's gonna fill their shoes

 

(Chorus:)

Who's gonna fill their shoes

Who's gonna stand that tall

Who's gonna play the Opry

And the Wabash Cannonball

Who's gonna give their heart and soul

To get to me and you

Lord I wonder, who's gonna fill their shoes

 

God bless the boys from Memphis

Blue Suede Shoes and Elvis

Much too soon he left this world in tears

They tore up the Fifties

Old Jerry Lee and Charlie

And old Go Cat Go still echoes through the years

 

You know the heart of country music

Still beats in Luke the Drifer

You can tell when hew sings I Saw the Light

Old Marty, Hank and Lefty

Why I can feel them right here with me

On this Silver Eagle rolling through the night

 

(Repeat chorus)