50 Years of Hits is a country album by George Jones who was signed to Starday Records in 1953, released his first singles in 1954, and had his first hit with "Why Baby Why'" in 1955.

50 Years of Hits
Compilation album by
ReleasedNovember 9, 2004
Recorded1955–2004
GenreCountry
LengthDisc 1 – 45:04
Disc 2 – 51:07
Disc 3 – 54:18
LabelBandit
ProducerPappy Daily
Billy Sherrill
Norro Wilson
Buddy Cannon
Kyle Lehning
Evelyn Shriver
George Jones compilation albums chronology
Live with the Possum
(1999)
50 Years of Hits
(2004)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic link

Background

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Jones began recording in 1954 and his first releases were on the independent Starday label. As his career progressed, he moved to Mercury, United Artists, Musicor, Epic (where he remained for 19 years), MCA Nashville, Asylum, and Bullet Records. Billboard states that Jones has had more charted singles than any artist in any format of music, and 50 Years of Hits features one song per year, representing the actual year that song was released. Most of the time, the song chosen was Jones' biggest hit of that year, but sometimes it was chosen because Jones thought it was his best song that year. The set is not historically accurate; the compilers were unable to work out a deal with Musicor to feature Jones's 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. In addition, the inclusion of his number one single "Still Doin' Time" among his mid-1960s hits is an error; the song topped the charts in 1981. Finally, the inclusion of a 1979 duet he recorded with Waylon Jennings, "Night Life", appears out of place as it wasn't even a single. Nevertheless, the package is an enormous document of country music history in its own right, chronicling the career of a man who many believe is the greatest interpreter of the country song who ever lived. Jones had so many hits that some of them, such as his 1974 number one hit "The Door", and his chart topping duet "Golden Ring" with Tammy Wynette, could not be included.

In addition to Jennings and Wynette, the album includes appearances Melba Montgomery, Merle Haggard, Alan Jackson, the Oak Ridge Boys, Randy Travis, and Garth Brooks.

Track listing

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Disc one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Why Baby Why"Darrell Edwards, George Jones2:15
2."Just One More"Jones2:42
3."Tall, Tall Trees"Jones, Roger Miller2:26
4."Color of the Blues"Jones, Lawton Williams2:50
5."White Lightning"J. P. Richardson2:46
6."Window Up Above"Jones2:33
7."Tender Years"Edwards, Jones2:23
8."She Thinks I Still Care"Steve Duffy, Dickey Lee2:34
9."You Comb Her Hair"Hank Cochran, Harlan Howard2:40
10."The Race Is On"Jones, Don Rollins2:07
11."We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds" (with Melba Montgomery)Earl Montgomery2:39
12."Still Doin' Time"Michael P. Heeney, John E. Moffat2:49
13."Walk Through This World with Me" (re-recording)Kaye Savage, Sandy Seamons2:25
14."She's Mine"Jones, Jack Ripley3:02
15."I'll Share My World with You"Ben Wilson2:47
16."Good Year for the Roses" (with Alan Jackson)Jerry Chesnut3:37
17."Take Me" (with Tammy Wynette)Jones, Leon Payne2:20
Disc two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."A Picture of Me (Without You)"George Richey, Norro Wilson2:31
2."Once You've Had the Best"Johnny Paycheck2:38
3."The Grand Tour"Richey, Carmol Taylor, Wilson3:05
4."These Days I Barely Get By"Jones, Tammy Wynette3:01
5."Her Name Is"Bobby Braddock2:19
6."Near You" (with Tammy Wynette)Francis Craig, Kermit Goell2:21
7."Bartender's Blues"James Taylor3:46
8."Night Life" (with Waylon Jennings)Walt Breeland, Paul Buskirk, Willie Nelson3:42
9."He Stopped Loving Her Today"Braddock, Curly Putman3:17
10."Yesterday's Wine" (with Merle Haggard)Nelson3:14
11."Same Ole Me"Paul Overstreet2:52
12."I Always Get Lucky with You"Gary Church, Merle Haggard, Freddy Powers, Tex Whitson3:18
13."She's My Rock"Gene Dobbins2:27
14."Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes"Max D. Barnes, Troy Seals3:17
15."The One I Loved Back Then (The Corvette Song)"Gary Gentry2:30
16."The Right Left Hand"Dennis Knutson, A.L. "Doodle" Owens3:15
17."Radio Lover"Ron Hellard, Bucky Jones3:26
Disc three
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."(I'm a) One Woman Man"Tillman Franks, Johnny Horton2:15
2."A Few Ole Country Boys" (with Randy Travis)Seals, Mentor Williams3:38
3."You Couldn't Get the Picture"Chuck Harter3:34
4."Finally Friday"Bobby Boyd, Dennis Robbins2:43
5."I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair"Billy Yates, Frank Dycus, Kerry Kurt Phillips2:48
6."High Tech Redneck"Byron Hill, Zack Turner2:26
7."One" (with Tammy Wynette)Ed Bruce, Judith Bruce, Ed Jones, Ron Peterson4:07
8."I Must Have Done Something Bad"Red Lane3:19
9."When Did You Stop Loving Me"Donny Kees, Monty Holmes3:43
10."Wild Irish Rose"Braddock4:39
11."Choices"Yates, Mike Curtis3:25
12."Cold Hard Truth"Jamie O'Hara4:06
13."Beer Run (B Double E Double Are You In?)" (with Garth Brooks)Keith Anderson, Kent Blazy, George Ducas, Amanda Williams, Kim Williams3:03
14."50,000 Names"O'Hara3:50
15."I Got Everything"Al Anderson, Jim Hoke3:13
16."Amazing Grace"John Newton3:22

Producers

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  • Compilation producer: Evelyn Shriver
  • Associate producers: Susan Nadler and Michael Campbell
  • Art direction: Virginia Team and Luellyn Latocki
  • Design by Don Baily for Latocki Team Creative, Nashville, TN
  • Compilation engineered for release by Custom Mastering, Inc.

Chart performance

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Chart (2004) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 20
U.S. Billboard 200 118
U.S. Billboard Independent Albums 5

Certifications

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Region Certification
United States (RIAA)[1] Gold

References

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  1. ^ "American album certifications – George Jones – 50 Years of Hits". Recording Industry Association of America.