George & Tammy - Greatest Hits
At the end of 1971, George Jones signed a 10-year contract with Epic Records, where Tammy Wynette was enjoying the peak of her career with Billy Sherrill. By then, Jones's hard-country style had fallen out of favor, and in part to soften his clenched-teeth delivery, the producer paired him with Wynette, who rounded her hard, strident delivery with sensuous lower tones. Jones's unconventional style--alternately stretching or biting off the ends of his phrases, and sliding from one end of his register to the other--was hard to follow, and Wynette learned to read her cues in body language. A dipped chin meant he was going for a low note, a tipped head signaled he was aiming high. But Wynette did more than just hang on. The combination made them the President and First Lady of country music during their six years of marriage (1969-75), and their musical partnership took them to the top of the singles charts three times: "We're Gonna Hold On," "Golden Ring," "Near You." When the storybook romance ended, the mood of the duets changed from devoted love to restrained anguish. Every country fan wept.--Alanna Nash