16 Biggest Hits
George Jones and Tammy Wynette had already been married three years when they began cutting duets together, and this album's opening pledge of eternal love, 1971's "Take Me," followed by their recitation of wedding vows in "The Ceremony," sets the tone early on. Somewhere soon thereafter, Jones began hitting the bottle and the blow again, and by 1973 he and Wynette were knocking on wood and pledging "We're Gonna Hold On." They did reconcile, but the next year they were lamenting "We Loved It Away," and in 1976 they checked out with the lachrymose "Golden Ring." By 1980 they were feeling more conciliatory toward each other, explaining themselves with the comeback "Two Story House." Great autobiographical track not about the ups and downs of their relationship: "(We're Not) The Jet Set." Here's some country music that means what it says to the people who sang it.--John Morthland