When I ran into this ultra-cool box-set I nearly pee-ed myself. Come pee with me!
From Stephen Thomas Erlewine at allmusic:
George Jones was at [UA] for just three years -- and in those three years he recorded enough music to fill the five discs of She Thinks I Still Care. That's an amazing stat in itself, and it becomes even more remarkable when you consider that of the 150 songs on this box just six are previously unreleased, a miniscule number for a set this size, testament to how thoroughly the vaults were plundered, not just via CD reissues but at the time, when new George Jones albums appeared in a frenzied flood that did not abate until after he parted ways with Pappy Daily in the '70s [...]. As such, there isn't much of a sense of discovery on She Thinks I Still Care, but discovery often isn't the point of boxes such as these. Context is, and revelations are often present in how familiar music is presented anew in these sets, and such is the case with this set.
During his time at [UA], George started turning into a slicker star. The productions got bigger, the music got sillier, the packaging got slicker -- he recycled "White Lightning" as "Root Beer," he did historical numbers in the vein of Johnny Horton, he improbably cut a twist number aimed at the rock & roll market, he recorded Christmas novelties, he sang seemingly countless songs written by J.P. Richardson, aka the Big Bopper, a pal of Pappy's who provided him with countless ditties for his acts to sing. Many of these made their way to his biggest star, George, and as always it's hard to tell whether Jones chose these songs to sing, or if he just sang everything that was presented to him. The sheer number of sides he cut suggests that he simply sang whatever came his way, exercising his control by directing sessions, making the records as good as they could be. Given the source material, this sometimes resulted in little more than appealing fluff, but it was appealing, as Jones always sang with conviction, no matter what kind of song was at hand.
As She Thinks I Still Care indicates, George sang more poppy material at UA, but sometimes he struck an ideal balance between hardcore country and pop, particularly the storming "The Race Is On," a riotous classic that rivaled "She Thinks I Still Care" as his biggest hit for UA. Even with these two major crossover hits and the occasional cornball production, George spent a significant amount of time at UA cutting purer, harder country music, ranging from a bunch of gospel tunes to outright tributes to such heroes as Hank Williams, Bob Wills, and Little Jimmy Dickens. These tributes are some of his finest music -- the Hank is lean and cool, the Wills as wide-open and swaggering as Texas (thanks in part to the inclusion of some prime instrumentals, too), the Jimmy Dickens side-stepping novelties to zero in on his hardest country. Each of these records was the kind of standard-issue classic country LP -- no more than ten or 12 tracks that in total clock in at a half-hour -- that is easy to underrate as they're so tight and easy to enjoy (and in George's case, he made so many of them they're easy to take for granted), but when heard on this set, they form a strong core for Jones' UA work, especially when they're taken together with his duets with Melba Montgomery. Many (including the man himself) rank these as Jones' best duets ever, putting them above his work with Tammy Wynette collaborations, when in truth they're kind of hard to compare -- not only are they different from the lush, dramatic work with Tammy, they're quite a bit different than any other country he ever did, occasionally veering into the pile-driving intensity of bluegrass.
These hard country numbers form the heart of George's UA recordings, and their spirit bled into even some of his hit singles of the era, such as the desolate "Open Pit Mine," but most of his charting singles found Jones smoother, developing his ballad style, best represented by the stone classic "She Thinks I Still Care." This all can be heard on hits comps [...] but what makes this box valuable is how it's not only these hard country, novelties, and barroom ballads that surface; there's also Western swing, bluegrass, gospel, holiday tunes, even that twisting oddity. Not all of this is good, but George's performances always are. It often seems that George would sing anything put in front of him and sing it well -- in some ways, that's a detriment, as there's such a surplus of material, but it also gives fanatics plenty of minor moments to cherish, whether it's in neglected gems or mere turns of phrase. Even so, it's hard to deny that Pappy Daily and Art Talmadage treated George Jones as a mere commodity. While that resulted in too much music, much of it is saved by George's brilliant, intuitive performances, an almost accidental art that turns out to give even the fluff some permanence.
Disc 1 Technical Information:
Artist: George Jones
Album: She Thinks I Still Care (Disc 1)
Year: 1962-1964/2007
Audio Codec(s): FLAC
Encoding: Lossless
Rip: EAC split tracks
Avg. bitrate: 868 kb/s
Sample rate: 44100 Hz
Bits per sample: 16
Channels: 2
File size: 488 MB
Length: 1:18:39
Tracklisting:
01. She Thinks I Still Care (2:35)
02. Root Beer (2:42)
03. Three's a Crowd (2:20)
04. Poor Little Rich Boy (2:24)
05. Sometimes You Just Can't Win (2:43)
06. Running Bear (2:29)
07. She Once Lived Here (2:17)
08. Open Bit Mine (3:09)
09. Imitation of Love (2:29)
10. Beggar to a King (2:40)
11. Best Guitar Picker (2:42)
12. What Am I Worth (2:08)
13. There's No Justice (2:11)
14. I Saw Me (3:15)
15. Geronimo (2:02)
16. Peace in the Valley (2:40)
17. Bubbles in my Beer (2:21)
18. Faded Love (2:40)
19. Roly Poly (1:52)
20. Trouble in Mind (2:07)
21. Take me Back to Tulsa (1:54)
22. The Warm Red Wine (2:33)
23. Time Changes Everything (2:55)
24. Worried Mind (2:19)
25. Silver Dew on the Bluegrass Tonight (2:23)
26. San Andtonio Rose (2:47)
27. Homecoming in Heaven (2:29)
28. My Cup Runneth Over (2:42)
29. Wandering Soul (2:28)
30. He's So Good to Me (2:01)
31. Magic Valley (2:19)
32. Kneel at the Feet of Jesus (2:03)
Disc 1 Megaupload Link
Disc 2 Technical Information:
Artist: George Jones
Album: She Thinks I Still Care (Disc 2)
Year: 1962-1964/2007
Audio Codec(s): FLAC
Encoding: Lossless
Rip: EAC split tracks
Avg. bitrate: 847 kb/s
Sample rate: 44100 Hz
Bits per sample: 16
Channels: 2
File size: 438 MB
Length: 1:12:27
Tracklisting:
01. It's a Sin (2:13)
02. The Precious Jewel (2:25)
03. I Could Never Be Ashamed of You (2:25)
04. Yes, I Know Why (1:50)
05. Give My Love to Rose (3:05)
06. The Same Sweet Girl (2:40)
07. Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes (2:28)
08. Wings of a Dove (2:04)
09. A Little Bitty Tear (1:50)
10. Beacon in the Night (1:51)
11. Matthew Twenty Four (2:18)
12. He Made Me Free (2:39)
13. Someone's Watching Over You (2:25)
14. Mansion on the Hill (2:25)
15. Take These Chains from My Heart (2:22)
16. Wedding Bells (2:57)
17. I Heard You Crying in Your Sleep (2:13)
18. I Just Don't Like This Kind of Livin' (2:32)
19. You Win, Again (2:29)
20. You're Gonna Change (or I'm Gonna Leave) (2:13)
21. Lonesome Whistle (2:23)
22. A House Without Love (2:26)
23. Your Cheatin' Heart (2:30)
24. They'll Never Take Her Love from Me (2:31)
25. Steel Guitar Rag (2:22)
26. Big Beaver (2:37)
27. A Girl I Used to Know (2:42)
28. Lonesome Life (2:39)
29. Big Fool of the Year (2:29)
30. Not What I Had in Mind (2:25)
Disc 2 Megaupload Link
Disc 3 Technical Information:
Artist: George Jones
Album: She Thinks I Still Care (Disc 3)
Year: 1962-1964/2007
Audio Codec(s): FLAC
Encoding: Lossless
Rip: EAC split tracks
Avg. bitrate: 871 kb/s
Sample rate: 44100 Hz
Bits per sample: 16
Channels: 2
File size: 495 MB
Length: 1:19:35
Tracklisting:
01. Lonely Christmas Call (2:26)
02. My Mom and Santa Claus (Twistin' Santa Claus) (2:33)
03. Not What I Had in Mind (2:40)
04. I Saw Me (2:47)
05. Wrong Number (2:35)
06. The Old Old House (2:29)
07. I Can't Change Overnight (2:32)
08. World's Worst Loser (2:39)
09. Every Time I Look at You (2:07)
10. Seasons of My Heart (2:51)
11. Ain't It Funny what a Fool Will Do (2:23)
12. You Comb Her Hair (2:41)
13. I Wish Tonight Would Never End (2:18)
14. In the Shadow of a Lie (2:49)
15. She's Lonesome Again (2:10)
16. Your Kind of Loving Won't Do (2:27)
17. Lonesome Old Town (2:13)
18. I'll Never Let Go of You (2:20)
19. Jonsey (Instrumental) (2:06)
20. Forgive Me, Now (2:17)
21. You Done Me Wrong (2:06)
22. Color of the Blues (2:50)
23. Cuttin' a Rug (Instrumental) (1:58)
24. A Real Close Friend (2:46)
25. I won't Love You Anymore (2:23)
26. Ragged But Right (2:17)
27. It Scares Me Half to Death (2:39)
28. A Rose from a Bride's Bouquet (2:43)
29. When Your House Is Not a Home (2:27)
30. I'm Just Blue Enough (2:20)
31. Just When I Needed You (2:49)
32. My Heart's Bouquet (2:55)
Disc 3 Megaupload Link
Disc 4 Technical Information:
Artist: George Jones
Album: She Thinks I Still Care (Disc 4)
Year: 1962-1964/2007
Audio Codec(s): FLAC
Encoding: Lossless
Rip: EAC split tracks
Avg. bitrate: 863 kb/s
Sample rate: 44100 Hz
Bits per sample: 16
Channels: 2
File size: 384 MB
Length: 1:02:20
Tracklisting:
01. We Could (2:28)
02. Take Me As I Am (2:35)
03. Where Did the Sunshine Go (2:44)
04. Making the Rounds (2:21)
05. I've Just Got to See You Once More (2:22)
06. Lovin' Lies (2:39)
07. Let's Invite Them Over (with Melba Montgomery) (2:12)
08. What's In Our Hearts (with Melba Montgomery) (2:41)
09. Suppose Tonight Would Be Our Last (with Melba Montgomery) (2:36)
10. I Let You Go (with Melba Montgomery) (2:40)
11. Afraid (with Melba Montgomery) (2:11)
12. Multiply the Heartaches (2:23)
13. Don't Go (2:23)
14. There's a Friend in the Way (2:08)
15. She's My Mother (2:42)
16. Alabama (2:43)
17. The Race Is On (2:07)
18. Flame in My Heart (with Melba Montgomery) (2:30)
19. We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds (with Melba Montgomery) (2:39)
20. Now Tell Me (with Melba Montgomery) (2:46)
21. Until Then (with Melba Montgomery (2:37)
22. Your Heart Turned Left (And I Was on the Right) (2:16)
23. Something I Dreamed (2:41)
24. My Tears Are Overdue (2:29)
25. I Get Lonely in a Hurry (2:27)
Disc 4 Megaupload Link
Disc 5 Technical Information:
Artist: George Jones
Album: She Thinks I Still Care (Disc 5)
Year: 1962-1964/2007
Audio Codec(s): FLAC
Encoding: Lossless
Rip: EAC split tracks
Avg. bitrate: 887 kb/s
Sample rate: 44100 Hz
Bits per sample: 16
Channels: 2
File size: 474 MB
Length: 1:14:49
Tracklisting:
01. Wait a Little Longer, Please Jesus (with Melba Montgomery) (2:19)
02. I'll Be There to Welcome You Home (with Melba Montgomery) (2:07)
03. Rollin' in My Sweet Baby's Arms (with Melba Montgomery) (2:07)
04. Blue Moon of Kentucky (with Melba Montgomery) (2:27)
05. House of Gold (with Melba Montgomery) (2:32)
06. I Can't Get Over You (with Melba Montgomery) (2:16)
07. Dixieland for Me (with Melba Montgomery) (2:06)
08. Once More (with Melba Montgomery) (2:32)
09. Will There Ever Be Another (with Melba Montgomery) (2:24)
10. Will There Ever Be Another (with Melba Montgomery) (2:23)
11. I'd Jump the Mississippi (with Melba Montgomery) (2:19)
12. Please Be My Love (with Melba Montgomery) (2:31)
13. I'd Dreamed My Baby Came Home (with Melba Montgomery) (2:11)
14. Brown to Blue (2:42)
15. Without a Reason (2:28)
16. Where Does a Little Tear Come From (2:36)
17. What's Money (2:39)
18. Wouldn't It Be Something (2:36)
19. Let's Go Home (2:15)
20. Please Talk to my Heart (2:49)
21. Gonna Have a Little Talk with You Friend (2:12)
22. I've Been Known to Cry (2:19)
23. A Good Old Fashioned Cry (2:32)
24. Book of Memories (2:46)
25. Is This How a Broken Heart Dies (2:29)
26. Holiday of Love (2:01)
27. Gold and Silver (2:30)
28. Love's Gonna Live Here (2:15)
29. She's Mine (2:42)
30. I'm Gonna Change Everything (2:23)
31. Least of All (2:34)
Disc 5 Megaupload Link
