He Stopped Loving Her Today: George Jones, Billy Sherrill, and the Pretty-Much Totally True Story of the Making of the Greatest Country Record of All Time

by Jack Isenhour

Overview

A behind-the-scenes look at the creation of a country music masterpiece When George Jones recorded "He Stopped Loving Her Today" more than thirty years ago, he was a walking disaster. Twin addictions to drugs and alcohol had him drinking Jim Beam by the case and snorting cocaine as long as he was awake. Before it was over, Jones would be bankrupt, homeless, and an unwilling patient at an Alabama mental institution. In the midst of all this chaos, legendary producer Billy Sherrill--the man who discovered Tammy Wynette and cowrote "Stand by Your Man"--would somehow coax the performance of a lifetime out of the mercurial Jones. The result was a country masterpiece. He Stopped Loving Her Today, the story behind the making of the song often voted the best country song ever by both critics and fans, offers an overview of country music's origins and a search for the music's elusive Holy Grail: authenticity. The schizoid bottom line--even though country music is undeniably a branch of the make-believe world of show biz, to fans and scholars alike, authenticity remains the ultimate measure of the music's power. Jack Isenhour, Nashville, Tennessee, is the author of Same Knight, Different Channel: Basketball Legend Bob Knight at West Point and Today and coauthor, with Dennis Rodman, of the basketball star's memoir, I Should Be Dead by Now.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781617031014
Publisher:	University Press of Mississippi
Publication date:	08/01/2011
Series:	American Made Music Series
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Jack Isenhour, Nashville, Tennessee, is the author of Same Knight, Different Channel: Basketball Legend Bob Knight at West Point and Today and coauthor, with Dennis Rodman, of the basketball star's memoir, I Should Be Dead by Now.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Prologue: Shattering Glass in a Minor Key 3

Part 1 George Jones Live

1 Vacant, Inert Cipher 13

2 Art and Money 20

3 The Country Music Dialectic 30

4 The Lesson of Paducah 34

Part 2 Authenticity, A.K.A. The Real Deal

5 Hillbillies and Cowboys 45

6 Country Cred 52

7 Jimmie and Them 61

Part 3 The Nashville Sound

8 Violins From Hell or The Short, Official, Pretty-Much Totally Bogus History of the Nashville Sound 73

9 The Long, Unofficial, Pretty-Much Totally True History of the Nashville Sound 81

10 Yeah, But Is It Country? 87

Part 4 Music Makers

11 Follow the Money 93

12 The Writing of "He Stopped Loving Her Today" 102

13 The Quonset Hut 113

14 Making Music 120

Part 5 George Glenn

15 Plum Crazy 131

16 Spoiled Rotten Child Prodigy Addict 135

17 Heart Broke 143

Part 6 The Making of "He Stopped Loving Her Today"

18 Now in Session: George Jones 155

19 Eyewitnesses v. Paperwork 160

20 Collaboration and Compilation 168

Epilogue: True Love Purgatory 181

Sources 187

Index 197

Editorial Reviews

"An engaging account of how country music really gets made, full of insider details and revealing stories. All the insights of an academic analysis of country music production, but a LOT more fun to read."

—Joli Jensen, author of The Nashville Sound: Authenticity, Commercialization, and Country Music

"The making of 'He Stopped Loving Her Today' was the perfect storm of record making. Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman gave me the perfect song, George Jones was the perfect singer, and we had the perfect musicians and the perfect studio. All I had to do was show up and then listen and wait about a year to release the perfect record."

—Billy Sherrill, country music producer, songwriter, and record label executive; a 2010 Country Music Hall of Fame inductee

"Jack Isenhour has crafted a fascinating account of the writing, recording, reception, and durability of a single solitary song. The fact that I am a part of the story makes me an especially hard critic, and I am greatly impressed by Isenhour's dedication to the facts and his abilities as a great storyteller. Anyone interested in country music history or an inside look at the music business will love this book."

—Bobby Braddock, songwriter and author of the memoir Down in Orburndale; a 2011 Country Music Hall of Fame inductee.

From the Publisher