European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 26, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                George Jones still plugging his record by Joe Edwards the associated press a twangy Tenor s on the line George Jones calling. He s sitting in a shall office at Mca records and cheerfully tackling a project that newcomers usually do a personally promoting a record. Although he recently was elected to the country music Hall of Fame he s dealing radio stations like an ambitious unknown 25-year-old a which he was 36 years ago. He tells a dozen radio stations from California to Florida Quot we have a new single being shipped on Mca records called / Don t need your Rockin chair. We thought you might like to try it  his Mournful he stopped Loving her today recently was voted by fans and the Media As the most popular country song of All time. The tune is Vintage Jones a 1980 weeper about a Man whose love for a woman Dies Only when he does. Jones who s made 150 albums and sold 30 million records has become a legend in country music by singing with an anguished emotion unparalleled since Hank Williams in the 1950s. Some of his song titles show his Bent for lyrical laments she thinks i still care and things have Cone to pieces. And country fans know he has endured much of what he sing about he s been married four times once to country Queen Tammy Wynette. He battled drug and alcohol addiction during his prime. Jones a former House Painter says it s still valuable to hit the phones and promote a career. Quot it s Nice to Call them every now and then. They come to see you when you play there but there s not enough time to do much except say i Quot he says. Aretha the Queen of soul new boxed set essential for fans George Jones by . Considine the Baltimore Sun Quot Queen of  that pretty much says it All does t it no matter How Many pretenders have Laid claim to the throne Over the last 25 years everybody with ears knows that soul music has Only had one Queen Ever and her name is aretha Franklin. It in t just a matter of hits though lord knows she s had her share and then some. Since 1967, when / never loved a Man the Way i loved you rocketed into the top 10, aretha has put some 36 singles into the pop top 40, including such epochal works As you make me feel like a natural woman Chain of fools Spanish Harlem and the legendary respect. For Many americans her songs Aren t just memories but personal landmarks a the soundtrack of their lives in a Way. But there s More to it than that. What makes Franklin s hold on the soul Crown so Strong has less to do with hits than with the sheer strength and character of her vocal style. Hers is the purest kind of soul singing in which fleshly desire and spiritual ecstasy intermingle and intensify one another. Part of it comes from the Church and is reflected in the roof rattling exhortations that punctuate her performances. But another equally important part comes from the Juke joints and dance Halls that Are just As much a part of Southern culture. That s Why Queen of soul the Atlantic recordings Rhino 71063 is such essential listening. Like most boxed sets it s an impressively lavish affair offering 86 songs in vividly remastered digital sound delivered on four cd or cassettes along with a Booklet packed to bursting with liner notes recording credits and other essential trivia. To say that these Are aretha s greatest recordings seems to be labor the obvious but really there s no getting around the fact that before Atlantic s Jerry Wexler took aretha Down to Rick Hall s Fame studios in muscle Shoals ala., she was a virtual nonentity in the music world. That s not the same As being an unknown of course for Franklin had been building a name As a Singer since she was in her teens. Growing up in Detroit s new Bethel Baptist Church aretha heard and Sang with some of the greatest gospel singers alive from Clara Ward whose exultant delivery is echoed in aretha s own singing and Mahalia Jackson aretha Franklin to Sam Cooke then still a soul stirrer and Archie Brownlee. She began performing in her teens and even Cut a handful of singles for chess but it was t until Columbia Talent scout John Hammond signed her in 1960 that Franklin took on the pop Market. It was t a terribly successful assault Over the course of 10 albums aretha Only dented the top 40 once and then just barely climbing to no. 37 in 1961 with Rock a Bye your baby with a Dixie Melody. Most critics place the blame for her unrealized potential on Hammond who catered to the Young Singer s Jazzy ambition at the expense of her soulful essence and there certainly is some Validity to that argument. But trying to make aretha into the next Dinah Washington was t the Only mistake the Label made As the recently released jazz to soul Columbia legacy 48515 retrospective makes Clear. What some tracks Lack is a sturdy sense of rhythm. Like most of the great gospel singers aretha s Talent is essentially reactive As much As she might bring on her own it s the Way she reacts to her surroundings that usually makes the difference Between a great recording session and an average one. Just look at the Way the Sparks Fly on her first Atlantic single / never loved a Man the Way i l oved you. It s obvious that aretha and the rhythm Section Jimmy Johnson Spooner Oldham Tommy Cogbill Roger Hawkins and the rest of chips Moman s muscle Shoals team have found Quot tire pocket Quot that deeply soulful place where a beat becomes unstoppable but what pushes the performance beyond what she d done before is the kind of Groove they be got. Because even though the notes draw from the same blues based vocabulary As most Southern soul recordings the dynamics a the slow build the dramatic pauses the ecstatic release a Are pure gospel. And that gives it an Edge unlike anything she d recorded before. Listening to the rhythm work is one of the special pleasures of Queen of soul by the Way. Thanks to the crystalline Quality of ted Jensen s remastering each and every instrument is audible and distinct. Even without the vocals it s like getting a graduate level lesson in soul. At Bottom though the most stunning thing about Queen of soul i that there in t a weak moment anywhere in its five hours of music. It s enough to make you wonder if merely being the Queen of soul is accolade  a singles 1 i will always love you from the bodyguard Whitney Houston 2. How do you talk to an Angel the Heights 3. If i Ever fall in love Shai 4. Rump Shaker reckon effect 5. I d die without you from Boomerang a . Dawn 6. End of the Road boy ii men 7. Rhythm is a dancer snap 8. Real love Mary j. Blige 9 what about your friends tic 10 Good enough Bobby brow top a albums 1 the Chase Garth Brooks 2. Timeless the classics Michael Bolton 3. Unplugged Eric Clapton 4. Some gave All Billy Ray Cyrus 5 love deluxe Sada 6. Soundtrack to pure country George Strait 7. Keep the Faith Bon Joel 8 automatic for the people Rem 9. Ten Pearl Jam 10 erotica Madonna country a singles 1. I m in a hurry and Don t know Why a Alabama 2 i Cross my heart George Strait 3 if there had t been you Billy Dean 4 two sparrows in a Hurricane Tanya Tucker 5 even the Man in the Moon is crying Mark Collie 6 Bubba shot the Juke Box Mark Chestnutt 7 Burn one Down Clit Black 8 watch me a lome Morgan 9 she s got the rhythm and i got the blues Alan Jackson 10 done to let our love Start Slipp n away Vince Gill amp by singles 1.1 got a thang 4 Yalo key 2. Love should brought you Home from Boomerang a Toni Braxton 3 if i Ever fall in love Shal 4 Rump Shaker wreck n effect 5 slow and sexy Shabba ranks 6 games Chukri Booker 7 what about your friends tic 8-work to do Vanessa Williams 9 Good enough Bobby Brown 10 flex mad cobra classical a albums 1 Kathleen Battle at Carnegie he Kathleen Battle 2 if you love me Cocilia Bartok 3 baroque duet Kathleen Batto Wynton Marsalis 4 in concert Carreras. Domingo Pavarotti 5 Horowitz discovered treasure s Vladimir he Root 6 Shostakovich 24 preludes and fugues a Keith Jarrett 7 Amore a Luciano Pavarotti 8 goreck1 symphony no 3 Upshaw London a Lonietta 9 pieces of Africa Kronos quartet 10 the last recital for Israel  Hube Stom a compiled by billboard nov Viher 26, 7992 stripes Magazine 13