''A Picture of Me (Without You)'' is an album by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer George Jones. It was released in 1972 on the

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

label. The release was Jones' 47th studio album, his second solo LP for Epic Records, and is also one of four albums released by the singer during the year 1972 (two as a solo artist, and two duet albums with his wife

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music artist, as well as an actress and author. She is considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Ly ...

) as producer

Billy Sherrill Billy Norris Sherrill (November 5, 1936 – August 4, 2015) was an American record producer, songwriter, and arranger best known for his association with country artists, notably Tammy Wynette and George Jones. Sherrill and business partner Gle ...

wasted no time in flooding the market with new recordings by "the Possum". Jones's first album, ''

George Jones (We Can Make It) ''George Jones'', also titled ''George Jones (We Can Make It)'' was the 1972 country music studio album released by George Jones in April 1972. The release was Jones' 46th studio album release since a debut from 16 years previous. Also as a hi ...

'', made it to number 10 on the country albums charts but his second effort did better, rising to number three and featuring songs with a wider range of themes than those found on his Epic debut, which celebrated the happiness of new love. The album's title track was the only single release from it, peaking at #5 on the ''Billboard'' country singles charts. In addition to love ballads, ''A Picture of Me (Without You)'' also includes songs more in line with Jones's reputation as country music's greatest interpreter of heartache, like the bitter "On The Back Row" and the

Ernest Tubb Ernest Dale Tubb (February 9, 1914 – September 6, 1984), nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" (1941), m ...

classic "

Tomorrow Never Comes ''Tomorrow Never Comes'' is a 1978 British-Canadian crime film directed by Peter Collinson and starring Oliver Reed and Susan George. Plot Coming back from an extended business trip, Frank (Stephen McHattie) discovers that his girlfriend Ja ...

" (which

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

had recorded the year before). The collection also contains

Tom T. Hall Thomas Hall (May 25, 1936 – August 20, 2021), known professionally as Tom T. Hall and informally nicknamed "the Storyteller," was an American country music singer-songwriter and short-story author. He wrote 12 No. 1 hit songs, with 26 more ...

's "Second Handed Flowers", the kind of "story song" that had always been a part of Jones's repertoire. After a shaky start, Jones and Sherrill sound more comfortable with each other's formidable reputation as they get to know each other musically. Their creative partnership would often be a compromise between the producer's sonic experimentation and the singer's hardcore country instincts. Biographer Bob Allen quotes the singer in his book ''George Jones: The Life and Times of a Honky Tonk Legend'': "I've got too much respect for country music to abuse it. I don't want a thousand violins and twenty trumpets on my records."

Reception

Mark Beming of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

writes of the album: "...while Sherrill's fondness for glossy surfaces wouldn't immediately seem compatible with Jones' hard honky tonk soul, he managed to give these sessions a low-key, late-night feel that was a fine match for the bluesy tone of Jones' voice...If you want to know why Gram Parsons called Jones 'the king of broken hearts,' one spin of this album will tell you all you need to know."

Track listing

# " A Picture of Me (Without You)" (

Norro Wilson Norris Denton "Norro" Wilson (April 4, 1938 – June 8, 2017) was an American country music singer-songwriter, producer, and member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Wilson wrote or co-wrote numerous hit songs during more than 40 yea ...

George Richey George Richey (born George Baker Richardson; November 30, 1935 – July 31, 2010) was an American songwriter and record producer. He was born in Arkansas, but raised in Malden, Missouri. Career Richey was a mainstay of the Nashville country music ...

) # "Man Worth Lovin' You" (Earl Montgomery) # "She Knows What She's Crying About" (John Riggs) # "Second Handed Flowers" (

) # "That Singing Friend of Mine" (

Curly Putman Curly is a surname, given name, nickname or stage name. It may refer to: First name, nickname or stage name * Crazy Horse (1840–1877), Oglala Sioux war chief nicknamed "Curly" * Curly (scout), nickname of Ashishishe (c. 1856–1923), Crow Ind ...

) # "She Loves Me (Right Out of My Mind)" (

Freddy Weller Wilton Frederick "Freddy" Weller (born September 9, 1947) is an American country music artist. He recorded for Columbia Records between 1969 and 1980. He had his highest charted single in 1969 with his debut release, "Games People Play". Musi ...

, Spooner Oldham) # "

" (Ernest Tubb, Johnny Bond) # "Another Way to Say Goodbye" (Jean Chapel) # "On the Back Row" ( Jerry Chesnut,

) # "Let There Be a Woman" (Jacqueline Wellman) # "We Found a Match" (Earl Montgomery)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Picture of Me (Without You) 1972 albums George Jones albums Epic Records albums Albums produced by Billy Sherrill