''I Wanta Sing'' is an album by country singer George Jones. It was released in 1977 on the

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...

record label. It is Jones’ 53rd Album Release.

Background

In the few years following his divorce from Tammy Wynette, Jones career began to sputter; his first two solo albums, 1975's ''Memories of Us'' and 1976's ''The Battle'', did not crack the top 20 on ''Billboards country albums chart. Things turned around briefly with ''Alone Again'' in 1976, which boasted the hit single "Her Name Is", but ''I Wanta Sing'', his only album of 1977, stalled on the charts at number 38. Two singles, "Old King Kong" and "If I Could Put Them All Together", also failed to crack the top 20. Part of the reason for the album's failure was Jones's unreliability at the time, as his personal life began to unravel. The singer had signed a management deal with a local hustler named Shug Baggot, who would later do time for cocaine trafficking. George, who had long indulged in amphetamines and whiskey, was soon addicted to cocaine as well, and the drug would increase Jones's already considerable paranoia. Beset with money problems, he began missing shows and other personal appearances, although he made several television spots to plug his new LP, looking dapper singing "If I Could Put Them All Together" on Marty Robbins's television show and taking part in a medley with Robbins and Faron Young. The single only made it to number 24.

Composition

Perhaps to combat all the bad publicity and disturbing stories that were beginning to emerge about Jones, producer Billy Sherrill loaded ''I Wanta Sing'' with songs that are predominantly lighthearted. In his autobiography ''I Lived To Tell It All'', Jones confessed "I usually let whatever producer I was working for select the songs, then I selected from his selections. I'd usually pick ten from about twenty-five prospective songs. Why not? I wasn't writing myself anymore, and my producer, whoever he happened to be at the time, always brought me songs from the best writers in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

." The title track (the only song on the album Jones did have a hand in writing) features snippets of songs by his favorite singers, such as " The Great Speckled Bird" by

Roy Acuff Roy Claxton Acuff (September 15, 1903 – November 23, 1992) was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the "King of Country Music", Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown ...

and "

Always Late With Your Kisses "Always Late (with Your Kisses)" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Lefty Frizzell. It was the fifth single released from his 1951/1952 album ''Listen to Lefty''. It peaked at number one in 1951 and became his four ...

" by Lefty Frizzell. Numbers like "Please Don't Sell Me Anymore Whiskey Tonight" and "They've Got Millions in Milwaukee" seem to coyly play up Jones hard drinking reputation. "They've Got Millions in Milwaukee" is a cover of a Larry Chesier song from 1976. "I Love You So Much It Hurts" is a cover of a Floyd Tillman song from 1946 that was also recorded by Merle Haggard in 1977. "Bull Mountain Lad" is a cover of a Wild Bill Emerson song from his 1976 album, ''Bull Mountain Lad''. In 2011, the album was paired (somewhat uncomfortably) with Jones's 1972 Epic debut ''George Jones (We Can Make It)'' and reissued with bonus tracks.

Track listing

# "I Wanta Sing" (George Jones, Earl Montgomery, Ernie Rowell) # "Please Don't Sell Me Anymore Whiskey Tonight" (Jody Emerson, Ronal McCown) # "They've Got Millions in Milwaukee" (Larry Cheshier, Glenn Sutton) # " If I Could Put Them All Together (I'd Have You)" (Even Stevens) # "I Love You So Much It Hurts" (Floyd Tillman) # "Rest in Peace" (

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 ...

, Billy Sherrill) # "Bull Mountain Lad" ("Wild" Bill Emerson, Jody Emerson) # "

Old King Kong "Old King Kong" is a novelty country song written by Sammy Lyons and recorded by American country singer George Jones. After several disappointing chart performances, Jones had a Top 5 hit with the tongue-in-cheek "Her Name Is" in 1976, and the u ...

" (Sammy Lyons) # "You've Got The Best of Me Again" (Ernie Rowell, Bob House) # "It's a 10–33 (Let's Get Jesus on the Line)" (Earl Montgomery, Alvin McLendon, Al Stancil)

Personnel

*George Jones – vocals *Cliff Parker – electric guitar *Ray Edenton – acoustic guitar *Jim Vest, Pete Drake – steel guitar *

Henry Strzelecki Henry Pershing Strzelecki (August 8, 1939 – December 30, 2014) was a Nashville studio musician who performed with Roy Orbison, Chet Atkins, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Eddy Arnold, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Ronnie Milsap, Merle Haggard, and man ...

– bass *

Buddy Spicher Buddy Spicher (born July 28, 1938 in DuBois, Pennsylvania; pronounced “Spiker”) is an American country music fiddle player. He is a member of The Nashville A-Team of session musicians, and is Grammy-nominated. He was nominated as Instrumental ...

– fiddle * Hargus "Pig" Robbins – piano * Charlie McCoy – harmonica * Jerry Carrigan – drums

References

{{Authority control 1977 albums George Jones albums Albums produced by Billy Sherrill Epic Records albums