''Ladies' Choice'' 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, ...

artist

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song " He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...

, released in 1984 on the Epic Records label. It was composed largely of duets with female artists.

Background

''Ladies' Choice'' was Jones's fifth album of duets in five years, beginning with ''My Very Special Guests'' (1979), ''Double Trouble'' with

Johnny Paycheck Johnny Paycheck (born Donald Eugene Lytle; May 31, 1938 – February 19, 2003) was an American country music singer and Grand Ole Opry member notable for recording the David Allan Coe song " Take This Job and Shove It". He achieved his greate ...

(1980), ''Together Again'' with

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 ...

(1980), and ''A Taste of Yesterday's Wine'' with

Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled a ...

(1982). The singer had also scored a top ten duet with

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

on "We Didn't See A Thing" in 1983, a single that also featured guitar solos from

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music ...

. Jones's fondness for the duet stretched back to the beginning of his career when, in 1957, he recorded "Yearning", with Jeanette Hicks. He had also recorded hits with

Melba Montgomery Melba Joyce Montgomery (born October 14, 1938) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is known for a series of duet recordings made with George Jones, Gene Pitney and Charlie Louvin. She is also a solo artist, having reaching th ...

and, most famously, Wynette. In the liner notes to the 2005

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...

reissue of the album, the singer states, "The fans just react to a man and woman singing a powerful ballad together. When you perform a duet with a woman, she should sing the lead and the man should sing harmony. Of course, there are exceptions...You know, I don't really fall in love with all them girl singers - I fall in love with their singing!"

Recording

For the most part, ''Ladies' Choice'' pairs the singer up with up and coming female vocalists, although the album is noteworthy for featuring Jones's only duet with fellow country icon

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Ma ...

. Ironically, the most famous song on the album was not a duet; the opening track, " She's My Rock", written by Gene Dobbins and sung by George as a tribute to his wife Nancy, rose to number 2 on the country singles chart. Nancy was the crucial influence in helping Jones turn his life around and stop drinking, which by this time the singer wanted to do. As he later recalled to ''The Texas Monthly'' in 1994, "Well it was either quit or die. And I surely didn’t want to die, so I made up my mind to quit." " She's My Rock" is a cover of a song recorded by country music artist Stoney Edwards on his 1973 album, ''She's My Rock''. "Hallelujah, I Love You So" is a cover of the 1956

classic "

Hallelujah, I Love Her So "Hallelujah I Love Her So" is a single by American musician Ray Charles. The rhythm and blues song was written and released by Charles in 1956 on the Atlantic label, and in 1957 it was included on his self-titled debut LP, also released on Atla ...

". "All I Want to Do in Life" is a cover of a song recorded by country music artist Lee Conway on his 1977 album, ''All I Want to Do...''. Many of the songs would be included on the expanded reissue of ''My Very Special Guests'' in 2000.

Reception

The LP was not a commercial success, peaking at number 25 on the ''Billboard'' country albums chart. The one solo track on the album, " She's My Rock," was a major success, peaking at No. 2 for three weeks on the ''Billboard''

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sa ...

chart in December 1984. "Hallelujah, I Love You" is a duet with

Brenda Lee Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Performing rockabilly, pop and country music, she had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s and is ranked fourth in that decade, surpassed onl ...

that peaked at No. 15 on the Country singles charts. "Size Seven Round (Made of Gold)" is a duet with Lacy J. Dalton that hit No. 19 on the Country singles charts.

Critical reception

The album was not well-received critically, with criticism coming both when the album was released and with online-based music critics. Chris Woodstra 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 databa ...

contends that "rarely does this album strike anything above average" and believes "more than likely this was a marketing decision to pair the old-school singer with the up-and-coming country ladies of the '80s." Jones biographer Bob Allen deems the collection "faintly interesting".

Track listing

References

External links

George Jones' Official WebsiteRecord Label
{{Authority control George Jones albums 1984 albums Albums produced by Billy Sherrill Epic Records albums