Reissued in its entirety for the first time,
Country Song Hits is the 1957 debut LP by the legendary
George Jones. In 1954,
Jones recorded his first single for Texas-based Starday Records, beginning his association with mentor and producer
H.W. "Pappy" Daily. After scoring
Jones' first hit in 1955 with "Why Baby Why," Starday co-founder
Jack Starnes and
Daily felt the pressure to release an LP before the increasingly popular singer outgrew their fledging label. Pulling from
Jones' early singles, including "Why Baby Why," they managed to add enough material to make a 14-song record that would serve as both
Jones' and the label's debut long-player. These early gems owe a lot to the influence of the great honky tonk stars
Hank Williams and
Lefty Frizzell. The smooth-voiced star who would become known as "The Possum" had not yet emerged and there is a charming roughness to the performances. Songs like "It's OK" and "Hold Everything" are rife with the spirit and charm of a 25-year-old singer finding his voice and the reedy fiddle and barroom piano accompaniment suit him well. With
Jones making a name for himself at the Grand Ole Opry and co-headlining the Louisiana Hayride with
Elvis Presley, Starday made the decision to sign a distribution deal with Mercury Records. Not long after the release of
Country Song Hits,
Jones' Texas era came to an end as
Daily moved operations to Nashville where they began recording music under the Mercury banner. A long and storied career would soon follow, but this excellent reissue takes us back to the Possum's mid-'50s origins with some classic early honky tonk.