George Jones – Live Recordings from the Church Street Station

Quantum Leap and MVD Visual have paired up to release some live performances from Church Street Station in Orlando, FL onto DVD. Church Street Station was a major entertainment venue from the late 70's and through the 80's. They brought big name stars into the popular tourist area and provided night time entertainment after the full day of theme parks. One of the releases is a taped performance by none other than the Possum himself, George Jones. Jones is a living legend and when the show was filmed in the late 80's, he was at the high point of his career. I've been to several his shows starting in the mid 80's all the way through the last couple of years. He is an amazing performer. And while he may have slowed a little in recent years, he can still wow the crowd. This DVD showcases the easy way Jones has with his audience. He teases them a little, jokes about the well publicized bad points of his life and keeps on moving. He earned the nickname No Show Jones during his days of heavy drinking when he often didn't show up for his shows or was too drunk to go on. His opening number is called "No Show Jones." From there the music just flows out with the banter.

I've always loved watching Jones play his guitar. When he is joking around or really getting into a song he swings it around a little while he plays. The running time of the DVD is about an hour, but about half of that are songs from guest artists Johnny Rodriguez and Mark Gray. The Jones portion is only about 40 minutes more or less, not nearly long enough. Of course he sings one of the biggest songs from his career, "He Stopped Loving Her Today" along with one of my favorites of his, "The Race is On." He showcased the talents of his band with the instrumental "Chicken Reel." As always, his band was in matching outfits, blue shirts and pants for this show. Along with the special guests, the DVD also features a country quiz. If you take the quiz and pass it, you are treated to a song feature by another artist. In this case it was the lovely Lane Brody as the prize for answering the questions correctly. All in all, I did enjoy this DVD. It was short, but the length is typical of the taped shows from that era. If you are a George Jones fan, this is a must have for your collection.

Song List:

1. No Show Jones
2. She's My Rock
3. Chicken Reel
4. Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes
5. The Race is On
6. Bartender Blues
7. He Stopped Loving Her Today
8. Who's Gonna Chop My Baby's Kindlin' When I'm Gone
9. The One I Loved Back Then (The Corvette Song)

Special Guest Johnny Rodriguez

1. I Always Get Lucky With You
2. North of the Border
3. Love Me With All Your Heart

Special Guest Mark Gray

1. Diamond in the Dust
2. Back When Love Was Enough