Jones has probably had stranger singing partners in his lengthy career, but on its surface, this pairing with 1960s pop star Gene Pitney ("It Hurts to Be in Love" "Town Without Pity") seems to be one of the oddest. Even more surprising is how effectively Pitney lent himself to country material, and how well his tenor blended with and complimented Jones. Brought together in 1965 by Musicor, their then-shared record label, they recorded this fetching collection of ballad and up-tempo covers with many of Nashville's studio regulars, including The Jordanaires.

Highlights include a rousing version of the Faron Young hit "I've Got Five Dollars and It's Saturday Night," the hillbilly harmonies of "Y'all Come," and an Everly Brothers styled duet on Moon Mullican's late-40s ballad "Sweeter than the Flowers." Pitney didn't so much mimic Jones' style as he mediated his own pop tendencies in providing support for the country legend's phrasings and bends. Varese's disc pulls together all 17 tracks recorded by the duo, comprising a minor chapter in each star's chart lives, but a unique and surprisingly worthwhile corner of their musical careers.

Wonderful collection of the two albums Jones and Pitney made together in the mid-60s. The pairing sounds far-fetched, but works amazingly well and their voices are a great surprise match. The material is generally first-rate as well (a couple of hokey bits, but that is par for the course for Jones, who seems to have a soft spot for corn even today). Fans of either singer need this record, fans of country music need this record, fans of duet singing need this record.

Absolutely bizarre.....but it works! Weird rocker Pitney teamed up with his labelmate Jones for two albums of straightforward country duets, backed up by Elvis Presley's backing band. Some of this is better than anything either did solo, but there are a few slow moments, like "Mocking Bird Hill." These are the exception in an otherwise wonderful compilation. Pitney's voice actually lends itself well to country, even as it retains its otherworldly qualities. You haven't lived until you've heard the same guy who sang "Mecca" doing "I'm a Fool to Care," I can tell you that much.

Amid all the business wrangling and horse trading that went on during the history of the Musicor label, which was intertwined with United Artists in the early '60s and then went indie mid-decade, poor ol' George Jones was batted about like like a ping-pong ball in a typhoon. In 1965, he was moved decisively over to the Musicor label, and one of his first projects was a duets album with cricket-voiced teen idol Gene Pitney, who was then the hottest act on the label. It seemed an unlikely pairing, but it produced two albums, both cut the same year, "George Jones And Gene Pitney" and "It's Country Time Again," each of which produced some moderate chart action, and led to a third LP of hillbilly material by Pitney, "The Country Side Of Gene Pitney." This CD gathers all the duets off those albums (and leaves out several solo vocal numbers, which can be heard on a more comprehensive Jones-Pitney collection on Bear Family). Although a few songs, like the novelty-tinged version of "Mockingbird Hill," sank to the kitschy depths many naysayers predicted, other tracks have surprising resonance and grit. It's hard to shake Pitney's image as a chirpy, melodramatic teenpop crooner, but after a while, his country side seems fairly plausible: after all, he sounds quite a bit like Hank Locklin in his youth, so what's to get riled up about, really? This is clearly not Jones' best work -- Pitney overshadows him on all but a few tracks -- but this disc is still worth picking up, particularly if you're a George Jones fan already.