Typical of compilations to come out of the giant companies like Sony, this lacks any appreciable liner notes [just two meagre paragraphs] and no discography of the contents.

In the period covered he actually had 44 hit singles, but in this they decided not to give us any of the 12 duets with Tammy Wynette, the one with stepdaughter Tina, the four with Johnny Paycheck, or the two with Merle Haggard [four of the foregoing were # 1 hits].

Generally speaking, the 22 selections included do represent his best solo hits in the period covered, with the exception of Good Ones And Bad Ones, which was the uncharted flipside of the 1981 # 1 Still Doin' Time. A better choice in retrospect may have been the 1977 # 24 If I Could Put Them All Together (I'd Have You).

What you have to remember is, by the time of the earliest selection included here [We Can Make It - # 6 in early 1972], he already had 80 hit singles to his credit dating back to 1955 and, from the time of the latest one here [Same Old Me - # 19 in early 1982 with The Oak Ridge Boys], he added another 36 to 1997.

A better choice for a solid George Jones compilation would be the 2-CD set Essential George Jones Spirit which does include many of the Tammy duets. Even so, this isn't a bad choice at the price.

George Jones has been recording since 1953 and has had hit songs in every single year from 1955 through 1996. after a hiatus from the charts in 1997 he bounced back in 1998 and went another three years with having songs on the charts. in retrospect, this 22 song CD only sampled a decade in his then 29 year career but it's these Billy Sherrill countrypolitan-type singles that enabled Jones to continue his brilliant career long after his rowdy honky-tonk songs were replaced on the radio by crooners (Eddy Arnold, Jim Reeves, a risk-taking Ray Price, among others) in the early '60s. this CD is generally applauded for it's chronological sequence of songs from his first Epic hit, "We Can Make It", in 1972 to the song that had just reached the Top-10 in early 1982 "Same Ole Me". "Good Ones and Bad Ones" was included on the album because it's been said that Billy Sherrill wanted the song to be a single but the duet album with Merle Haggard later in 1982 wiped out further interest in the 1981 SAME OLE ME album {from which "Good Ones and Bad Ones" appears on} and Epic just decided to "move on" and promote Jones and Haggard's album. i usually have a gripe and i won't let any of you readers down so here goes: why did Epic include 1977's "Old King Kong" over 1977's "If I Could Put Them All Together?". i have never understood why a strong honky-tonk lament like that went ignored but the novelty "Old King Kong" seems to surface on all the other compilations too!? both of those songs can be found on the 1977 I WANTA SING album, which also contains the hilarious "They've Got Millions In Milwaukee". i encourage all the new country fans out there to buy this "Anniversary" CD and you'll see why everyone cites George as their major influence. "Someday My Day Will Come" still gives me chills as does "I'm Not Ready Yet".

There are 22 selections on this one CD. If you are a George Jones fan then you will like this one. CD comes with a fold out that gives a brief write up of George Jones' history. I can't believe there is no list of the songs on this listing so here they are.

1. We Can Make It

2. Loving You Could Never Be Better

3. A Picture of Me (Without You)

4. What My Woman Can't Do

5. Nothing Ever Hurt Me (Half as Bad as Loosing You)

6. Once You've Had the Best

7. Her Name is...

8. Old King Kong

9. Bartender's Blues

10. I'll Just Take it Out in Love

11. Someday My Day Will Come

12. The Grand Tour

13. The Door

14. These Days (I Barely Get By)

15. Memories of Us

16. The Battle

17. He Stopped Loving Her Today

18. I'm Not Ready Yet

19. If Drinking Don't Kill Me (Her Memory Will)

20. Good Ones and Bad Ones

21. Still Doin' Time

22. Same Ole Me

I'm a Dutch girl and love country music very much. The best USA country sanger is George Jones. Though there are a lot of good country sangers but according to me,- he is the BEST!

Love the CD and Love George. What more can I say?? Buy it and have hours of good listening.