In A Gospel Way

Personnel includes: George Jones (vocals); The Jordanaires, The Nashville Edition (background vocals). Producer: Billy Sherrill. Reissue producer: Mike Ragogna. Originally released on Epic (32562). Although George Jones was wellinto a career marked by a reputation fordrinking like a fish and being quite therabble-rouser, the release of IN A GOSPEL WAY showed another side of the hard-living country singer. Having grown up with a mother who played piano in church, GOSPEL WAY was not such a far-fetched idea for Jones. He recorded eleven Gospel songs ranging from lushly orchestrated traditional fare ("Amazing Grace") to the rollicking "Mama Was A Preacher Man, " co-written by the dulcet-toned Texan himself. The redemptive touch of God is reflected in the tale of a ne'er-do-well who sees the light in "The Baptism Of Jesse Taylor, " and the search for absolution in Kris Kristofferson's "Why Me, Lord? " seems a thinly disguised plea for salvation from the rough-and-tumble Jones. Although producer Billy Sherrill's use ofbillowy string arrangements, crying steel guitar and the Jordanaires and Nashville Edition as background vocalists makesGOSPEL WAY a neat, countrypolitan package, Possum's pain radiates clearly in songs such as "Mama's Hands" and "Release Me (From My Sin). " Reviews: Down Beat (9/97, p. 53) - 4 stars (out of5) - ". . . marvelous vocals. . . . [Jones is] a true `singer's singer' and colossus ofcountry music. . . "

Track Listing

• 1 in a gospel way
• 2 why me, lord?
• 3 man i always wanted to meet, a
• 4 baptism of jesse taylor, the
• 5 release me (from my sin)
• 6 amazing grace
• 7 mama's hands
• 8 god keeps the wild flowers blooming
• 9 mama was a preacher man
• 10 i wonder how john felt (when he baptized
• 11 i can't find it here