Cup Of Loneliness: The Classic Mercury Years

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2 CDS look really nice. Accompanying book looks like very little read. Possum’s Mercury years–1953 to 1961–are his least celebrated, but his most rewarding. Over the barest and purest of honky-tonk arrangements, Jones can be heard developing the vocal style that would eventually separate him from mere country music mortals. Only toward the end of the era, on 1961’s number one original hit “Tender Years,” does his unmatched balladry truly emerge, sounding light years away from the Hank Sr. tendencies and rockabilly forays of the previous decade. Still, to witness the transformation is fascinating, and the material is uniformly excellent. Fans of Jones’s countrypolitan stylings will be amazed by the sheer force of these bare-wire honky-tonk classics. –Marc Greilsamer

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Possum’s Mercury years–1953 to 1961–are his least celebrated, but his most rewarding. Over the barest and purest of honky-tonk arrangements, Jones can be heard developing the vocal style that would eventually separate him from mere country music mortals. Only toward the end of the era, on 1961’s number one original hit “Tender Years,” does his unmatched balladry truly emerge, sounding light years away from the Hank Sr. tendencies and rockabilly forays of the previous decade. Still, to witness the transformation is fascinating, and the material is uniformly excellent. Fans of Jones’s countrypolitan stylings will be amazed by the sheer force of these bare-wire honky-tonk classics. –Marc Greilsamer