The booklet accompanying the new George Jones box set notes that during his three years with the United Artists label, the singer recorded no less than 150 songs. Surely, some of the choices were misjudged; some of the performances must have been off-stride. But on the evidence of the tracks collected on this three-CD retrospective, Jones maintained a more consistent level than most Nashville acts in a recording career that began in 1955 and continues today.
Jones sometimes pushed toward rockabilly early on, and in later years hit the duet circuit, singing songs with everyone from Ray Charles to The Oak Ridge Boys. His gold standard was usually midtempo laments (“She Thinks I Still Care”) sung with resilient determination and deep country grit. The Hits…Then ’Til Now is a good way to own most of his best tracks in one attractive package.
