One (George Jones and Tammy Wynette album)

One
Studio album by George Jones and Tammy Wynette
Released June 20, 1995
Genre Country
Length 31:19
Label MCA Nashville
Producer Tony Brown
Norro Wilson
George Jones chronology
George and Tammy Super Hits
(1995)		 One
(1995)		 I Lived to Tell It All
(1996)
Tammy Wynette chronology
George and Tammy Super Hits
(1995)		 One
(1995)		 The Best of Tammy Wynette
(1996)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]

One is an album by American country music artists George Jones and Tammy Wynette. This album was released on June 20, 1995 on the MCA Nashville Records label. It was Jones and Wynette's first album together in 15 years; it would also turn out to be their last album together. The album was Wynette's last studio album she would record before her death in 1998.

Background

For many years the idea of a Jones/Wynette reunion had been thought extremely unlikely. The years following their divorce had been filled with acrimony and sniping, made all the more complicated by the fact that they still performed together on occasion. "That wasn't my idea," Jones later insisted in his 1996 autobiography. "In fact, I hated to work with her. It brought back too many unpleasant memories, and when some fans saw us together, they got it in their heads that we were going to get back together romantically." The publication of Wynette's autobiography Stand By Your Man in 1979, which painted an ugly picture of Jones - and the made-for-TV movie that followed - did not help mollify the relationship. Jones, who hit rock bottom in the years following the divorce, accepted the responsibility for the failure of the marriage but vehemently denied Wynette's allegations in her autobiography that he beat her and fired a shotgun at her. By the 1990s, however, both had been remarried for several years (Wynette to songwriter George Rickey in 1978, Jones had to Nancy Sepulveda in 1983) and both were enjoying their recognition as country music legends. While the reunion of Jones and Wynette may have been a surprise for many, there had been signs that much of the old enmity that had existed between them had faded. In 1991 they performed together with Randy Travis at the CMA Awards and in 1994 Wynette joined Jones for his duet album The Bradley Barn Sessions on a remake of their 1976 number one "Golden Ring". Their collaboration on One had been no doubt motivated by commercial factors as well; although Wynette had recorded a song with the British electronica group The KLF in late 1991 titled "Justified and Ancient (Stand by the JAMS)", which became a number one hit in eighteen countries the following year, and Jones had been recording albums regularly on the MCA Nashville label since 1991, they had both fallen out of favor with country radio's youth-obsessed format. Considering the history between the two and the media buzz it would generate, a reunion was suddenly an attractive, viable option.

Recording

One was produced by Tony Brown and Norro Wilson and sounded extremely contemporary musically. Lyrically, the songs sound like a trip down memory lane, with the pair playing off the good and bad of what had always been a very public relationship. Their ability to harmonize had remained undiminished, despite Wynette's increasing ill health. Titles like "Look What We've Started Again" and "Whatever Happened To Us" were designed to titillate fans who came out in droves for the concert tour that followed. On the strength of the media hoopla, the album made it to number 12 on the Billboard country album charts but the single "One" (for which the duo shot a music video) received little airplay on mainstream country radio and peaked at number 69. Jones recalled the sessions fondly, stating in his memoir, "We went into the studio for six days to do ten songs, then returned to record some of the vocal tracks. The sessions were fun and filled with goodwill."

Reception

AllMusic calls One "a pleasant listen" and contends, "The main pleasure of the record is hearing George and Tammy together again after all these years, but if One is judged by their previous efforts, it looks rather thin."

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."One"  Ed Bruce, Judith Bruce, Ron Peterson4:10
2."It's an Old Love Thing"  Kenny Cornell2:40
3."Whatever Happened to Us"  Donny Kees, Don Sampson4:16
4."Will You Travel Down This Road with Me"  Kieran Kane, Jamie O'Hara3:10
5."(She's Just) An Old Love Turned Memory"  John Schweers3:08
6."If God Met You"  Freida Wells2:51
7."Just Look What We've Started Again"  Dennis Knutson, A.L. "Doodle" Owens3:20
8."Solid as a Rock"  Max D. Barnes, Merle Haggard2:30
9."They're Playing Our Song"  Toni Dae, Barry Jackson, Buck Moore3:08
10."All I Have to Offer You Is Me"  Dallas Frazier, Owens3:26

Personnel

Chart performance

Album

Chart (1995) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 12
U.S. Billboard 200 117
Canadian RPM Country Albums 23

Singles

Year Single Peak chart
positions
US Country CAN Country
1995 "One" 69 88

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
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