George Jones

The country music legend lived like a Southern gentleman.

They struck it rich, but they never abandoned their roots.

Some didn't even make it long enough to bring home a paycheck!

Cheers!

On Aug. 31, 1974, Jones earned a No. 1 hit with his song "The Grand Tour," which was the title track of his 41st studio album.

Country music is filled with songs proclaiming love and devotion to the United States, but for many artists, their patriotism runs much deeper.

Folks in country music like to play nice with each other. But there are times when, as Waylon Jennings once sang, something's got 'em "feudin' like the Hatfields and McCoys."

Mark Chesnutt is one of country music's most staunch traditionalists, but he looks back with regret on one career misstep that was so out of character, it actually made George Jones angry at him.

On July 5, 1980, Jones earned a No. 1 hit with "He Stopped Loving Her Today."

There are not many things on TV that make me stop when I am walking through a room and watch. That is exactly what happened to me this Saturday morning, when I accidentally caught the end of "CBS This Morning". I heard the most haunting tune , a song I distantly remembered hearing before but the voice I heard was so gruff and yet so technically perfect, I was mesmerized.

Not long before he died, George Jones penned a final letter to Alan Jackson. He was asking for a favor, one the younger country singer was likely happy to fulfill. Now, as Jackson releases his Angels and Alcohol album he's shared a photo of that letter with Taste of Country readers.

Alan Jackson's Angels and Alcohol album is as country as country gets — something that fans of the format may find refreshing, but something that his longtime fans expect. The 10 songs tell stories of love, heartbreak, drinking and family, but really, the 56-year-old is just doing what his hero asked him to do years ago.