“SAMMY SINGS” by Des Kelly

A typical “honky-tonk” song of the mid 1950’s, written by Luke McDaniel, first recorded in 1962, it was the symbol of what “Country Songs” were all about. George Jones, reputed to be the “Sinatra of Country”(Frank Sinatra who earned his undisputed fame as, technically the best singer in the World, was not called “The Voice” for nothing), so this little “Possum”as Jones was nicknamed, affectionately, of course, was eventually compared with “old blue eyes”, because every song that he recorded, either solo, with ex-wife Tammy Wynette, or anyone else, had the “feeling” that nobody could sing like George Jones, God rest his soul.

This is not a 100% correct. As I have indicated several times before, in my articles for eLanka, I do not pick any “You-tube” relevant music clip at random. I do take the trouble of going through dozens of these clips, to pick only the very best for my readers. For example, there was a clip with this superb singer trying his best, as always, to sing with a band “on-stage” that was far too loud, the mike that George was using wasn’t the best, and it looked to me, that the great man got fed-up with the whole thing before the first verse was sung. This was George Jones, ladies & gentlemen. The only thing that kept him going, to finish the clip was his professionalism .

After George passed on, there were about a dozen “tribute-shows” in his honour. I love the way Sammy sings.

Sammy Kershaw, in my opinion did George Jones proud, singing a song with a typical honky tonk flavour. Where else, except in “Country Music” would you hear lyrics such as these ?, “An empty bottle, a broken heart, and you’re still on my mind”. Please enjoy a great old song, a great young singer, backed by a great band, in tribute to one of the greatest entertainers in Country Music. Ladies & Gentlemen

I give you, Sammy Kershaw.