Playin’ ‘Possum’

You know that old joke about playing a country song backward and getting back your wife, your dog and your truck?

That joke suits no artist better than George Jones, 76. “The Possum” sings drinkin’ and cheatin’ songs can rip out your heart and stomp on it with a cowboy boot — in no small part because his life mirrors his lyrics.

He’s on his fourth marriage. His problems with drinking and drugs caused him to miss more than 50 concert dates in 1979, according to CMT.com, and gain the nickname “No Show Jones.”

He wrecked his sport utility vehicle into an embankment in 1999, and police found a partly empty bottle of vodka in the vehicle. So he knows of what he croons. But country fans have stood by their man, and since they love him, they forgive him, even though he’s hard to understand.

And they stand by him for good reason. His baritone voice IS country music for many. His marriage to Tammy Wynette was a Nashville supernova. And he’s been a dependable denizen of the country charts since 1955.

He’s produced quality and quantity, with standards such as “The Race Is On” and “He Stopped Loving Her Today” (considered by many the greatest song in country music history) among his 1,000 songs and 166 country-chart hits. That gives him more charted singles than any artist in any format.

Jones, who still performs nearly 100 dates a year, will pull out many of those classics Tuesday night at the Pikes Peak Center. It’s his first visit to town since 2004, and — country fans take heed — it could be his last.

“George Jones is to country music what oxygen is to life,” said country singer Joe Nichols, after Jones surprised him by calling him onstage during a concert at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. “One simply cannot exist without the other.”

details

George Jones in concert

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Pikes Peak Center, 190 S. Cascade Ave.

Tickets: $44.50-$49.50; ticketswest.com or 520-SHOW (7469)

TIMELINE

1931: George Glenn Jones is born Sept. 12 in Saratoga, Texas.

1950: Jones marries Dorothy Bonvillion, his first of four wives. They divorce about a year later.

1953: Returns home after a stint in Korea with the Marines.

1954: Marries Shirley Ann Corley; the union lasts until 1968.

1955: First hits the charts with “Why, Baby, Why.”

1956: Voted Most Promising New Country Vocalist by Billboard Magazine.

Late 1950s: Experiments with rockabilly music under the name “Thumper Jones.”

1959: First No. 1 country hit with “White Lightning”; stays on the charts consistently through the 1960s.

1968: Marries Tammy Wynette; lasts until 1975, and they sing three No. 1 duets together.

1969: Joins Grand Ole Opry. 1979: Misses more than 50 concerts and gets his nickname “No Show Jones.”

1981: First Grammy, best male country vocal performance for “He Stopped Loving Her Today.”

1983: Marries Nancy Sepulveda, who became his manager; they are still married.

1992: Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. 1996: Publishes autobiography “I Lived to Tell It All,” reaches No. 6 on The New York Times best-seller list.

1999: Crashes his SUV into an embankment and is charged with drunken driving. He quits drinking and smoking.

1999: Jones releases the ballad “Choices” in the wake of his car wreck and wins his second Grammy.

2002: Wins National Medal of Arts Honor from President George W. Bush.

2003: Releases George Jones Country Style Breakfast Sausage and Country Style Hamburger Patties, as well as a line of marinades and barbecue sauces and his own Tennessee “sipping water,” called George Jones White Lightning.

2004: 50th anniversary as a recording artist; celebrated with three-CD set titled “50 Years of Hits” with one hit for each year of his career.

Now: Still touring and promoting recent albums “Hits I Missed . . . And One I Didn’t” with songs he regretted passing on earlier in his career, and “Kickin’ Out the Footlights . . . Again” with Merle Haggard.

SOURCE: Country Music Television, GeorgeJones.com, Grand Ole Opry, Grammy.com, Countrypolitan.com

GEORGE JONES BY THE NUMBERS

1,000 albums, including many compilations

166 country-chart hits

100 concerts a year

13 No. 1 country hits

1 “The Possum”