The Legend of George Jones: His Life and Death

by Peanutt Montgomery

  Shortly after Mr. Jones passed away, George made some changes in his own life. He quit working with Pappy Daily and moved to Nashville in an effort to keep his career going. It was 1967 and in that same year, he recorded a hit, “When the Grass Grows Over Me.” In 1968 he had another hit, “I’ll Share my World With You.” George’s success in Country Music seemed to have no end. There’s no doubt in my mind that God was forever blessing him for his willingness to share his blessings with others. George had never been selfish; he’d always been willing to share a portion of what he had to help make someone else’s life a little better. What a heart!

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Melba Montgomery, Duet Partner

  * * *

  Melba Montgomery is my sister-in-law. George was working with United Artists when he met Melba and instantly they hit it off and discovered they had the perfect combination of voices. George loved Melba’s voice so much that he convinced Pappy Daily to sign her with United Artists so that he could sing duets with her. Melba was working with Roy Acuff at the time and was living with Roy and Mildred at their home in Nashville.

  George was living in Texas, and he wanted to meet with Melba, so he and Pappy drove the long trip to Nashville. They rented a room at Capital Park Inn. Melba had written a song she thought they might like as a duet, so she met them at the hotel and sang her song, “We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds.”

  George and Pappy loved it and within a couple of days, they were in the studio recording. United Artists released the song, and it became a huge hit for George and Melba. The song succeeded as the best selling song of the year and is still one of the greatest country duet classics of all time.

  George and Melba first met when Melba was working The Grand Ole Opry with Roy Acuff. After the show one night, Melba went with Roy over to Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, and George was there. Melba said George was “juiced” on Jack Daniels, and she never saw him again until Pappy Daily called for her to sign with United Artists.

  George and Melba had a lot in common and were a great team. Both were raised in large poor families of talented musicians and singers. They loved telling stories of their childhood upbringing. They were both talented and very “countrified.” George called Melba “Melber” because she had a pronounced country drawl that kept her from ever hiding her roots. George loved the way she talked, and the fact she was plain and simple and never changed attracted him to her. They loved being together and continued singing until 1967 after they had released seven duet records.

  George and Shirley’s marriage was barely holding together. George was drinking heavily, and Shirley resented the drinking plus the fact he was never home and abdicated the responsibility of raising Jeffrey and Brian and put the burden on her. By this time, Shirley had become so bitter toward George that she barely had a kind word for him when he was at home.

  In 1970, George bought a nice home in Vidor, Texas. He was doing well financially and buying the house had put a little spark back in their marriage. Shirley had patiently waited for a time when she could be happy again. She felt the marriage was getting more stable and finally looked promising.

  Shirley and the boys felt like the success of George’s hit records was at last paying off for them and would change their lives for the better. Sadly, the new happiness didn’t last because George started drinking heavily again, and Shirley was under a lot of stress and disappointment. She gave up on George ever quitting his drinking, or at least getting it under control, so she felt that all the peace and happiness she had hoped for was gone.

  George was becoming wealthy, so he decided to open a restaurant in Vidor and named it George Jones Chuckwagon. He leased a building from a man named J.C. Arnold. Shirley and J.C. became friends through this arrangement, and as Shirley complained to him about George’s drinking problems and staying on the road all the time, J.C. began feeling sorry for her. J.C. recognized the loneliness that Shirley was experiencing, and she began to rely on J.C. for consoling. Eventually, the friendship grew into a relationship.

  George’s arrangement with Melba Montgomery had grown far beyond a recording partnership. George liked Melba as a person and loved her disposition. Melba was young, single, talented, fun to be around, and extremely attractive. Melba’s brother, Cranston, was a recording artist. Her other brother, Carl Montgomery, was a successful songwriter and wrote a hit recorded by Dave Dudley, “Six Days on the Road,” that became a country classic. Melba’s brother, Aaron, worked with Hank Williams, Sr.

  Earl “Peanutt” Montgomery is Melba’s most famous brother. In addition to the songs Peanutt wrote for George and Melba as a duet, he also wrote many songs that Melba recorded as a solo artist. Peanutt is best known for the songs he wrote for George Jones. He wrote, 4033, Ship of Love, Where Grass Won’t Grow and many more that George recorded. Gene Pitney, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Emmy Lou Harris, and Tanya Tucker are just a few of the many country stars that have recorded Peanutt’s songs.

  The entire Montgomery Family has been involved with music at the professional level and as you can see, many of them became famous. Melba’s father, Fletcher Montgomery, taught music in churches when the kids were young, and he worked a moonlight job calling square dances. Melba’s mother, Willie Mae Montgomery, played the mandolin. Melba’s parents were playing and singing at an old fashioned cake walk when they met, so all the Montgomery children were born with natural talents inherited from their parents. The music connection with Melba all the way back to her upbringing was a turn on to George.

  George loved Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery, and he would travel often with Melba to Florence, Alabama to visit her parents. Mrs. Montgomery would always have a table full of good old country cooking. There was nothing George liked any better than good country “fixings” as he called it. Mrs. Montgomery related to me many times how much she enjoyed watching George eat her cooking. She loved George and told stories about him until the day she died.

  Shirley suspected for a long time there was a relationship between Melba and George involving them in more than recording duets. She was not wrong. George and Melba were in love with each other, but this relationship had nothing to do with the cracking foundations of George and Shirley’s marriage. They were headed for divorce regardless of George’s affair with Melba.

  Shirley and George each had found a mutual interest in someone else. A rumor was spreading that George Jones shot J.C. Arnold in the rear end when he found out about Shirley’s affair with J.C. I asked George about that tale, and he told me that he “did no such thing.” I believe George because if he’d gotten upset enough to shoot somebody, he sure wouldn’t have cared to admit it. George was never physically mean to Shirley. His abuse stemmed from the neglect of Shirley and the boys, and he destroyed things that were expensive or had sentimental value when he got drunk. These actions by George made it hard for her to cope. She had sacrificed so much for George, and she really wanted to help him. She loved him dearly but didn’t know what to do with him.

  George was not ultra-insensitive to the cares of Shirley and the boys. He bought a home in Florida, so they would have a place to retreat from everything and everybody. He and Shirley hoped the new location would give them more time together, and Shirley thought it could help them work things out. It turned out to be wishful thinking. The situation ended up being volatile, and the changes revealed it was too late for them to mend the sore feelings they had for each other. George continued to drink. Shirley began to feel that there was no hope and no need in trying to hold on to George and keep the marriage going. She finally mentioned divorce to George. It was a sore subject, but he gave in, and they divorced in 1968.

  Shirley was a classy lady, and I admired her. She had a great disposition and was quite brilliant. She is to be praised for the care she gave to George’s sons, Jeffrey and Brian. She was a great mother to both. George and Shirley were married for fourteen years when they came to an amicable divorce settlement. George paid child support for his two sons. Shirley took p
ossession of the house in Vidor, Texas, and George received a second ranch house they owned in Vidor plus the Florida house and its contents. He later bought a tour bus with the money from the sale of the Vidor property. George gave Shirley a generous cash settlement, and she wanted George’s income from royalties for the benefit of the boys. George generously complied with her request as part of the settlement. Once all terms of the divorce were met, George and Shirley entered into their separate lives. Shirley eventually married J.C. Arnold, and they were together until his death. I believe that George loved and respected Shirley very much, but the demands from the music business took too much of his time and attention to properly maintain a good family life. George and Melba’s relationship had no foundation and came to an end when George became involved with another female singer. Her name was Virginia Wynette Pugh; better known today as Tammy Wynette.

  Melba Montgomery later married George’s guitar player, Jack Solomon. They live in Nashville and have two daughters, Jackie and Melissa. Jackie is married to Blake Chancey, a producer, and Melissa is married to Shane Barrett who is also a producer, musician, and songwriter. Melba stays busy co-writing songs, and her husband, Jack, works as a rhythm guitar player on many of the recording sessions in Nashville. Melba still speaks highly of George, but she says her biggest fear in marrying George was his drinking. Melba maintains that George was very good to her, and he never harmed her in any way except it was emotionally stressful to worry about him keeping his bookings, and whether he would show up drunk or sober. She said there was no real mean streak in George that she ever knew or experienced. Although Melba never knew exactly what to expect from George, she understood him and deeply cared for him. Her favorite thing to say about George is: “That George was a mess.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Possum and Peanutt Two Peas in a Pod

  * * *

  George “Possum” Jones and Earl “Peanutt” Montgomery met when Melba Montgomery introduced George to her brother. They became instant friends and remained that way until George’s death in April 2013. The similarities of how they grew up were a recipe that melded them into “brothers.” Although neither of them was educated past grammar school, they both became very successful in the music business because of their unique gifts to write and perform country music. They also mirrored each other’s lifestyles and shared the same nemesis. They were heavy drinkers. Through all their drunken sprees, wild living, and carousing, they were somehow able to do what they loved the most, and that was to sing, play, and write songs.

  “Possum” became a legendary singer, and “Peanutt” became a legendary songwriter.

  George and Peanutt grew to be inseparable. George once told Peanutt that if he loved him anymore than he did, they would be accused of being gay. Peanutt felt the same about George. They could not be any more committed to each other than they were through the majority of their lives. Peanutt served George, and George got whatever he wanted from Peanutt. Many times Peanutt would get out of bed at 3:00a.m. and bail George out of jail. Sometimes George would get drunk and want to take off to Florida at midnight. Peanutt would pack up and go. Whenever they were drunk and traveling, I was the designated driver.

  When Peanutt and George drank together, they usually played their guitars, sang songs, and wrote down lyrics to a new song they were composing. They would laugh, act like fools, and have a ball telling stories on each other. Alcohol seemed to have the same reaction on both of them. If George was in a good mood, he could be fun to be around. If he was in a foul mood, there was no fun being with him. He could be unpredictable. Peanutt was the same way, but they never got rowdy with each other, and one would always help the other out when either was caught in a difficult situation.

  Peanutt wrote several of the songs George and Melba recorded. Peanutt and I were touring with Melba and George, so we were together all the time. Melba and I had our hands full trying to manage them. There were times when both of them would show up drunk and expect to entertain a crowd. Melba struggled during times like this, and it created a lot of stress for her because Peanutt, her guitar player, and George, her duet partner, were in no shape to do what they were supposed to do. Melba would be fit to be tied. She’d say, “I’m gonna beat the fire out of both of them after the show is over.” Melba realized she had to do something about George’s behavior because he influenced Peanutt. If she could control George, Peanutt would be no problem.

  Melba began making private decisions about her relationship with George. She was trying to decide whether she could ever be happy carrying on a life like he would hand her. Melba finally pulled the plug on the relationship, and they parted ways, but her decision didn’t affect the friendship or business relationship between George and Peanutt.

  Melba still has a love for George. She respects him highly and will always hold him close to her heart, but she knew that if she married him, it would never last because she couldn’t handle his drinking.

  Peanutt had worked as a musician at the Grand Ole Opry. He was living in Nashville and was an exclusive songwriter for Sure Fire Music Publishing Company. George was a writer for Glad Music Publishing Company. George wanted Peanutt to sign as an exclusive writer with Glad, which was owned by Pappy Daily, George’s producer. The idea was for George and Peanutt to write songs together and be uninhibited by the conflict of two studios. This arrangement would give full publishing rights to Pappy Daily’s company, and it did work out great for all three of them.

  Peanutt toured with several of the Grand Ole Opry stars such as Cowboy Copus, Red Foley, the Willis Brothers, and many others. He played bass guitar, rhythm guitar, and the upright “Bull” bass. Few people know that Peanutt sang and toured with Michael Landon and Chase Webster. They were known as the “Ponderosa Trio.”

  Like other artists, Peanutt traveled extensively during the time he was touring. He was a regular on the USO tours with the Willis Brothers, and he played many shows with Judy Lynn at the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas. Peanutt loved the road but also missed having his time with George. It was circa 1965 that Peanutt quit touring with the Grand Ole Opry stars. George Jones and Peanutt Montgomery hooked up again and began writing and recording even more songs since Peanutt wasn’t bogged down with the rigorous travel schedule he had while touring.

  I first saw Peanutt Montgomery at the Florence Armory in Florence, Alabama. He and his band were fronting a show for Jimmy Newman. I asked a friend of mine, Jewell Hines, to go with me to the concert. I didn’t know anything about Peanutt or anybody else there; I just wanted to go to the show to have something to do. Jewell and I were sitting in the second row by the stage. When Peanutt got through playing, he walked off the stage, came straight to me, and asked me for a dance. I danced with him, and he kissed me while slightly biting my lip. I really didn’t know just what to make of it, but I liked his boldness. We talked very little after the dance, and he returned to the stage. After the show was over, he found me again and asked me to join him for dinner. I refused by using the excuse that I already had other plans. Actually, I had no plans but because I didn’t know him, I didn’t want to go anywhere with him. I never thought any more about the man who danced with me.

  After weeks had gone by, the Alabama State Fair came to Florence, Alabama. Another friend asked me to go to the fair with her, and I agreed to it. As it turned out, Peanutt was at the fair, and he knew the girl I was with. He had been the best man at Billy and Sue Kinnington’s wedding and was a close friend of Sue’s husband for years. Billy was a local musician but had played with Peanutt’s band.

  Peanutt asked Sue about me. Sue told him that I wouldn’t be interested in him because I was already seeing someone. Peanutt didn’t recognize me as the same girl he had danced with at the Jimmy Newman show, so he went on his way and said nothing more to Sue about me.

  A couple of months passed. Jewell Hines and I needed something to do, so we were driving around Florence. I was living at the time with Jewell and her husband, Jimmy. Jimmy was o
ut of town most of the time, so Jewell and I would get on the streets and drive around just for fun. On this particular evening while riding on Tennessee Street, Jewell and I noticed a 1964 blue Thunderbird occupied with two males that kept closely following my 1964 turquoise Ford Galaxy 500.

  The T-Bird pulled up beside us; a window rolled down. “How about meeting us at Dusty Joe’s?” one of them asked.

  I answered tongue-in-cheek, “Why not?”

  They sped off towards the popular sandwich shop, and we followed. On the way I told Jewell that if they ask us to go somewhere with them, I will refuse because I have no interest in either of them.

  “Well, I kinda like that fellow that was on the passenger side,” she said.

  “Well, I didn’t pay much attention, but I like the driver better myself,” I replied.

  Jewell was married, but she and her husband couldn’t get along, so it wasn’t much of a marriage. Jewell wasn’t a person to sit at home alone while her husband was gone all the time. She was much older than me. I was only 18 years old, and she was in her 30’s. She was redheaded, high tempered, and cute.

  We sat with Peanutt and his brother, Monty, at Dusty Joe’s. As predicted, they asked us to ride around with them, and I told them that I couldn’t because I had to go to the laundry to get my clothes before they closed. Jewell wanted to take them up on the offer, but I flat refused. She glared at me.

  “Maybe another time,” Jewell said.

  Peanutt wasted no time. “How about tomorrow?”