Peanutt and I moved from Florence to Muscle Shoals, so that George and Linda could sell their house and move there also. George liked being close to us, and we liked being close to him.
There are many, many things I loved about George that gave him that simple humble charm that most big stars don’t possess. Most of them believe the world owes them a living, and that they deserve all the fanfare, money, and fortune. George was not that person.
George always stressed that he was just a simple countryman, who wanted to live a simple life. The entire glamor in the world could never take the country out of him. A gourmet meal to George was a pot of white Beaus with an onion, a chopped bell pepper thrown in, and pone of cornbread. Fancy meals didn’t suit him. He was totally happy with a pot of dumplings or a bowl of potato soup. Top that off with chocolate pie or banana pudding, and he was happy.
When we’d go out to eat, it was not surprising that George would always choose places that served country food. He was fond of Morrison’s Café, and every few days we’d have to stop in and have some good old country cooking. Stan’s Restaurant in Spring Hill, Tennessee was a regular eating place on our way to and from Nashville. You could get a bowl of pintos or white Beaus with a large piece of crackling cornbread and a slab of real country ham with redeye gravy.
In Florence where George lived for almost eight years, we’d hit steak houses that had a hot bar with all kinds of veggies, meats, salads, sweets, and ice cream. George never liked to dress up and go out to eat. He only wanted to be one of the crowd and was almost embarrassed about the status he had attained in the Country Music world. He’d sometimes wear blue jeans, a cotton shirt, and tennis shoes. George wanted to be comfortable, and he didn’t care about how much someone was impressed by him. In the event that someone recognized him in a restaurant, he’d be nice but didn’t let his food get cold trying to appease anyone. He was a down to earth man and resisted every effort to change.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Nancy Sepulvado, Wife Number Five
* * *
While on a tour in Louisiana, Wayne Oliver, George’s Manager, introduced him to Nancy Sepulvado. Nancy came into George’s life at the time he was suffering from cocaine addiction, confusion, and paranoia, and this created a very turbulent relationship in the beginning. I don’t think there could have been a worse time for someone to become involved with George. He was bent completely out of shape emotionally and physically. George was not the man we knew and loved; he became a stranger, and that affected his lifelong friendship with Peanutt and me.
Nancy also came into his life at a time when he desperately needed someone to love. He needed someone who could and would face all the consequences that were coming at him from every direction, and that’s exactly what Nancy did.
Nancy got in touch with every so-called friend George had and put each one on notice to stay out of George’s way, or there would be hell to pay. She took no chances, so she called every person acquainted with him. She was shooting bullets into the crowd, and there was no one who didn’t feel the pellets. Whatever it took for her to hang onto George, that’s what she did. She didn’t care who was who, or who had been what? She didn’t care how many people she had to hurt; she put them on their way out of George’s life. She built a hedge around George, and she guarded him like a warden would guard a prisoner.
Nancy cleaned house. She stopped so-called friends and strangers from popping up at the door any time they felt like it, and she took control of the managers. It took her a long time to convince George that she was really trying to help him because he was not accepting her wiping the slate clean very easily and gave her a hard time about taking so much control. Once George realized Nancy really loved him and wanted to help him get his life back in order, he decided to marry her. He realized he had a woman that would go to hell and back for him. She went through every kind of trial imaginable to prove that she was the real thing.
Nancy was brand new in George’s life, so she didn’t have a history of information to draw from. She inherited a mess that had to be straightened out. She didn’t know exactly whom she could trust, and it didn’t take her long to figure out some of the moves she needed to make, and she made them. I was surprised that she chose to be friends with a couple of people who had been very close to Peanutt and me. The most surprising was the friendship she had with my sister, Linda, who was George’s fourth wife.
George and Nancy moved to Texas, and that’s when he asked Nancy to marry him. Helen is George’s sister, and they were married at her house. Helen was very fond of Nancy, and she was happy that George had found happiness with her. She had worried about George so much when he was so badly addicted to cocaine, and she felt that Nancy was going to be the key to the happiness she so much wanted for him.
George’s Texas Park was going good, and all avenues of George’s life seemed to be straightening out.
George left the East Texas area and moved to Nashville. Nancy stuck by his side every inch of the way. They moved to a farm in Franklin, Tennessee and were living there when George passed away. He was married to Nancy longer than he was any of his other wives. George did nothing but prosper after he met and married Nancy. His whole life changed. He enjoyed being at home, watching ball games, performing on stage, and he loved being around the horses on the farm with Nancy and his grandkids.
He developed a great relationship with his daughter, Georgette. They recorded a great song as a duet “You and Me and Time.” I love it. They did an excellent job singing together, and it brought tears to my eyes and chill bumps to my arms when I first heard it. George was sober, off cocaine, free of managers, and finally found the peace he had been seeking for a very long time. He was at last a happy man.
I didn’t know very much about Nancy. She never wanted to be associated with us, and we were among the list of George’s friends she cut loose with the ties. I really don’t blame her because she didn’t know us, and she was taking no chances with anyone who had previously been associated with George.
I was hurt by her decision at first, and I didn’t know if she was real or just another gold digger looking for what she could get from George. After seeing what she was willing to go through to get George back on his feet, I then began to appreciate her and realized that she really loved George Jones.
Nancy has proven to be the best thing that ever happened to George. I know she hurt the feelings of a lot people but when you have your hands full with the challenge of straightening out a legend like George Jones, you don’t need a lot of extra weight on your shoulders. Nancy did what she felt was best for George Jones, and that’s the kind of person he needed in his life. I firmly believe that Nancy saw through the mess George was in and saw the good side of him. I believe she knew he was a good man that needed help. She was so right.
George got lucky because whatever she did worked. George knew that Nancy had been a lifesaver for him. He needed her as much as a baby needs a mama. She handled his business and got him back into the financial status he deserved. They will always have our love and our blessings.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
What My Woman Can’t Do, Can’t Be Done
* * *
Nancy strikes me as a person that flat doesn’t care what other people may think of her when she’s on a mission; especially when it came to taking care of George. That’s exactly the way I have always been by Peanutt. It worked for me, and it’s worked for Nancy. My theory has always been, “Don’t put something you love on the table if you don’t want someone else to take it.” Tammy sang a song that says “Good Loving Keeps a Home Together,” but it takes a whole lot more than good loving for a home to survive. It takes many things like being strong enough to bend as Tanya Tucker sings. It takes hard work, and it takes being committed and dedicated to the one you love. It takes being tough but having a forgiving spirit and laying a firm foundation and building on it.
Peanutt wrote the song, “What My Woman Can’t Do, Can’t Be Done.” He said
he wrote it about me. George is a co-writer of that song, and I believe he felt that same way about Nancy. I fought like a tiger in the beginning of our marriage to keep it together. Peanutt drank like George did, and it made it hard on me. He’d slip off in the middle of the night while I was asleep to go get something to drink. I had to wait until I knew he was sound asleep before I’d take my bath in fear he would leave while I was in the tub. I couldn’t even go shopping and leave him at home. I knew he wouldn’t be there when I got back. I quit going anywhere without Peanutt. I wouldn’t let him go to the store to get a pack of cigarettes unless I was with him. Sometimes he’d tell me I couldn’t go, but I’d go anyway. We’d get mad at each other, but I didn’t care. I made a lot of his buddies mad at me, but I couldn’t care less. It has all paid off in the long run.
George upheld Nancy for all she did for him. Peanutt now tells everybody that if it hadn’t been for me, he would be dead. It’s the truth. George and Peanutt were living hard and would have died young if their lives had not turned around. I have no regrets for the way I have been with Peanutt. People have said that I was overly jealous of Peanutt, but that’s not true. I was only jealous when I had a right to be. I’d tell someone off in a heart beat and put them in line, or I’d put them on their way. I just didn’t tolerate a bunch of horse manure. I admire Nancy for the strong hold she took on George’s life and his career; she saved them both, however, what I am appalled about is the way she treated his children during her marriage with George and after his death.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
A Day of Reckoning
* * *
The storm had passed; the damage had been done. Things were not the same. Friendships had been destroyed, homes had been demolished, and hearts had been broken. People had been hurt, and some had been killed. All through the years that I knew George Jones, I’d hear him discuss different people that had cheated him out of royalties, beat him out of credits, took him on deals, swindled him out of money, conned him out of valuable things, and took advantage of him when he was stoned on drugs, and he’d always say,
“Well, there’s one thing about it. There’s a day of reckoning.”
The Bible speaks of a day of reckoning. It reads about a time when people will have to answer for the things they’ve done wrong towards their fellow man. For every cent of George’s royalties that he’s been cheated of, someone will have to face Jesus Christ and give an account for every valuable thing that has been taken wrongfully. Those insidious thieves who got George Jones hooked on cocaine and then stole his goods will face the Judge of Judges and give an account for what they’ve done. They will face judgment and get what they deserve.
George was not only damaged but the entire world that revolved around him. It hurt everybody. The damage drugs had on George will never be forgotten or repaired. It’s not fair to those that really loved George and cared for him. I know we all have to forgive people, but sometimes I find it rather hard to forgive someone who deliberately hurts others.
The Lord will recognize each person for what he or she really is. He will reveal each person’s motives, He will reveal how people conspired to get their way, and He will reveal the truth behind every lie. George Jones was mistreated by many people throughout his life and career. He might be George Jones the Country Music Legend, but he felt emotional pain just like all the rest of us. His feelings were just as sensitive as anybody else’s feelings, but he is a legend, and every reaction was a story for the National news, a sleazy tabloid, and every other source of gossip that exists on the planet. George was hurt deeply by all the lies that could never be undone, and the truth setting the record straight.
Put yourself in George’s shoes for a day and you will learn a lot about what it is to be a legend. It’s not easy. It’s a blessing, but it’s also a job. Imagine how it would be if you went out to dine at a fine restaurant with your wife and some friends, your favorite food had just been served, you’re ready to eat and enjoy yourself, you look up, and all you can see is an army of people coming to your table waving their pens and papers and asking you for an autograph. They will stand around talking for ten minutes about the last concert they attended, and how great it was. The food gets cold, the evening is not spent the way it was intended, and it’s time to go home. Of course it is a privilege to be so popular, but sometimes it isn’t quite the life it seems to be.
One of the things that I have witnessed many times is when prices were raised on items simply because it was George Jones, and he had money. It happened on houses, cars, and furniture. You name it, and it cost George more money than normal people would pay for the same items. I recall one time George was going to buy a TV. George wanted to buy things quickly and get out. That particular day, the salesman told him the price was $1,300.00 for the set. George didn’t buy it, but he did tell me about the deal and the price. I was furious! I told George to give me a thousand dollars, and I’d get the TV and have it delivered. George didn’t think I could get it that cheap, but he let me try. I took the $1,000.00 and went to the appliance shop. I told the salesman that I wanted to buy the TV and would give him $1,000.00 cash, tax included, and they’d have to deliver it. The TV was delivered that day to George’s home. Why? The salesman didn’t know I was buying it for George, or that I even knew him.
There’s no telling how many rings, watches, gold pieces, chains, boots, leather jackets, cars, trucks, boats, guitars, and dollars George has been conned out of or given away. He was an easygoing man, but sometimes he allowed himself to get the short end of the stick in a deal just to find out about the person dealing with him, and then he would stay away from that person and never have any more to do with him or her. It was his day of reckoning.
I feel that Peanutt and I have been wronged, and that somebody somewhere is responsible for driving a wedge between George and us. I know that we never intended to hurt George in any way. Peanutt never took advantage of George, and they were very close, but the last few years we no longer had a social relationship with him.
Peanutt wrote seventy-one songs that George recorded and of that number, thirty-four were released as singles. The seventy-one songs included sixteen duets Peanutt wrote for George and Tammy Wynette.
Tammy recorded fifteen of Peanutt’s songs. Peanutt was the sole writer on several of the songs, and others were co-written with George. Peanutt and Tammy co-wrote some of her songs, and he also co-wrote songs with me. The elite list of music Peanutt wrote or co-wrote saw several that hit No. 1 on the National charts, and some were BMI award winning records.
George and Peanutt always had fun when writing together. They could knock out a hit song in thirty minutes. Someone in Nashville became jealous of our relationship with George and Tammy. They started a bunch of rumors about George and me, and Tammy got upset and angry because someone told her a vicious lie. They tried to make her believe that George and I had an affair going on, but it was only another conspiracy to break up our friendship.
They succeeded.
Tammy would not allow George to come around us, but finally George realized what was happening, and he started coming to visit us, and he didn’t care who didn’t like it. He knew the truth, so he did what was right.
I understood why the entire mess happened. I loved Tammy and still cared for her after she and George divorced, but I knew exactly who fabricated and invented all the lies. They could not tolerate Peanutt going into the studio with George and Tammy to record six songs on one album, and they’d get one song cut that three people had co-written which meant they only got one-third each of the royalty stream of only one song on the entire album. This was more than they could take. They had to stop the camaraderie between George, Tammy, Peanutt, and me, and that would put a stop to the song writing and recording.
The only way they could succeed with their evil plot was to get between Tammy and me. They succeeded with their scheme, Tammy got totally sideways with me, and she broke her ties with Peanutt shortly after.
The
bad people had gotten their way. They began to get more of their songs recorded and especially by Tammy. They successfully got rid of us, and they wasted no time moving in and taking over the territory and with Tammy gone, they only had George to maneuver and manipulate.
They kept George away from us, and it was difficult to know how they pulled it off, but there is one thing for sure, God knows everything about it, and the people responsible for misleading George and Tammy will one day pay on the Day of Reckoning. The Lord knows who’s in the right, and who’s in the wrong, and it will all come out one day.
Peanutt and I have survived, the wounds have mended, and we are very happy with our lives because we have forgiven everyone who harmed us. We have no complaints or any malice against anyone. The music industry can be so gratifying, but it can also be very cruel. We understand it; we’ve been in it all our lives, and we’ve been blessed more than we could ever imagine.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Reflections
* * *
George never owned anything for very long, and it is not difficult to understand why? His possessions were always at risk, and were either taken away from him by some failed transaction he found himself undertaking, a divorce settlement, or being cheated out of everything. People would convince him do all these big deals and if they turned out badly, George paid the consequences.
George never looked at deals in detail, and he trusted people too much. The thugs were good at making things look better than they actually were, and George was the one who took all the risks. Most of the ventures George got into, he never considered researching or finding a good solid business consultant to guide him. He just signed papers without reading them, and his business associates knew he wouldn’t read twenty pages of fine print. George knew nothing about the deals except what they told him, and he trusted whoever was managing the business to handle all the detailed matters.
The Legend of George Jones: His Life and Death Page 19