The New Favorites of George Jones, the Possum's first album for United Artists, is a mixed bag that is highly indicative of the crossroads country music faced in the early '60s. Stylistically,
New Favorites is all over the place, as it tries to appeal to not only
Jones' hardcore honky tonk audience, but also to country-pop fans and those listener that had been seduced by the burgeoning rock & roll audience. So, honky tonk weepers like "She Once Lived Here" and "She Thinks I Still Care" sit next to up-tempo country-pop cuts like "What Am I Worth" and "Imitation of Love," and that only scratches the surface of what's here. There's also folk ballads ("Open Pit Mine"), crossover attempts ("Poor Little Rich Boy," "Running Bear"), the requisite novelties ("Best Guitar Picker"), and the ridiculous "White Lightnin'" rewrite, "Root Beer." Even the dated material like the novelties and crossovers are enjoyable, but
Jones is at his best when he's singing honky tonk or country-pop. Still, the wide range of material on
New Favorites does prove that neither artists, producers, or labels knew how to retain the splintering country audience of the '50s. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine