Decades later, it remains something of a mystery how in 1966 George Jones and his band ended up at Nugget Studios, a backwater building just north of Nashville that advertised itself as a place for “country music recorded in the quiet of the country at country prices.”
Jones, a country music legend in the making, had slipped a bit since his hits “White Lightning” and “She Thinks I Still Care,” and he was known to disappear on marathon benders. But he was still a major attraction, popular enough to fill honky tonks and auditoriums between Texas and New York.
Over many hours, Jones and his band churned out dozens of songs — his own hits and others by his idol, Hank Williams. One peppy number, “Ship of Love,” was something Jones had co-written with a friend, Earl “Peanutt” Montgomery, and Johnny Paycheck, who sang harmony and played bass with the band.
All were recorded under contract to a company partly owned by a little-known promoter and producer, Donald Gilbreth, who down the road would become better known for the things he did wrong than for the things he did right.