1. Welcome back to the story
of maybe the most famous
marriage in Nashville:
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2. George Jones
and Tammy Wynette.
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3. They first got together
when country was blowing up,
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4. crossing over
into the mainstream culture.
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5. Some of their biggest hits
were about marriage,
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6. even when their own
was falling apart.
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7. The marriage
didn't last long,
about six years,
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8. but they kept producing
big hits for decades.
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9. Despite death threats,
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10. drug problems,
and new spouses,
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11. they always seemed to find
their way back to each other.
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12. I got to witness a little
of this near the end.
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13. Tammy did the voice
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14. of Hank Hill's mom
on King of the Hill.
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15. Don't tell me
you're uncomfortable
with the thought
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16. of me and Gary sleeping
in the same room.
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17. I didn't have
that thought, Mom.
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18. You put
that thought in my—
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19. And I heard from her
that George could do
a mean Donald Duck,
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20. under certain conditions.
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21. We'll get to that later.
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22. Tammy was a beautiful lady,
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23. and George was a great man.
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24. He just had... some demons.
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25. You knew when he was messed up
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26. when he didn't have
that hair sprayed down.
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27. That hair would get
all over his face,
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28. I mean, everywhere.
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29. But when he was straight,
he was so particular.
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30. He would use
a whole can of hairspray.
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31. It would be so stiff,
I said, "George,
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32. a bug couldn't even fly
on your head."
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33. Wayne Oliver
was 20 years old
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34. when George and Tammy
got married and started
performing together.
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35. He spent much of his career
booking their shows.
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36. We were playing
up in Washington, DC,
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37. and we were headed
to Logan, Ohio.
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38. I said, "George, let's go.
Let's go to the hotel,
spend the night.
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39. We'll fly there in the morning."
He said, "No, I wanna
ride the bus."
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40. I said, "Uh-oh."
When he said he wanted
to ride the bus
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41. and didn't fly,
I knew something
was going on.
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42. So I told the bus driver
and the band,
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43. I said,
"Don't let him off the bus
till you get to Logan, Ohio."
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44. So the next morning,
all the band members were
standing around the bus,
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45. and I said, "What's wrong?"
They said, "George is gone."
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46. I said, "What?"
They said, "Yeah,
we woke up and he was gone."
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47. I said, "Shit, we've got
this show out here,
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48. and it's gonna be
25,000 to 30,000 people."
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49. And they said, "Well,
he was walking down thataway."
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50. So I went down there, walking,
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51. and I seen two little ladies
out in the front yard.
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52. And I said, "Ma'am,
have y'all seen George Jones?"
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53. She said,
"Well, he just left.
Nicest man in the world.
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54. Fact, we had
two bottles of wine."
I said, "What?"
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55. She said, "Yeah,"
said, "He come by,
and he was thirsty."
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56. And I said,
"Can you tell me
where he went?"
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57. She said, "Well,
he was gonna go right down
here to the cab stand."
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58. I said,
"Thank you very much."
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59. So I went down there
and the cab driver
said, "Yeah."
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60. He said, "George got
in a cab about an hour ago.
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61. Said he's headed to Nashville."
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62. I said, "Holy shit.
George is gone."
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63. I said, "I don't know
what we're gonna do."
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64. And you seen
those people had been
out there all day, drinking.
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65. And we'd seen
some pretty nice fights,
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66. and I said, "Look,
we've got a little problem."
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67. I said, "George is gone."
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68. And there was a DJ standing
over on the other side.
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69. He heard me say that,
and he went up on the stage
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70. and said,
"George Jones is gone.
There's not gonna be a show."
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71. And I said, "Damn it."
People were tearing
the stages down.
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72. They were throwing rocks
at the bus,
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73. cutting the tires on the bus.
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74. Lucky, I had a.38
with me in my briefcase.
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75. And just happened,
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76. a lot of Hell's Angels
come to the show.
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77. And I recognized one of 'em,
and I motioned for him
to come over.
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78. And he come
to the side of the bus,
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79. I said, "Spook, you gotta
get our ass out of here.
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80. They're gonna kill all of us."
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81. He come over
on the motorcycles.
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82. We went out
of there on the rims.
The tires had come off.
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83. A little later on,
I got a phone call
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84. that he was checked
in the Holiday Inn there
in Panama City.
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85. George always thought
I had a bug on him,
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86. because I could find him
anywhere he went.
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87. And he would love
to go to some cheap hotel,
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88. just stay in there
and eat fried chicken
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89. and drink two or three fifths
of Evan Williams Whiskey.
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90. I'll never 'get. I went
and knocked on the door,
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91. and I said, "Room Service."
And he says, "I knew
you'd find me."
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92. So I got him washed
and got that hair
sprayed down,
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93. and we come back
to Logan, Ohio.
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94. And he went out there
and done about a two
and a half hour show.
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95. He apologized
to the crowd he missed.
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96. He said, "You know how I am."
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97. Said, "I wanna thank
those two little old ladies
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98. for giving me
those two bottles
of wine we dranked."
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99. I mean when Jones
turned it on,
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100. there was nobody
could touch him, brother.
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101. George's talent was
giant, indisputable.
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102. His commitment was
another thing.
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103. His wife, Tammy,
and all those
who worked with him
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104. were enamored by his voice,
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105. but also living
at the mercy of his drinking.
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106. She would laugh
about it then...
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107. (Janette laughs)
but it was so horrendous
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108. that he was so drunk,
and he was wrecking
the house.
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109. And she was afraid
he was gonna go out
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110. and get in the car,
and have a car accident
or whatever.
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111. Janette and Nanette
Smith, sisters,
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112. rode the bus with George
and Tammy for years,
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113. doing hair and makeup
on the road and in the studio.
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114. This was probably during
the gypsy shag era.
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115. This would be
a little up-do for her.
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116. This is called
a page boy.
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117. The Smith sisters
weren't allowed to touch
George's hair.
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118. That was Tammy's job.
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119. I'd say, "George,
do you want me to do your hair?"
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120. "No, I'll wait on
my hairdresser.
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121. (laughs)
Tammy's hair.
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122. The girls would,
however, conspire with Tammy
to keep Jones off the bottle.
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123. Tammy calls me and she said
to George at home,
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124. "George, that was Jan.
Her yardman is sick,
she needs a yardman.
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125. You know how
that yard of hers is.
It can't go a week. Da-da-da."
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126. So she calls me
in a few minutes,
and she says,
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127. "Don't get near a window.
Don't get near a door.
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128. Don't peep out,
but when you get a chance,
look at your yardman."
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129. I look out.
George Jones
is out there
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130. in a wifebeater,
a pair of shorts,
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131. some tennis shoes,
a ball cap,
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132. taking all of his rakes,
cutters and things
out of his car.
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133. He didn't give a damn.
He wanted to be a yardman.
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134. He worked on my yard
for three hours.
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135. It was more perfect
than it ever has been.
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136. And he had a big
number-one record then.
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137. So when he started
to get in the truck
and leave,
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138. I opened the door
and I was like,
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139. "Aren't you gonna
autograph it?"
He was like...
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140. Tammy called me
and asked me
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141. to come and look for him.
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142. I found him one time,
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143. 12 or one o'clock at night,
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144. I found him on
one of those back roads
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145. when he'd pulled over
to throw up.
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146. He was hanging
out of the car,
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147. his head almost touching
the ground, passed out,
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148. with the door open
and the car running.
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149. I think I might have saved
his life at that time.
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150. Tammy finally got fed up
with George's drinking,
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151. and to retaliate,
she had fed him
some poisoned food.
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152. And it was
moldy cornbread,
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153. sour beans,
and rotten potatoes.
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154. George got to throwing up
for a few days
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155. and had stomach problems,
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156. and he said that
she poisoned him,
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157. 'cause was going
to collect that insurance.
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158. And I said, "George,
you know, it could've been
something you eat."
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159. This is the sort of thing
that Tammy had to endure,
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160. because there
was no controlling Jones,
and he just didn't give a shit.
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161. You may recall
gonzo journalist,
Jimmy McDonough,
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162. one of the last
to interview Tammy
about her time with George.
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163. At one point, Tammy alleges
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164. that George came home
from a bender,
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165. he threw a punch
at her and missed.
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166. She got him into bed,
and he woke up
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167. and proceeded to go berserk.
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168. She said he pointed
a rifle in her direction
and fired at her...
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169. and destroyed
the contents of the house.
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170. I got there,
and he is wilder than a buck,
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171. had hair everywhere.
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172. Finally, we took
the gun away from him,
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173. and he said,
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
I don't know why I did it."
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174. He ended up being dragged
away in a straight jacket,
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175. where he spent
10 days drying out.
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176. Tammy reached
her end point.
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177. I have never seen
a more terrified human being,
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178. but she—
by golly, she did it.
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179. That was the end.
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180. Tammy wouldn't
let him come home,
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181. and the marriage was over.
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182. The great storybook romance
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183. that Tammy dreamed of
was no more.
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184. The split had ramifications
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185. beyond their love
for each other
and the children.
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186. Having Mr. and Mrs.
Country Music break up,
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187. well, that's bad for business.
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188. No question about whether or not
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189. her career or his career
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190. might be hurt by their divorce,
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191. and of course,
how to divide up the band.
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192. The Jones Boys—
real brothers,
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193. Don, Gary,
and Arnie Adams—
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194. had been with George
and Tammy from the beginning,
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195. alongside a rotating door
of fellow Jones boys,
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196. musicians like
singer-songwriter
Johnny Paycheck
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197. and George's closest friend,
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198. songwriter and guitar player,
Peanutt Montgomery.
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199. When I was a Jones Boy,
traveling with him,
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200. I drank beer, you know.
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201. I never could understand
how George could drink
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202. and sit for six or eight hours
and never go to the bathroom.
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203. You know,
he must've been
wearing Depends.
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204. Sometimes he'd lock
the bathroom door,
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205. you know, when I needed
to use the bathroom.
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206. I broke him of that.
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207. I'd go back in his bedroom
and pee on the floor.
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208. When the marriage ended,
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209. the situation
on the road changed.
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210. How did the Jones boys
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211. end up with Tammy?
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212. That was in the divorce.
Oh, okay, yeah.
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213. Tammy got custody of the band.
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214. The band all went
with Tammy,
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215. the bus went with Tammy,
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216. because she was the one
that they could depend on,
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217. and they actually liked her.
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218. In 1976, Tammy went
back out on the road
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219. without George Jones
for the first time in years.
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220. We're on the bus,
and Tammy said,
"What if nobody comes?"
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221. We all fell out laughing,
'cause she thought they were
coming to see George Jones.
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222. She was so scared
every night.
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223. "What if nobody shows up?
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224. What if they want Jones
to be here?"
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225. (crowd shouting)
They kept screaming,
"Where's George?"
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226. And James Holly—
He was
the bass player.
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227. And he went up
to the microphone and said,
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228. "We don't know
where George is,
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229. and he doesn't either."
"And he doesn't either."
(chuckles)
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230. After the divorce,
certain of George's fans
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231. wanted to vent
their anger at Tammy,
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232. and she was,
in some cases, ridiculed.
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233. She was pretty gutsy.
She was real gutsy.
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234. If we could've
just excluded men
from her life,
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235. she'd still be alive
and be the biggest star
in the world.
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236. After Tammy left George,
George was a mess.
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237. We'd hunt, we'd camp out.
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238. He just liked to do things.
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239. He threw out
in the river one day
and caught a little bitty bream,
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240. and he said,
"Oh, Peanutt, the fish are out
in the middle of the river."
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241. That was not
a bream he caught.
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242. He caught a catfish
about this long.
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243. Anyway, when he'd
go fishing, it wound up
costing him a fortune.
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244. Said, "We gotta
go get a boat."
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245. So they took off
to the sporting goods place
and bought a boat.
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246. And then he realized
he had to have something
to pull it with,
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247. so they went down
to the Chevrolet place
and bought a new truck.
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248. He sent me
to the grocery store
to get folding chairs,
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249. and cooking pots
and pans, and food.
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250. And so we got the truck
and the boat all together,
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251. and pulled it down
to the river.
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252. He'd dig a hole and put corn—
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253. wrap it up in tin foil,
bury it in the ground,
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254. and build a fire
in there on coals
and roast that corn.
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255. I don't know where he learned
to do all this stuff.
Indians.
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256. With the exception
of the expense,
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257. these nature sojourns
worked out pretty well,
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258. until Peanutt found God
and decided to get sober.
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259. George went the other way.
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260. By then, he'd begun
playing music again
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261. with his only connection
to Tammy, the Jones Boys.
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262. George would jerk out
a bag of cocaine there,
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263. and then he would
just get completely
stoned, totally.
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264. This newfound high
apparently caused
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265. some kind of psychotic break
in George,
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266. which lead
to multiple personalities—
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267. well, two personalities:
The duck and the old man.
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268. The duck came first.
Yeah.
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269. And the old man
came later, so he'd have
somebody to talk to.
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270. He'd sit up all night long,
sitting in there in the bed,
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271. and he would be talking
in the Donald Duck voice.
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272. When he'd get in a car
and he was drinking,
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273. he would talk
like Donald Duck.
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274. Then he'd talk
like the old man.
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275. I don't believe in it.
It ain't natural.
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276. And then they'd get in a fight,
and then he'd get between them.
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277. If the good Lord
meant for us to read,
we'd be born knowing how!
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278. And he wouldn't
be paying no attention
where he was going.
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279. You know, George had
a lot of wrecks.
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280. One day,
we were on the bus,
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281. going down the road
with the band,
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282. and he decided he wanted
to get rid of the duck,
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283. so he kicked him
off the bus.
(Duck voice) No, no, no, no!
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284. And he went on down
the road a while,
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285. and he got
to worrying about it.
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286. He'd done kicked
the duck off the bus,
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287. and it was his best friend.
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288. So he made
the driver turn around,
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289. and go back
and pick up the duck,
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290. put him back on the bus.
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291. That's when we—
we convinced ourselves,
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292. "Boys, we've got
to do something with him."
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293. "You know, we can't
go on with you, uh,
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294. being so distraught over Tammy,
and you can't even perform."
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295. And we convinced him
that he should sign up
with Tammy
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296. just so he could
be back somewhere
in association with her.
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297. One song that George
and Tammy did after the divorce
was "Golden Rings."
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298. It was a true story.
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299. They have a ring
they found in a pawn shop,
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300. and ended up
with a broken marriage.
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301. And I think that affected
the fans greatly
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302. because it had
so much personal
tragedy in it.
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303. You know,
the beautiful thing is,
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304. that in spite of all
this crazy, crazy stuff,
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305. they managed
to keep it together
as artists.
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306. And you listen
to that song,
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307. you get the whole picture
of everything they're about
in one record.
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308. There's nothing like it.
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309. We get along better now
than we ever have.
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310. I'll never
get George Jones
out of my life.
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311. He'll always be
a part of my life.
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312. He was my idol.
He still is.
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313. We may not
can live together,
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314. but he can still make me cry,
listening to him sing.
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315. Unfortunately,
"Golden Ring" was a mirage,
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316. a fantasy for the stage.
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317. Backstage, George was
treated to the sight
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318. of a variety of men
courting his ex-wife.
(applause)
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319. Tammy Wynette
had to be in love,
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320. and it was very easy
for her to get a man,
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321. because she was
Tammy Wynette.
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322. There was Johnny Rodriguez.
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323. There was a guy
that drove our bus.
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324. I dated the bass player,
she had her way with him.
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325. I dated Michael Tomlin,
she married him.
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326. She stole all my boyfriends.
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327. One of the people
that she fell in love with
was Burt Reynolds.
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328. Burt Reynolds
had a horse ranch
in Jupiter, Florida,
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329. so Tammy decided
that she wanted to buy
a second house to be near Burt.
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330. When she fell in love
with somebody,
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331. she would pursue it
to the ends of the earth.
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332. She was pursued
publicly as well
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333. by the rich
and the powerful,
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334. who just wanted to be seen
as the man by her side.
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335. Every politician in the world
wanted to stand there singing,
"Stand By Your Man."
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336. So one day, she's standing
by the side of George Wallace,
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337. and the next day,
she's standing
beside Ronald Reagan.
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338. Well, we're
in Jackson, Mississippi,
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339. and Ronald Reagan would
always kiss her on the cheek
at the end of the song.
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340. Well, Ronald Reagan
kissed her in the mouth.
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341. She come off, she's furious.
She went, "He swabbed
my tonsils, Jan.
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342. He almost gagged me.
I am putting an end to this."
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343. And she got
this huge red dress
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344. that she was gonna wear
to the White House.
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345. So she goes on the stage,
she does "Stand By Your Man"
at the end.
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346. Well, she usually goes out
in the audience and gets
a man to stand by.
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347. The president is
sitting there, just grinning,
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348. with his wife
sitting by him,
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349. and everybody knew
how jealous she was.
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350. And all of a sudden,
Tammy sits down in his lap,
puts her arm around his neck.
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351. The Secret Service perks up,
everybody perks up.
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352. I thought I was gonna die.
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353. Then they go
in the dressing room,
and she said,
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354. "Bet I don't have to stand
by him anymore."
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355. The seemingly endless string
of men in her life,
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356. of course,
fueled George's demons,
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357. but Tammy had
her own peculiar problems,
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358. according to their daughter,
Tamala Georgette Jones.
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359. We started having death threats
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360. on my grandparents,
on me, on my mom.
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361. We went bowling one night,
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362. and someone had broken
into our house
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363. and turned on every
faucet and bathtub,
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364. so that when we got home,
our entire house was flooded.
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365. And on every TV and mirror,
any type of reflective surface,
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366. they had taken red lipstick
and written, "Slut, whore, pig,"
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367. all throughout the entire house.
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368. Multiple instances
like this that had happened
over several months.
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369. My assumption was always
that it had been
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370. a disgruntled fan
of George Jones'
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371. who was mad at Tammy
for divorcing George.
Copy !req
372. She asked me to come over,
Copy !req
373. and she had thoughtfully
provided me a shotgun,
Copy !req
374. which I placed under the bed
Copy !req
375. in case some prowler
came through,
Copy !req
376. but nothing happened.
Copy !req
377. And the same thing
the next night,
Copy !req
378. nothing happened,
Copy !req
379. so I didn't go back over there
to spend the night anymore,
Copy !req
380. but a few days later,
Copy !req
381. somebody firebombed the house.
Copy !req
382. I was in my mom's bedroom,
Copy !req
383. and the house
caught on fire there,
Copy !req
384. and the whole back
of the house burned down.
Copy !req
385. Tennessee fire marshal decided
Copy !req
386. to have polygraph tests
of everybody that
had been there.
Copy !req
387. And they tested Tammy,
said, "She might have had
something to do with this."
Copy !req
388. And they tested her daughters,
who were teenagers at best.
Copy !req
389. And each time
they would test one,
Copy !req
390. they'd say,
"She did it. We've got it."
Copy !req
391. Then they tested
her mother, Mildred.
Copy !req
392. "Mildred must have had
something to do with this."
Copy !req
393. And her grandmother,
who could hardly walk,
Copy !req
394. and said, "She was involved."
Copy !req
395. After that,
I became very skeptical
of any polygraph test.
Copy !req
396. All sorts of bizarre,
unexplained incidents happened
in Tammy's life.
Copy !req
397. You know,
there's the alleged kidnapping.
Copy !req
398. No one was
ever arrested in that.
Copy !req
399. There was always people
out to get her
Copy !req
400. or some espionage around Tammy,
Copy !req
401. which was never really,
uh, explained away.
Copy !req
402. Tammy would eventually
remarry yet another manager
Copy !req
403. and develop
her own lethal addiction
to prescription pain killers.
Copy !req
404. George hit his own rock bottom
after losing Tammy,
Copy !req
405. the duck, the old man,
Copy !req
406. and then losing
his best friend,
Copy !req
407. Peanutt Montgomery,
to organized religion.
Copy !req
408. George was really upset
because Peanutt had
become a Christian.
Copy !req
409. He was jealous
of Jesus.
Copy !req
410. George began
to get mad at Peanutt,
Copy !req
411. because he wouldn't
go do concerts,
wouldn't go places to gamble,
Copy !req
412. so I was at home,
and George called the house.
Copy !req
413. He said,
"Where's Little Jesus?"
Copy !req
414. I said, "George,
what do you mean?"
Copy !req
415. "You know what I mean.
Where's Little Jesus?
Copy !req
416. "I want to get him down,
I'm gonna pull his beard out,
Copy !req
417. one by one
with some tweezers."
Copy !req
418. And I'd just hang up on him.
Well, after a while,
Copy !req
419. Peanutt called me
and said they got to talking.
Copy !req
420. And George asked Peanutt
to meet him down
at Cypress Creek.
Copy !req
421. When I got down there,
he was down there.
Copy !req
422. I pulled up there,
and he was sitting there
with the window down.
Copy !req
423. And I pulled up beside him,
and I rolled my window down
Copy !req
424. and hung my arms out
just like that, you know.
Copy !req
425. I said, "George, what are
you persecuting me for?"
Copy !req
426. He said,
"People just don't know
what I go through with."
Copy !req
427. And all at once,
he just reached out beside him
and got that pistol.
Copy !req
428. And he said, "I'm gonna see
if you're old God can save you
now, you m-f'er."
Copy !req
429. That's what he said,
the very words...
Copy !req
430. only he said the word.
Copy !req
431. And he shot at me,
pow, like that.
Copy !req
432. He missed me,
and then he pulled
Copy !req
433. that trigger back
on that.38 again.
I could hear it.
Copy !req
434. He just looked
at me like this, he said,
Copy !req
435. "Well, Peanutt,
I'm going to the house,"
Copy !req
436. like nothing
had ever happened.
Just like that.
Copy !req
437. He let his window up,
drove off.
Copy !req
438. I went to the sheriff.
I said, "George Jones
just took a shot at me,
Copy !req
439. tried to kill me."
Copy !req
440. I had one guy who took
his knife and dug the bullet
out of the door.
Copy !req
441. My friend was
the district attorney.
Copy !req
442. We all partied together
and stuff, and he told me,
Copy !req
443. "Well, you know,
he'll go off with 15 years,"
Copy !req
444. he said, "because
that's attempted murder.
That's a felony.
Copy !req
445. "If you want to pursue him
Copy !req
446. and convict him,
I'll convict him."
Copy !req
447. But I dropped charges on him.
I dropped the charges.
Copy !req
448. Believe it or not, there is
a happy ending to this story,
Copy !req
449. but it's probably not the one
you're used to hearing.
Copy !req
450. We put him in the hospital
and dried him out.
Copy !req
451. And, uh, he called me, at home,
after about four or five weeks.
Copy !req
452. He said, "I wanted
to know if you'd do
an album with me?"
Copy !req
453. I said,
"Yeah, I'd be glad to."
Copy !req
454. He said, "I know
we ain't got no money now,
Copy !req
455. "and things ain't looking good,
but if you'll stay with me,
Copy !req
456. I've got a song that's
gonna bring us out of this."
Copy !req
457. He had such confidence,
it convinced us.
Copy !req
458. "Okay, George,
then you need
to get in there.
Copy !req
459. "Go to the studio,
you know,
Copy !req
460. and get your voice back,
get your brain back,
and record that."
Copy !req
461. That just blew the tops
off the charts there
Copy !req
462. and was absolutely
the biggest song
Copy !req
463. for two solid years in a row.
Copy !req
464. George had
a lot of women,
Copy !req
465. but he only loved one,
and that was Tammy.
Copy !req
466. He might shoot up the house,
but he loved her.
Copy !req
467. I've seen that man
lay down and cry at night
how much he loved Tammy.
Copy !req
468. I think they both had
an addiction problem.
Copy !req
469. He was addicted
to alcohol,
Copy !req
470. and Tammy
was addicted to Jones.
Copy !req
471. My mom, even weeks
before she died,
Copy !req
472. we had a conversation,
and she just flat out said,
Copy !req
473. "The love of my life
will always be your dad.
Copy !req
474. Your dad is that one for me."
Copy !req