At least the former was by a real publisher, and so had actual sources and references. The latter was by a self-publisher, completely thrown together and annoyingly unedited (but with some juicy stories).
What was depressing: After reading the whole Tammy book and enjoying the in-depth, gossipy story of her life---as it turned out, her life was horribly purposeless. There was the initial "making it" story, and then there was the star-crossed (i.e., "messed up") story of her romance/marriage with/to George Jones, which ended in divorce in '75 (though they continued to record together until 1980, plus a final record in 1995). Post-George Jones, she did little (no, I don't count the 1991 KLF song "Justified and Ancient" as being very good). The last few years of her life (she died in 1998) were spent in a drugged-up haze, assisted by her last husband George Richey (one-time Nashville songwriter), who controlled all of her finances in her last years and deleted all of her children from her will. According to this book, Tammy said that George Jones was the love of her life, and that the love of George Richey's life was his second wife (who died of a drug overdose soon after he left her for Tammy).
And then the self-published "Legend of GJ" book, written by George's long-time friends and songwriters Peanutt and Charlene Montgomery and published in 2014. (1) Some facts can't be gotten straight: Was George Jones's second wife Shirley a help-meet or a hindrance? Opinions vary within a page. (2) The "juicy" part of this random remembrance is when Charlene Montgomery's sister, Linda, is offered a chapter of the book. Linda lived with George Jones in Alabama for 5 years post-Tammy and pre-Nancy, and today, based on Alabama common law, considers herself to be Jones's 4th wife. In her special chapter, Linda remembers a slutty woman named "Nancy" who partied with George in New York City then subsequently moved into the house in Alabama that George and Linda shared---and refused to move out... This "Nancy," according to Linda, attempted suicide by overdose twice, and once intentionally threw herself from George's car and broke her arm; the whole time, George was allegedly calling her a "whore" and telling her to get out of his house...
As it turns out, George married said Nancy in 1983, and she's thereafter credited for getting him straight... (I don't know at all if Linda's version of Nancy is true, but it's interesting --- I'm bored with the usual "Saint Nancy" story.)
George and Tammy were fantastically talented... a gift.... But what is a gift if you fuck it up with drugs or live with someone you don't truly care about just because they're more comfortable?
The other day I woke up feeling hung-over, feeling lonely, feeling like shit in general... And a second after all of that ugliness, I thought: "I've lived longer than Elvis. And he had everything." I'll continue to let that be some small comfort.
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