I Am What I Am

What makes this one of George Jones’ finest post-’70s albums? For one thing, it contains perhaps the most heart-wrenching country ballad ever sung, “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” But it also finds the honky-tonk hero bringing more gravitas to the table than ever before. When he sings, “I’ve seen the dark side of life” on the alcoholic’s lament “I’ve Aged Twenty Years in Five,” for instance, he’s not gliding though some devil-may-care drinking song; he’s offering a gripping glimpse of a middle-aged man grappling with life-and-death decisions.

I Am What I Am announced that George Jones had officially returned to form artistically and, in the process, it became his biggest hit album ever.