George Jones & Rodney Crowell Play ‘Possum’ for Playboy

In 1983, George Jones hit the Top 5 with a single called 'Shine On,' which opens with the line, "She'll never grace the centerfold of Playboy magazine." We don't know who "she" is, but fans of the legendary entertainer will be happy to know the Country Music Hall of Famer is found within the pages of the current issue of the popular men's magazine.

A special profile titled 'Possum' (George's longtime nickname), written by Houston-born singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell, juxtaposes George's career highlights with Rodney's own candid recollections of east Texas in the winter of 1966, when, as a teenage musician, he met a girl named Roxy Clayton and spent a late night with her at her home, listening to a stack of George Jones 45s and LPs. Although Rodney never revealed to the girl that he knew George's music (especially after she called his then-band, the Arbitrators' take on country music "some of the worst I've ever heard"), he shared a kiss with the teenage Jones fan, and an experience that has stayed with him to this day.

Much of that same type of candor comes from the 79-year-old George, who reveals that he would probably agree with the widely-held belief that he is among the greatest singers of the past century, if not for the fact that he hadn't taken his career as seriously as he could have at times.

"If I had paid more attention when I recorded so many of my songs," he says, "I would have done a better job. I think I did better on some album stuff."

To illustrate the point, he recalls an album he attempted to make with fellow Texan Willie Nelson, lamenting that he wasn't given enough time to work on how best to do the material. "He started singing a song I heard my daddy sing when I was a kid," says George of Willie. "But hell, I didn't know the other songs. We did two or three together and I told him, 'Willie, I know you're used to doing things like this, which is fine, but I can't do that. I've got to learn and know a song before I can sing it. You got to have the feeling with you."

Also in the Playboy interview, George talks about his days as a notorious drinker and drug user and how those habits interfered with his many of recording sessions and live performances; he reveals details of 'You Gotta Be My Baby,' which he wrote with Rodney's one-time father-in-law, Johnny Cash; and the two share memories of a show George headlined (and Rodney attended) at his Vidor, Texas, ranch in 1969. Also featured on the bill were Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and Lefty Frizzell, who was, in Rodney's words "drunk as a skunk," and proceeded to fall off the stage, breaking his guitar in pieces.

'Possum' is included in the current issue of Playboy, which is available on newsstands now.