It’s no secret that George Jones sometimes indulged in a little bit more than just liquid courage to get himself on stage.
Sadly, the country music legend battled a decades-long addiction with alcohol and subsequently cocaine, earning him the less-than-flattering nickname throughout the ’60s and ’70s, “No Show Jones.” Early on, he’d use drinking as a vice to cope with his severe stage fright, which worked out pretty well for a multi-Grammy-award-winning country music hall of famer when it came to a career standpoint.
As for his health and personal life, unfortunately, his drug usage spiraled into a daily offense, leading him to carry the white powder on him at all times. As expected, it got him into a bit of trouble, facing quite a few run-ins with the law, and led to abuse in his relationship with his wife Nancy, who wrote in her memoir, “When he started drinking and doing the drugs together, things turned south in a hurry.”
Looking back on the wild time period, booking manager Wayne Oliver reflected on a show he had scheduled in Bossier City, Louisiana, and boy, did it sound like the place to be. During his recent appearance on the Pickin’ it Out podcast, he shared that they were playing a 2000 seater club with Jones, Lorrie Morgan, Vern Gosdin, and Merle Kilgore (who co-wrote Johnny Cash’s hit “Ring of Fire”).
Well, apparently, George was throwin’ quite the fit before taking the stage, with Oliver noting, “he was kinda wild.” He then shares that the troubled legend affirmed, “Son, I’m not going on stage tonight,” explaining, “he pulled out a little bottle, ‘unless you get me something to where I can perform.'”
Standing his ground, Oliver set the record straight that Jones should have known better than to ask him for reckless stuff like that. At this point, the building manager is getting stressed too, fearful about losing his prime act and that someone might suspect there are drugs in the establishment.
So what better remedy than to let the poor guy indulge in his pick-me-ups…or at least let him think he is. Oliver moseys down to the local 7-Eleven and the building manager, Alex, buys a pack of BC Powders (which, for those who don’t know, is basically an over-the-counter headache remedy made with aspirin and a little caffeine).
Like any good friends, the boys crushed up the powder and stuck it into the clear tube, and handed it straight back to George. He shared that he immediately took it to the bathroom and, “he’s sn*rtin’ it like a race horse. He came out, he said, ‘son, that’s some of the best I’ve ever had in my life.'”
Talk about the ultimate placebo effect. I’m sure snorting BC powder can’t be too great for you either, but hey, at least it’s an improvement from cocaine.
It also helped George find the courage to hop up on that stage and deliver an over 2-hour-long show, according to Oliver, who shared, “he wore them out.” Apparently, in the two to three days after that, George continued to find relief in his new favorite remedy and kept those BC powders strapped to him.
Trying to be honest about the tiny trick, Oliver finally shared with him what he was actually sniffing on, and still George was strongheaded, rebutting, “You think I don’t know the difference? That was the best I’ve ever had in my life.” To which Oliver just dropped the potential argument and let Jones continue to think he was getting higher than a kite on his over-the-counter meds.
Check out Oliver’s retelling of the story below and tune into the full podcast episode, hosted by Andrew Pope, airing tonight, August 22, at 7 pm.