George Jones, “Walls Can Fall”, <i> MCA </i>

Last year, MCA signed country music’s greatest living singer away from his longtime home at Epic Records, but his first album for MCA was a hit-and-miss affair, much like his last several for Epic had been.

This time, though, Jones has regained his old stride, matching evocative vocals with songs that prove once again, as the title of one tune puts it, “Wrong’s What I Do Best.”

He takes Merle Haggard’s much-recorded “The Bottle Let Me Down” and makes it his own, adding it to a lost list of definitive renditions. And he reaches a pinnacle of singer-meets-song with “There’s the Door,” which may be his best work since his nonpareil recording of “He Stopped Loving Her Today.”

Youngsters like Garth, Clint and Billy Ray may be getting all the attention these days, but Jones shows ‘em all exactly how country music really sounds when the Master is at the helm.