Country singer George Jones hasn't been to Tucson since the early 1980s. Where did he play then?
The Maverick King of Clubs, which in the 1960s and '70s was Tucson's premier honky tonk.
Former club owner Mo Farhang said he booked Jones twice — once in the early 1970s and the second in the early 1980s. (Related story, Page 4.)
"He was great. He did his work. He did his show. He was sold out. We had a line out there," Farhang recalled.
Farhang booked some of country music's biggest stars in those days: Buck Owens, Buddy Alan, David Frizzell, Roy Clark, Merle Haggard, Faron Young, Mel Tillis, Little Jimmie Dickens, Ernest Tubb, Barbara Mandrell, Freddy Fender and Willie Nelson.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the club stopped chasing after big-name artists, in large part because it became financially unfeasible. The artists demanded bigger paychecks that Farhang couldn't cover with his 350-capacity club.
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Farhang sold the club last year.
On Feb. 22, the Maverick, now at 6622 E. Tanque Verde Road, will host a triple bill concert with The Country Rat Pack — Andy Griggs, Blake Shelton and Tracy Byrd. For tickets, call 298-0430.
