Thursday, April 23, 2009

049 HANK WILLIAMS-40 GREATEST HITS

Hank was a fine singer who ensured his place in popular music history by the exceptional quality of his songwriting. His songs were often recorded by pop singers of the time and this practice has continued ever since. He rarely recorded covers - so rarely that the ones he did record are often thought of as his own songs anyway. This compilation was originally released on vinyl and later re-issued on CD. As far as song selection goes, this is the ultimate double CD of his music. The sound quality is plenty good enough for me, though it might be interesting to hear it digitally re-mastered with the latest technology. Virtually every famous song associated with Hank can be found here, including all his own hits on the American country and pop charts. You can also find all the songs that have become popular via cover versions, some of which were only B-sides for Hank. The most significant omission (and it took me a while to notice that it was missing) is Honky tonkin', a great song but not absolutely essential. Tribute albums and other cover versions continue to be recorded, not just in country and pop music, but also Cajun, jazz, rock and other genres, so each new generation gets reminded of Hank's legacy. There have been many compilations of Hank's music but this is the only one that contains all the essentials and no more. As such, it is the ideal compilation for most people. I thought that the more recent British 4 CD budget box (Hillbilly hero) might include all the songs from this set but it does not cover his whole career and therefore omits several obvious songs including Jambalaya, You win again, Kaw-liga, Your cheating heart and Take these chains from my heart although it does include Honky tonkin'. So if you only want one collection of Hank's music, make it this one. -AMAZON. COM

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1 comment:

  1. hello... hapi blogging... have a nice day! just visiting here....

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A Beatles fan since December 1980.Now an oral surgeon and music journalist.He lives in Bangkok.