Hank Williams - Gold

Good songs, well arranged, pleasant listening.

I'm really not a true country music fan, Credence Clearwater Revival, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band are about as close to country music as I get, but I do enjoy listening to this Hank Willaims Gold CD. The music is not in stereo or in high fidelity (stereo may not have been availble in the early 50's) but the singing and music are clear, the tempo is fast and upbeat, and those lyrics will make you smile. February 9, 2008

Great choice!

I gave this to a true-blue Hank Williams fan as a gift. He loves it...says it's got all "the good stuff" in one product. January 1, 2008

HONKY-TONKING MAN

I have been listening to a local weekend folk, rock and contemporary music interview show here in Boston for years. The format of the show is to interview, in depth, contemporary well know singers, songwriters and musicians as well as young unknowns looking to make their mark. One of the questions always asked of each interviewee is about formative influences on their musical development. Although I do not believe that I have ever heard what I would consider a country singer interviewed on the show the name Hank Williams has come up many more times than any other from young and old interviewee alike. When New Age- type musicians are going on and on about brother Williams you know something is up. And that is exactly the point. He has been gone for over fifty years yet those well thought out ballads and `jump' country swing tunes still sound pretty damn good.

Sure that is easy for me to say now. Although I was raised in the North my father was from the South, a hillbilly. This is music that I unconsciously heard at my father's knee. But such tunes as Cold, Cold Heart and You're Cheating Heart that he sung to me as a child were his kind of music. It was not until fairly recently that I got the message. In any case this compilation gives as good a cross section of Hank's work as you are liable to get with a mix of heart-felt ballads, some crossover tunes and, as seemingly inevitably in greatest hits packages, some novelty songs that could have justly been left out. I would note that not all of the many Williams compilations are equal either technically or musically. Here the technical quality is more than adequate and the producers seen to have put in the best back up band versions of his material that they could find. So stop Honky-Tonking and get this album.
August 2, 2007

Same Track Listing/New Title

What follows is my original review for the 2002 release entitled THE ULTIMATE HANK WILLIAMS. Why recycle an old review? The same reason that Mercury Nashville would recycle a collection that they still have in print and retitle it GOLD. The two CDs have identical track listings and they even use the same cover photograph. The only real difference between the two is that GOLD is a couple bucks cheaper.

It's still great music, but I question the record company's motive. Anway, here's my original review:

More than fifty years after his untimely death, Hank Williams' influence is still felt across the landscape of popular music. He is one of the few recording artists to have been inducted into both the COuntry Music Hall of Fame (1961) and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (1987). Although regarded principally as a country artist, he was at heart a poet, putting into music and words the heartache, pain and loneliness that ultimately consumed him before his thirtieth birthday.

To not have any Hank Williams in your music collection is to leave a gaping hole. The problem is there are some three dozen anthologies to pick from. Is THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION the best? Maybe not, but it has much to offer. The sound quality is very good. The 28-page booklet has plenty of pictures, serviceable liner notes (written by Kira Florita, co-author of "Hank Williams: Snapshots from the Lost Highway"), and recording dates for all 42 tracks. All the biggest hits are here ("Honky Tonkin'," "Cold, Cold Heart," "Hey, Good Lookin'," "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)," et.al.). There are a couple of his songs recorded as Luke the Drifter, including the weeper, "I Dreamed About Mama Last Night." CD-1 is presented chronologically, but CD-2 skips around after the first four tracks. Also, the last six tracks are radio transcriptions. "Why Don't You Love Me" and "Moanin' the Blues" are from a 1950 Grand Ole Opry Show; the final four tracks are taken from a 1949 WSM "Health & Happiness" radio show. The sound on these final tracks are the equal of his studio recordings and if anything add a more intimate and relaxed feel to these performances in front of a live audience.

Overall, this is an excellent overview of Williams' career, and will more than adequately provide the neophyte fan with an understanding of the legend of Hank Williams. [Running Time: Disc 1-59:29, Disc 2-50:05] HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
September 21, 2005

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