Hank Williams - 40 Greatest Hits LP

Hank Williams - 40 Greatest Hits

Hank Williams (1923–1953) is widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of popular music. Born Hiram Williams in rural Alabama, he taught himself guitar under the tutelage of blues musician Rufus Payne, and went on to create a body of work that would define country music for generations. His breakthrough hit “Lovesick Blues” (1949) launched him to stardom on the Grand Ole Opry, and over the following four years he recorded 55 singles that reached the top ten of the Billboard Country chart, twelve of them reaching number one. Though he died tragically at just 29 years old, his influence on Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and countless others is immeasurable.

Williams’ music, a potent blend of country, honky-tonk, blues and gospel, expressed, as his 2010 Pulitzer Prize citation noted, “universal feelings with poignant simplicity.” He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in the same year.

40 Greatest Hits was released in 1978 to mark the 25th anniversary of Williams’ death. It was significant for presenting his recordings without the rechannelled stereo or posthumous overdubs that had marred earlier compilations, returning listeners to the raw, authentic sound of the original sessions recorded at Castle Recording Laboratory in Nashville between 1947 and 1952. The result was described by Robert Christgau as essential listening, and remains to this day the best-selling record of Williams’ career. Rolling Stone ranked it at number 94 in their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and AllMusic awarded it a perfect five stars.

Track Listing

Disc One

1. Move It on Over
2. A Mansion on the Hill
3. Lovesick Blues
4. Wedding Bells
5. Mind Your Own Business
6. You’re Gonna Change (Or I’m Gonna Leave)
7. Lost Highway
8. My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It
9. I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry
10. I Just Don’t Like This Kind of Living
11. Long Gone Lonesome Blues
12. My Son Calls Another Man Daddy
13. Why Don’t You Love Me (Like You Used to Do)
14. Why Should We Try Anymore
15. They’ll Never Take Her Love from Me
16. Moanin’ the Blues
17. Nobody’s Lonesome for Me
18. Cold, Cold Heart
19. Dear John
20. Howlin’ at the Moon

Disc Two

1. I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love with You)
2. Hey, Good Lookin’
3. Crazy Heart
4. (I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle
5. Baby, We’re Really in Love
6. Ramblin’ Man
7. Honky Tonk Blues
8. I’m Sorry for You, My Friend
9. Half as Much
10. Jambalaya (On the Bayou)
11. Window Shopping
12. Settin’ the Woods on Fire
13. You Win Again
14. I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive
15. Kaw-Liga
16. Your Cheatin’ Heart
17. Take These Chains from My Heart
18. I Won’t Be Home No More
19. Weary Blues from Waitin’
20. I Saw the Light