LOS ANGELES, Oct. 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- It's impossible
to overstate the power of Hank
Williams' impact on country music, from the DNA imprint
of his deeply personal songs to the children and grandchildren
who've taken his rebellious spirit to heart and continued the
family tradition. The Alabama
singer-songwriter's tragic death at 29 on or around Jan. 1, 1953, ended one of the most sensational
runs of hits in pop music history. 20 of Hank Williams' Greatest Hits, a
collection of the country superstar's most iconic songs, is
available back on vinyl today via Mercury Nashville/UMe. Pick up your copy and
listen here: https://UMe.lnk.to/HankHitsLP
As the father of contemporary country music, Williams stands as
country music's most important and unifying figure. While he only
released 35 singles in his short six-year career, he became the
genre's archetypical figure because of the universality of his
songs. These deeply emotional sketches still ring true more than
six decades after his death. After all, rich, poor, man, woman,
city, country, who hasn't felt the sting of well-deep heartache
like Williams does in "Your Cheatin' Heart" and "I'm So Lonesome I
Could Cry" or the sad, whiskey-drunk optimism of "Hey, Good
Lookin'" and "Baby We're Really in Love"?
He blended blues and country music in a way so satisfying it
helped transform a very rural sound into a national one just as
post-World War II America was booming and country folk were moving
to the cities and suburbs. Williams' influence looms large today in
the worlds of rock and country and it's for this reason he belongs
to both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall
of Fame as well as the Songwriters Hall Of Fame. In 2010, he was
acknowledged as a master songwriter and awarded a posthumous
Pulitzer Prize, praising Williams for "his craftsmanship as a
songwriter who expressed universal feelings with poignant
simplicity and played a pivotal role in transforming country music
into a major musical and cultural force in American life."
20 of Hank Williams' Greatest
Hits is curated with that legacy in mind, opening with the
pedal steel lament of his towering achievement, "Your Cheatin'
Heart," a song that transcends time, trends and musical styles.
When Williams moans to his soon-to-be ex, "your cheatin' heart will
tell on you," his voice is filled with a bone-deep heartbreak most
listeners are unfortunately somewhat familiar with. There were lots
of songs like this out there but "Your Cheatin' Heart" wasn't
covered in the usual polish and veneer of pop music. The words were
simple and direct, and the delivery was heart-rending. This was
back alley, not Tin Pan Alley, and the heartland responded.
The collection then runs the other direction immediately,
jumping to the high-tempo shuffle "Move It On Over" and the other
side of Williams' genius, his humor. The title is the song's hook
with Williams telling his new roommate to make room after he "came
in last night at half past 10, that baby of mine wouldn't let me
in." This is Hank the Bad Boy, and the listeners who didn't
immediately identify with "Your Cheatin' Heart" probably enjoyed
the cad's point of view.
Williams mastered these alternate identities to great effect as
a performer, using the high-tempo numbers to drive his always
sold-out live shows and radio performances with his Drifting
Cowboys. Timeless laments like "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" and
"Cold, Cold Heart" are balanced with noirish tales of damaged
characters on out-of-control journeys like "Ramblin' Man," whose
protagonist tells his new love: "I love you, baby, but you gotta
understand, when the Lord made me, he made a ramblin' man."
The collection also includes his randy come-on "Hey, Good
Lookin'," his first hit, a cover of "Lovesick Blues," "I Can't Help
It If I'm Still in Love with You" and "Kaw-Liga," the tale of the
heartbroken wooden Indian whose "heart was made of knotty
pine."
Individually, each song is a classic. Taken together, the songs
on 20 of Hank Williams' Greatest
Hits remind us that the diminutive singer with the sad smile
and white cowboy hat is one of music history's towering
artists.
20 of Hank Williams'
Greatest Hits track list:
Side A
1. Your Cheatin' Heart
2. Move It On Over
3. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
4. Ramblin' Man
5. My Heart Would Know
6. Kaw-Liga
7. Cold, Cold Heart
8. Lovesick Blues
9. Honky Tonk Blues
10. Honky Tonkin'
Side B
11. There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight
12. Jambalaya (On the Bayou)
13. Hey Good Lookin'
14. Window Shopping
15. I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)
16. Half As Much
17. Why Don't You Love Me
18. You Win Again
19. Baby, We're Really in Love
20. Take These Chains from My Heart
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161006/416295
Logo -
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150324/184009LOGO
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/20-of-hank-williams-greatest-hits-now-available-back-on-vinyl-via-mercury-nashvilleume-300341074.html
SOURCE Universal Music Enterprises