Hank Williams - Classic Hits [Spain Import]

Classic Hits packs 22 of Hank Williams' finest recordings onto a single LP, pressed on 180 gram vinyl in a limited gatefold edition imported from Spain.

Few artists have cast a longer shadow over country music. In a recording career that lasted barely six years before his death at 29, Williams wrote and sang songs so plain-spoken and so wounded that they became a foundation for honky-tonk, rockabilly and the confessional songwriting that followed.

The essentials are all here. "Your Cheatin' Heart" and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" remain two of the saddest songs ever put to tape, the latter's whippoorwill and midnight train painting loneliness in a few perfect strokes. "Hey, Good Lookin'" swings the other way with a grin and a wink, and "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" turns a Louisiana party into a singalong that has never stopped. Elsewhere, "Lovesick Blues" shows off the yodel that made him a star, and "Move It On Over" rocks harder than most people expect from forties country.

That lonesome voice cuts through every groove, plain and piercing, and seventy-odd years on it still sounds like it's singing straight to you.

For anyone starting a country collection, or simply wanting the songs that started it all, this is a generous place to begin.