The Complete Hank Williams [Box]

Performer: Hank Williams
Artist: Audrey Williams; Kitty Wells; Little Jimmy Dickens; Anita Carter; Minnie Pearl; Curley Williams
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: THE COMPLETE HANK WILLIAMS is 10-CD deluxe box set containing more than 220 tracks including 53 previously unreleased and the complete early Sterling Records and MGM Records sessions. The box also comes with 2 books: "The Stories" with extensive liner notes by Colin Escott, a 2,500-word essay by Daniel Cooper, complete discography, biographical chart, rare photographs, and "The Music" which contains the 10 discs as well as handwritten lyrics, LP covers, detailed track listings and other information. Also included are 8 Hank Williams postcards, some of which feature original art. Personnel includes: Hank Williams (vocals, acoustic guitar); Audrey Williams (vocals); James "Guy" Willis, Zeke Turner, Louis Innis, Zeb Turner, Slim Thomas, Jack Shook, Bob McNett, Sammy Pruett, Rusty Gabbard, Chet Atkins, Harold Bradley, Eddie Hill (guitar); Clyde Baum (mandolin); Dale Lohman, Herman Herron, Jerry Byrd, Don Davis, Don Helms (steel guitar); Charles "Skeeter" Willis, L.C. Crysel, Robert Wise, Tommy Jackson, Dale Potter, Jerry Rivers (fiddle); Vic Willis (accordion); Owen Bradley or Frank Rose (piano, organ); Bronson "Brownie" Reynolds, Lum York, Willie Thawl, Ernie Newton, Velma Williams, Hellus Butrum, "Cedric Rainwater" (Howard Watts), Charles Wright, Floyd "Lightin'" Chance (bass); Farris Coursey (drums). Producers include: Fred Rose. Compilation producers: Colin Escott, Kira Florita, The Country Music Foundation. Includes liner notes by Daniel Cooper and Colin Escott. Digitally remastered by Joseph M. Palmaccio at Sterling Sound. THE COMPLETE HANK WILLIAMS won the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Historical Album and for Best Boxed Recording Package, and was nominated for Best Album Notes. Part of this collection includes 6 Health And Happiness radio transcription recordings from 1949. Includes a 52 page booklet. You may think you know it all when it comes to Hank Williams. You may have the three disc ORIGINAL SINGLES box, you may even have every volume of the now out-of-print chronological reissue series. No matter how much Hank you've got, this elaborately packaged 10-disc box will reveal previously untold chapters in the story of country music's greatest songwriter. THE COMPLETE HANK WILLIAMS contains not only all the Williams material ever released but 53 (!) tracks that never saw the light of day before. Consequently, this set is a must for any serious Hankophile. Williams' knack for communicating complex emotions in simple terms, his natural ear for captivating melodies and his ability to inject all of his tortured soul into every performance are what made him such a legend. His is the wellspring from which all modern country (and a fair amount of pop and rock) songwriting flows. Featuring studio and live recordings as well as demos and radio transcriptions, this box provides the ultimate comprehensive view of Williams' music, which contained elements of folk, gospel, blues, Western Swing, and even the roots of rockabilly, in addition to the honky-tonk sound he helped invent.

Spin (1/99, p.92) - Ranked #2 in Spin's list of the "Ten Best Reissues Of 1998." Spin (11/98, pp.144-145) - 10 (out of 10) - "...this jumped-up hillbilly was the bridge between old and new. He links the pious, antebellum Roy Acuff to postwar, urban, roadhouse culture....the key to country's red-dirt past and sign of a rock world to come." Entertainment Weekly (9/25/98, pp.101-102) - "...Ultimately, THE COMPLETE HANK WILLIAMS is less a document more than a documentary: the nonfiction story of a prodigiously gifted falling-down alcoholic, always at odds with his wife Audrey,...the industry he helped spawn,...and most crucially, himself..." - Rating: B+ Mojo (Publisher) (7/02, p.120) - "...Follows him chronologically through 1946-1951 over 3 CDs - ragged folk-spiritual-singer on CD1; urban mountain-boy-going-on-rock star on CD3..."

The Robert Johnson of country, Hank Williams was a troubled visionary who hung around just long enough to change the face of American music forever. He added electric instruments and touches of Western swing and proto-rockabilly to the post-hillbilly sound of his idol Roy Acuff, writing a wealth of unforgettable tunes along the way. In the late 1940s and early '50s, Williams rose to fame with a series of these chart-topping hits, including "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" and "Hey, Good Lookin'." Though Williams' hard living caught up with him in 1953, his legacy lives on in his timeless songs and the legions of musicians he inspired.

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