Gold

Performer: Hank Williams
Artist: Eddie Hill; Owen Bradley; Chet Atkins
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION includes rare tracks from the Health & Happiness radio show, pseudonymous tracks as Luke The Drifter, and 5 rarities only available on THE COMPLETE HANK WILLIAMS box set. Personnel includes: Hank Williams, Jerry Rivers, Don Helms, Sammy Pruett, Bob McNett, Cedric Rainwater, Chet Atkins, Zeke Turner, Ernie Newton, Louis Innis, Eddie Hill, Jerry Byrd, Tommy Jackson, Owen Bradley, Jack Shook. Compilation producers: Kira Florita, Andy McKaie, Mike Ragogna. Recorded between April 21, 1947 & September 23, 1952. Includes liner notes by Kita Florita. All tracks have been digitally remastered. Liner Note Author: Kira Florita. Recording information: 04/21/1947-09/23/1952. While there are numerous Hank Williams compilations on the market, very few can compete with this outstanding 2002 two-disc set, sporting wonderfully remastered sound, which surveys the hard-living country legend's all-too-brief yet toweringly important recording career during the late 1940s and early '50s. In addition to including Williams hits such as the saucy "Hey, Good Lookin'" and the morbidly witty "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive" (fittingly released around the time of his 1953 death), THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION presents revered lesser-known tunes such as the restless "Ramblin' Man" (issued under the alias "Luke the Drifter") and the beautifully melancholy "Lost Highway," all of which feature the performer's charmingly nasal drawl and spare, lilting arrangements. Although more comprehensive Williams anthologies are available, this is undoubtedly one of the best. Tall, charismatic, and eschewing rustic hillbilly stage outfits in favor of sleek, tailored Nudie suits, Hank Williams was country music's first true superstar, and he was more than aware that a little motion on-stage drove the ladies crazy. But it is Williams' songwriting that has ensured his legacy more than anything, and his songs -- which mixed hillbilly elements with blues and gospel, all with a firm grasp of how to shade in some Tin Pan Alley techniques -- crossed over regularly to the pop charts, and have continued to hold up well even into the 21st century. Songs like "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," which has a spare, poetic structure so efficient it could be a haiku, and "I'll Never Get out of This World Alive," which manages to be funny, ironic, and prophetically frightening all at once, don't happen by accident, and show an awareness of craft that has a good deal more in common with Irving Berlin than it does Uncle Dave Macon. This two-disc overview of Williams' career includes his classic MGM and Polydor singles from 1947 to 1952, a handful of haunting acoustic demos (which show him to be a quite capable acoustic guitarist), a couple of his Luke the Drifter cuts, and a half-dozen or so live spots from the Grand Ole Opry (in 1950) and Health & Happiness (in 1949) radio shows. Thankfully it includes none of the string-sweetened overdubbed versions that proliferated after Williams' death, and given the number of dubious and rather thrown-together Hank Williams collections on the market, Gold earns trust points for being both thorough and tasteful. ~ Steve Leggett Mercury/UTV Records' 2002 release The Ultimate Collection does not follow a strict chronological running order over the course of 42 songs and two discs, but that's not a problem since the sequencing flows easily and is logical to the ear. Besides, the other "best introduction/summary" to Hank Williams -- 1978's 40 Greatest Hits -- didn't run chronologically, either. That collection still is the best choice for an introduction, even if it doesn't have the remastered sound this boasts, because it has a better song selection. True, all of the stone-cold essentials are here, but there are lot of songs that really should have been here -- "My Son Calls Another Man Daddy," "Nobody's Lonesome for Me," "Dear John," "Baby, We're Really in Love," for instance -- yet aren't since the compilers favor a slight revisionist bent that will appeal to alt-country fans (more gloom and doom, not as much fun). It should be noted that this complaint is a minor one, applicable to those who already have a lot of Williams, and, overall, this is an excellent summary of his greatest work, one that will satisfy most listeners, or will convert those who have yet to realize why Hank is a legend. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine It is difficult to complete with Mercury's 1978 two-disc Hank Williams set 40 GREATEST HITS, which set the standard for compilations to follow with its inventive sequencing and superb song selection. GOLD, however, comes mighty close. With 42 tracks spread out over two CDs, digitally remastered sound, and a thick booklet packed with notes and photographs, GOLD is an excellent primer for the Williams novice. Williams wrote so many incredible songs--so many time-tested paeans to love, loss, joy, loneliness, and heartbreak--that it is impossible to include them all under one cover. But where GOLD is missing such gems as "Nobody's Lonesome for Me" and "Baby We're Really in Love," it includes live tracks, demo rarities like "Please Don't Let Me Love You," stark anthems like "Alone and Forsaken," and two songs that Williams recorded under the name Luke the Drifter. In between are scads of Hank essentials, including "Your Cheatin' Heart," the aching "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)," and "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive" (one of pop music's great existentialist anthems). If you aren't acquainted with Hank Williams--and even if you are--GOLD is a great bet.

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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