- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- 14 More of Hank Williams’ Greatest Hits – Vol. III includes several bona fide Hank Williams classics: “Lost Highway”, “I’ll Never Get out of this World Alive”, etc.
Hank Williams – 14 More of Hank Williams’ Greatest Hits – Vol. III (1963): Easily one of the 10 most important and influential musicians of the 20th Century, Hank Williams established the basic sound of country music as we know it today, much as Elvis Presley did for rock and roll music less than a decade later. He is often called Hank Williams Sr. to distinguish him from his “outlaw country” son Hank Williams Jr. and also his grandson Hank Williams III. But Hank Williams’ influence goes beyond country music; he is also an important blues singer and has inspired generations of rock and folk musicians up to the present day. Even 70 years after his premature death on New Year’s Day 1953 while being driven to a concert, nearly everyone having any interest in music knows the name Hank Williams, although they might not be familiar with his songs.
While Hank Williams’ career was short, he had an immense number of hit singles; from Wikipedia: “[Hank Williams] recorded 55 singles (five released posthumously) that reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, including 12 that reached No. 1 (three posthumously).” Also, Hank Williams wrote or co-wrote most of these hits. Hank Williams’ first hit is “Move it on Over” in 1947 that reached #4 on the Billboard Most Played Juke Box Folk Records chart. “Move it on Over” is considered to be one of the first rock and roll records and has a lot of similarity to the song that most people think of in that regard, “Rock Around the Clock” (1954) by Bill Haley and His Comets. I first learned about Hank Williams’ songs on my father’s copy of Hank Williams Memorial Album (1953) that was released shortly after his death. Hank Williams had his greatest success with MGM Records, and the label has released numerous retrospective albums over the years. Many of these albums have the songs overdubbed with orchestral music and background singers and/or electronically processed “stereo” effects in an effort to increase their appeal to modern audiences; but thankfully, 14 More of Hank Williams’ Greatest Hits – Vol. III has the original recordings. Interestingly, there is a previous album called 14 More of Hank Williams’ Greatest Hits – Vol. II (1962), but I could not locate any reference to the expected first album that would be called something like Hank Williams’ Greatest Hits on the MGM Records label. Although 14 More of Hank Williams’ Greatest Hits – Vol. III is presumably the third volume in the series, there are several bona fide Hank Williams classics on this album: “Lost Highway”, “I’ll Never Get out of this World Alive” (ironically, Williams’ last hit song during his lifetime), “Mind Your Own Business”, “I’m a Long Gone Daddy”, and “You’re Gonna Change (or I’m Gonna Leave)”. “Long Gone Lonesome Blues” is Hank Williams’ second #1 song, and “On the Banks of the Old Pontchartrain” is the follow-up single to his first hit “Move it on Over”. “I Won’t be Home no More” is a #4 hit that is one of Hank Williams’ best-selling posthumous singles. There are also several B-sides on 14 More of Hank Williams’ Greatest Hits – Vol. III: “Rootie Tootie”, “The Blues Come Around”, “I’ve Just Told Mama Goodbye”, “May You Never be Alone”, “My Heart Would Know”, and “Let’s Turn Back the Years”.