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| My Favorites of Hank Williams | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1962 | |||
| Recorded | September 1962 | |||
| Studio | Columbia, Nashville | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 28:14 | |||
| Label | United Artists | |||
| Producer | Pappy Daily | |||
| George Jones chronology | ||||
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My Favorites of Hank Williams is an album by American country music artist George Jones. It was released in 1962 on the United Artists record label. It was Jones' second tribute to the music of Hank Williams.
Jones's first release on Mercury Records in 1960 had been George Jones Salutes Hank Williams, which features twelve sides made famous by the late country star. My Favorites of Hank Williams includes twelve more recordings in much the same vein, with strict country arrangements, but Jones's voice has matured and is noticeably lower than it was earlier in his career when his vocal style was more derivative of his doomed idol. Jones always cited Hank Williams as one of his biggest musical influences. In 1949, Jones actually met Williams when Hank appeared on KRIC in Beaumont, a radio station where a teenage Jones had secured a gig backing an old time country duet act Eddie and Pearl. In a 2006 television interview with Bill Cody Jones recalled, "He had to be the nicest guy I'd ever met in my life, so down to earth...He had a big hit out at the time called 'Wedding Bells'. I was gonna play guitar with him on this radio show...I'm standing on the other side of the mic – that's when the mic came out of the ceiling – I'm standing there ready to kick it off and instead he starts singin'. So that beat me out of the kick off, you know, I'd rehearsed and rehearsed...He finished the song and I hadn't hit a note. Not a note. I just stared at him. I was amazed."
In the 1989 video documentary Same Ole Me, Jones admitted, "I couldn't think or eat nothin' unless it was Hank Williams, and I couldn't wait for his next record to come out. He had to be, really, the greatest." In his memoir, Jones recalled learning about Williams death on New Year's Day 1953 while he was serving a stint in the marines stationed in San Jose, California. After a friend showed him the headline in the paper, Jones wrote that he "lay there and bawled", adding that "Hank Williams had been my biggest musical influence. By that thinking you could say he was the biggest part of my life. That's how personally I took him and his songs."
AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine observes that My Favorites "does differ from the previous Mercury recordings in terms of production – the UA release is slightly smoother, yet it is still firmly in the honky tonk tradition" and comments that Jones delivers the songs "with affection and grit, making the record a thoroughly enjoyable listen."
| Review scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   link |
All songs by Hank Williams, except where noted.
Hiram "Hank" Williams was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century. Williams recorded 55 singles that reached the top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, five of which were released posthumously, including 12 that reached No. 1, three of which were released after his death.
George Glenn Jones was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", as well as his distinctive voice and phrasing. For the last two decades of his life, Jones was frequently referred to as the greatest living country singer. Country music scholar Bill Malone writes, "For the two or three minutes consumed by a song, Jones immerses himself so completely in its lyrics, and in the mood it conveys, that the listener can scarcely avoid becoming similarly involved." The shape of his nose and facial features earned Jones the nickname "The Possum". Jones has been called "The Rolls-Royce of Country Music" and had more than 160 chart singles to his name from 1955 until his death in 2013.
Hank Locklin was an American country music singer-songwriter. He had 70 chart singles, including two number one hits on Billboard's country chart. His biggest hits included "Send Me the Pillow You Dream On" and his signature "Please Help Me, I'm Falling". The latter also went to number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 pop music chart. Billboard's 100th anniversary issue listed it as the second most successful country single of the rock and roll era. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA.
William Herbert "Lum" York was a musician best known as the bass player in Hank Williams Drifting Cowboys from 1944–1949. After leaving the Drifting Cowboys, York played bass in Lefty Frizzell's band until 1953. York continued to perform until weeks before his death and was a fan favorite at the Hank Williams festival in Georgiana, Alabama.
"Cold, Cold Heart" is a country music and pop song written and first recorded by Hank Williams. This blues ballad is both a classic of honky-tonk and an entry in the Great American Songbook.
40 Greatest Hits is a two-record greatest hits compilation by American singer-songwriter Hank Williams. It was released in 1978 by Mercury Records – who under PolyGram became responsible for the MGM tape vault – on the 25th anniversary of Williams' death. Significantly, it was the first anthology in quite some time that did not subject Williams' recordings to either rechanneled stereo, posthumous overdubs, artificial duets with family members, or most or all of the above. Because of both this, and the value-for-money attraction of having a deeper song selection than single-disc compilations issued previously by MGM Records, many reviewers consider this anthology to be the perfect starting point for newcomers to Williams' recorded legacy. The album remains, to this day, the best-selling record of Williams' career.
Kickin' Out the Footlights...Again is a studio album by American country music artists George Jones and Merle Haggard, released in 2006.
Surreal Thing is the seventh solo album by Kris Kristofferson, released in 1976 on Monument Records. "Killing Time" and "The Golden Idol" are re-recordings of songs that were originally released as a single in 1967.
Mr. Country & Western Music is an album by American country music artist George Jones released in 1965 on the Musicor Records label.
George Jones Salutes Hank Williams is the 1960 country music studio album released in May 1960 by George Jones. The album was the ninth studio LP release, and was recorded in one session. The album has been reissued multiple times since its release, including the tracks being reused on many compilations.
White Lightning and Other Favorites is a studio album released by George Jones on May 26, 1959. Its title track "White Lightning" was a #1 Country hit in 1959.
"Why Don't You Love Me" is a song by American singer and guitarist Hank Williams. The song reached number one on the U.S. Country & Western chart. It was released as a single in 1950 with the B-side, "A House Without Love".
Country Favorites – Willie Nelson Style is the fourth studio album by country singer Willie Nelson. He recorded it with Ernest Tubb's band, the Texas Troubadours and Western Swing fiddler-vocalist Wade Ray with studio musicians Jimmy Wilkerson and Hargus "Pig" Robbins. At the time of the recording, Nelson was a regular on a syndicated TV show hosted by Tubb.
...And Then I Wrote is the debut studio album by country singer Willie Nelson, recorded during August and September 1962 and released through Liberty Records.
"Wedding Bells" is a song written by Claude Boone and recorded by Hank Williams on MGM Records. It peaked at No. 2 on the Best Selling Retail Folk chart in 1949.
"A Mansion on the Hill" is a song written by Hank Williams and Fred Rose and originally recorded by Williams on MGM Records. It peaked at No. 12 on the Most Played Jukebox Folk Records chart in March 1949.
"You're Gonna Change (Or I'm Gonna Leave)" is a song written by Hank Williams. It was released as a single on MGM Records in September 1949 and reached #4 on the Best Selling Retail Folk Records chart.
"I Could Never Be Ashamed of You" is a song written and recorded by Hank Williams. It was released as the B-side of "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive" on MGM Records in November 1952.
"Take Me" is a song written by George Jones and Leon Payne. Jones originally released the song on the Musicor label in 1966 and scored a No. 8 hit. However, the song is best remembered for being the first single release by Jones and his third wife Tammy Wynette in 1971 on Epic Records. That version was also a top ten hit, peaking at No. 9.
