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Hank Williams specialized in a certain kind of music: no bullshit. He set the template for the kind of hardened, sarcastic, deeply spiritual and secretly emotional iconography that was picked up by numerous performers: Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Merle Haggard, Beck and X are just a small fracture of the artists that owe him a huge debt. His music wasn’t just honky tonk country, it breathed with a folksy, purely American warmth that also incorporated elements of gospel, pop and a early, primitive variation of rock & roll that would explode with the Sun Records lineup. 40 Greatest Hits doesn’t come close to showcasing everything he recorded, The Complete Recordings does, but this collection does showcase his genius in every facet. Forty songs sounds like an exhaustive number, but it’s an absolute perfection. This is the kind of compilation that I keep speaking of: very facet of Williams’ genius is on display, every invention, every well-known (and often covered) song and lesser known, but no less great, songs are also included. It is presented in chronological order and shows a growth in artistic ability and musical importance.
Hank Williams was blessed with a songwriting gift and knack for musical invention that comes along so rarely, that anyone would be envious for any of his well-known songs. “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” “Cold, Cold Heart,” “Hey, Good Lookin’,” “Jambalaya (On the Bayou)” – these are timeless, and often covered, songs which would be good enough evidence to cement William’s stature and reputation, but they’re just the beginning of the story. “Your Cheatin’ Heart” is another one of those songs, and it’s my favorite from him, but only just so. “Ramblin’ Man,” a song which brought country music into the modern era, is a character song, like several other country songs it discloses the story of a less than reputable man and his lifestyle, is a strong contender for his best song. The gospel-tinged “I Saw the Light,” which closes out the two-disc set, is a musical revelation. Williams sounds like he’s made peace with the (self) destructive journey he chronicled in “Lost Highway” and is expressing his spirituality while his soul is in the ether. And his rollicking, smartass humor in “Move It on Over” was obviously a point inspiration for Johnny Cash in songs like “Dirty Old Egg Sucking Dog” and “Flushed from the Bathroom of Your Heart.” The honky-tonk guitar and piano throughout obviously helped to give rise to rockabilly.
Hank Williams is quite possibly the first great musical artist of the modern era to have died at an early age. He was only twenty-nine. (Robert Johnson is another contender for that distinction.) What he managed to accomplish in, roughly, less than a decade sent a subtle shockwave through modern music that culminated in a huge tidal wave of influence. The Sun Records big-bang of rock & roll owed him a huge debt, Bob Dylan named “Like a Rolling Stone” after one of his lyrics and Beck has been taking his lesson in honky-tonk country and mixing them in with modern electronics and hip-hop throughout his entire career. Is this essential listening? Oh, yes. This is also essential music to own. 40 Greatest Hits is absolute perfection. DOWNLOAD: “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “Ramblin’ Man,” “I Saw the Light,” “Move It on Over”
