Bargain Audio CDs & Priceless Collection (series)

Salutes Hank Williams

by George Jones

Product Description:

Includes liner notes by Elvis Costello.

Digitally remastered by Suha Gur at Polygram Studios.

All songs written by Hank Williams except "Half As Much" (Curley Williams) and "Settin' The Woods On Fire" (Fred Rose/Ed G. Nelson).

Throughout his career, George Jones has frequently acknowledged Hank Williams as the greatest influence on his own music. Early on, Jones demonstrated his dedication to Williams' music by recording two separate tributes to the honky-tonk giant. The first of these, GEORGE JONES SALUTES HANK WILLIAMS, was released in 1960 while Jones was under contract to Mercury-Starday Records. Jones' second tribute to Williams, MY FAVORITES OF HANK WILLIAMS, was recorded two years later, after Jones had moved to the United Artists label.

Of Jones' two Hank Williams albums, GEORGE JONES SALUTES HANK WILIAMS is truer to Williams' original recordings; the band is more vibrant and more prominently featured than on the later album, and Jones' vocals are similarly more enthusiastic. Yet, as Elvis Costello points out in his liner notes, these are not merely slavish covers of the originals. Jones makes these songs his own, whether he is playfully twisting the chorus of "Honky Tonkin'" or moaning the blues on "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You)." Because this album shares no song titles with MY FAVORITES, the two make a nice matched set.