George Jones Salutes Hank Williams
George Jones Salutes Hank Williams | ||||
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Studio album by George Jones | ||||
Released | May 1960 | |||
Recorded | April 21, 1960 | |||
Studio | Bradley Studios, Nashville, Tennessee | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 29:42 | |||
Label | Mercury | |||
Producer | Shelby Singleton | |||
George Jones chronology | ||||
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Singles from Salutes Hank Williams | ||||
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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.
The album was his second album release of the 1960s, and is one of the best sounding albums recorded with Mercury Records. Though the album didn't chart, however, it became one of his best sellers. All of the songs included were recorded by Hank Williams at some point in his short-lived career, and during this time of Jones' career, he had incorporated much of Williams singing style into his style.
Background
George Jones very often would cite Hank Williams as his biggest musical influence. Jones listened to him any chance he could get, and bought many of his records. He would even meet Williams during a radio show on KRIC in Beaumont, Texas where a young teenage Jones secured a gig backing old-timer country duet act Eddie and Pearl. In the liner notes to Cup of Loneliness: The Classic Mercury Years, Colin Escott quotes Jones telling his version of events to Ralph Emery: "Hank was appearing at the Blue Jean Club on the Port Arthur highway. A dee-jay on KRIC was a good friend of Hank's, so he asked Hank to come by that afternoon before the dance. I had an electric guitar. I knew he was coming by, and I had learned 'Wedding Bells'. He gets up to the microphone with the guitar, and he didn't let me kick it off. I had done all that figuring out. When he started singing, I loved his singing so much that I was dumbfounded. I never hit one note. My fingers just froze to the neck of the guitar."
In the 1989 video documentary, Same Ole Me, Jones admits, "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."
The songs on George Jones Salutes Hank Williams feature some of the late country star's biggest hits, including "Cold, Cold Heart" and "Hey, Good Lookin'". Jones would record a second Williams tribute album in March 1962 titled My Favorites of Hank Williams.
Recording and composition
Recording
Salutes Hank Williams was recorded on April 21, 1960, at Bradley Film and Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee. All the tracks were produced by Jones' manager, Pappy Daily. The first track recorded was "Settin' the Woods on Fire," followed by "Window Shopping," and "Howlin' at the Moon." The next tracks recorded were "There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight," "Hey Good Lookin'," and "Half as Much." "Nobody's Lonesome for Me," "Cold, Cold Heart, "Why Don't You Love Me?," "Honky Tonkin'," "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)," and "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)." In an interview with the Country Music Hall of Fame, session guitar player Jimmy Capps recalled that all 12 sides were recorded in 3 hours, with George Jones singing live, and no playbacks. Other session personnel, according to Capps, were: Jimmy Day on steel guitar, Tommy Jackson on fiddle, and Buddy Killen on bass.[1]
Composition
All the songs included on the album, but two, were written by Hank Williams. Williams himself, is widely regarded as the greatest songwriter in country music's history. Many of the songs on this album stand as a testament to that regard, the best songs including; Cold, Cold Heart, There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight, I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You), and novelty song Hey Good Lookin'. The only songs not written by Williams was Settin' the Woods on Fire, written by Fred Rose with Ed G. Nelson, and Window Shopping by Marcel Joseph.
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Cold, Cold Heart" | Hank Williams | 3:21 |
2. | "Nobody's Lonesome for Me" | Williams | 2:11 |
3. | "Hey Good Lookin'" | Williams | 2:47 |
4. | "Howlin' at the Moon" | Williams | 2:50 |
5. | "There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight" | Williams | 2:23 |
6. | "Half As Much" | Curley Williams | 2:14 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" | Hank Williams | 2:09 |
2. | "Why Don't You Love Me?" | Williams | 2:06 |
3. | "Honky Tonkin'" | Williams | 2:27 |
4. | "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)" | Williams | 2:25 |
5. | "Settin' the Woods on Fire" | Ed G. Nelson, Fred Rose | 2:11 |
6. | "Window Shopping" | Marcel Joseph | 2:27 |
Reception
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [2] |
The album became one of his very best sellers, and is some of Jones' best recordings during his time with Mercury Records from 1957-1962. Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine writes: "George Jones Salutes Hank Williams was recorded at Mercury Records, toward the beginning of Jones' career. At this stage, George still sounded similar to Hank Williams, but he had begun to incorporate much of Williams' vocal techniques into a distinctive vocal style of his own. If Jones had recorded these songs while still at Starday, they wouldn't be as exciting as they are now -- since he had moved beyond mimicking into his own style, he's able to invest Williams' songs with grit and passion, instead of just copying Hank. It's an affectionate, entertaining tribute, featuring some of the greatest songs ("Cold Cold Heart," "Hey Good Lookin'," "Half As Much," "Jambalaya," "Why Don't You Love Me," "Honky Tonkin'," "Settin' the Woods on Fire") in country music. (The 1984 reissue is slightly shorter than the original issue and features liner notes by Elvis Costello)."
References
External links
- George Jones' Official Website
- Record Label
- v
- t
- e
- Grand Ole Opry's New Star
- Country Church Time
- White Lightning and Other Favorites
- George Jones Salutes Hank Williams
- George Jones Sings Country and Western Hits
- George Jones Sings from the Heart
- George Jones Sings Bob Wills
- Homecoming in Heaven
- My Favorites of Hank Williams
- I Wish Tonight Would Never End
- George Jones Sings Like the Dickens!
- I Get Lonely in a Hurry
- The Race Is On
- Mr. Country & Western Music
- New Country Hits
- Old Brush Arbors
- Trouble in Mind
- Country Heart
- Love Bug
- I'm a People
- We Found Heaven Right Here on Earth at "4033"
- Walk Through This World with Me
- George Jones Sings the Songs of Dallas Frazier
- The George Jones Story
- My Country
- If My Heart Had Windows
- I'll Share My World with You
- Where Grass Won't Grow
- Will You Visit Me on Sunday
- George Jones with Love
- George Jones Sings the Great Songs of Leon Payne
- George Jones (We Can Make It)
- A Picture of Me (Without You)
- Nothing Ever Hurt Me (Half as Bad as Losing You)
- In a Gospel Way
- The Grand Tour
- Memories of Us
- The Battle
- Alone Again
- I Wanta Sing
- Bartender's Blues
- My Very Special Guests
- I Am What I Am
- Still the Same Ole Me
- Shine On
- Jones Country
- You've Still Got a Place in My Heart
- Ladies' Choice
- Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes
- Wine Colored Roses
- Too Wild Too Long
- One Woman Man
- You Oughta Be Here with Me
- And Along Came Jones
- Walls Can Fall
- High-Tech Redneck
- The Bradley Barn Sessions
- I Lived to Tell It All
- It Don't Get Any Better Than This
- Cold Hard Truth
- The Rock: Stone Cold Country 2001
- The Gospel Collection
- Hits I Missed...And One I Didn't
- Burn Your Playhouse Down – The Unreleased Duets
- What's in Our Heart (with Melba Montgomery)
- Close Together (As You and Me) (with Melba Montgomery)
- Bluegrass Hootenanny (with Melba Montgomery)
- George Jones & Gene Pitney – For the First Time! Two Great Stars
- George Jones & Gene Pitney – Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee! (with Gene Pitney)
- It's Country Time Again! (with Gene Pitney)
- Double Trouble (with Johnny Paycheck)
- A Taste of Yesterday's Wine (with Merle Haggard)
- Kickin' Out the Footlights...Again (with Merle Haggard)
- George Jones & The Smoky Mountain Boys
- Hillbilly Hit Parade
- George Jones Singing 14 Top Country Song Favorites
- George Jones Sings His Greatest Hits
- The Fabulous Country Music Sound of George Jones
- Long Live King George
- The Crown Prince of Country Music
- A King & Two Queens (with Judy Lynn and Melba Montgomery)
- Blue & Lonesome
- Heartaches & Tears
- Famous Country Duets
- Hits by George
- The Best of George Jones
- All-Time Greatest Hits, Vol. 1
- Encore
- Anniversary – 10 Years of Hits
- By Request
- Super Hits
- Friends in High Places
- Super Hits, Volume 2
- 16 Biggest Hits
- 50 Years of Hits
- God's Country: George Jones and Friends