''George Jones Salutes Hank Williams'' is the
1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events
January
* Ja ...
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
released in May 1960 by
George Jones
George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) 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", ...
. 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
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...
. Though the album didn't chart, however, it became one of his best sellers. All of the songs included were recorded by
Hank Williams
Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...
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
Colin Escott (born August 31, 1949) is a British music historian and author specializing in early U.S. rock and roll and country music. His works include a biography of Hank Williams, histories of Sun Records and The Grand Ole Opry, liner notes ...
quotes Jones telling his version of events to
Ralph Emery
Walter Ralph Emery (March 10, 1933 – January 15, 2022) was an American country music disc jockey, radio and television host from Nashville, Tennessee.
Emery promoted numerous stars on his radio and TV shows, and was called the Dick Clark o ...
: "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
San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...
. 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."
![Hank Williams Drifting Cowboys Cropped](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Hank_Williams_Drifting_Cowboys_Cropped.jpg)
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
''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.
Background
Jones's first rele ...
''.
Recording and composition
Recording
''Salutes Hank Williams'' was recorded on April 21, 1960, at
Bradley Film and Recording Studio
Quonset Hut Studio was a music recording studio established in 1954 in Nashville, Tennessee by brothers Harold and Owen Bradley as Bradley's Film & Recording Studios and later operated as Columbia Studio B. The Quonset Hut was the first commerci ...
in
Nashville, TN
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
. All the tracks were produced by Jones' manager,
Pappy Daily
Harold W. Daily (February 8, 1902 – December 5, 1987), better known as "Pappy" Daily, was an American country music record producer and entrepreneur who cofounded the Texas-based record label Starday Records. Daily worked with many of the well-kn ...
. The first track recorded was "''
Settin' the Woods on Fire
"Settin' the Woods on Fire" was the A-side of a single by Hank Williams (opposed by "You Win Again (Hank Williams song), You Win Again"), released in September 1952. The song reached number 2 on U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs, Most Play ...
''," followed by "''
Window Shopping
Window shopping, sometimes called browsing, refers to an activity in which a consumer browses through or examines a store's merchandise as a form of leisure or external search behaviour without a current intent to buy. Depending on the individua ...
''," and "''
Howlin' at the Moon
"Howlin' at the Moon" is a song written and recorded by Hank Williams. It rose to number 3 on the Hot Country Singles chart in 1951. The song also appeared on the soundtrack of alternate history TV series, '' For All Mankind''.
Song history
Th ...
''." The next tracks recorded were "''
There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight''," "''
Hey Good Lookin'''," and "''
Half as Much
"Half as Much" is an American pop standard song written by Curley Williams in 1951. It was first recorded by country music singer Hank Williams in 1952 and reached number two on the ''Billboard'' Country Singles chart.
Hank Williams version
Acc ...
''." "''
Nobody's Lonesome for Me''," "
Cold, Cold Heart
"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''.
Hank Williams version
Williams adapted the melody ...
'', "
Why Don't You Love Me?''," "''
Honky Tonkin'
"Honky Tonkin'" is a 1947 country music song, written and recorded by Hank Williams. His song went to #14 on the ''Billboard'' country music chart in 1948. In 1982, it became the sixth chart topping single for Williams' son, Hank Williams Jr.
...
''," "''
Jambalaya (On the Bayou)
"Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer Hank Williams that was first released in July 1952. It is Williams' most covered song. Named for a Creole and Cajun dish, jambalaya, it spawned numerou ...
''," and "''
I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)
"I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)" is a song written and originally recorded by Hank Williams on MGM Records. It hit number two on the '' Billboard'' country singles chart in 1951. In his autobiography, George Jones printed the ...
''." 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.
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
Reception
The album became one of his very best sellers, and is some of Jones' best recordings during his time with
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...
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 WebsiteRecord Label
{{Authority control
1960 albums
George Jones albums
Hank Williams tribute albums
Mercury Records albums
Albums produced by Shelby Singleton