Buried deeply in Amazon's Hank Williams listings is this Bear Family single CD "Rockin' Chair Money - Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight," an absolute gem, and a true delight for any fan of Hank Williams. Hank Williams CDs fall into several catagories: Greatest Hits (he had a lot of them), "Complete" compilations, none of which truly cover the immense recorded output of Ole Hank (studio, radio shows, live recordings, home demos) and live or home demo CDs. What makes "Rockin' Chair Money" such fun is that Bear Family draws on Hank's entire catalog and puts together a CD of up-tempo tunes, with no mind to chronology or source....its just Hank Williams "shakin' this shack," playing a bunch of tunes to keep the dance floor hoppin' and your toes a-tappin'. The disc audaciously starts out with "Tennesse Border," a solo home recording, not even written by Hank, and overdubbed by players after Hank's death....but the point is, this is one great song and a great opener to this set. Hey, what's not to like about "I picked her up in my pickup truck and she broke this heart of mine"?
Bear Family always costs more than a normal CD, and that's because they tend to give you twice what the best from other companies do. "Rockin' Chair Money" has 1) thirty-three songs on one disc 2) a 30 page expert essay on Hank's career, which is especially strong on his posthumous catalog (who dubbed what, when), a complete, top quality discograpy of the songs contained herein and 3) great vintage graphics. Bear Family actually recognizes that a CD can hold 80 minutes of music. My player reads 85 minutes....which, I suppose, is like rock guitarists turning their amps up to "11".
About one-third of the songs are familiar ("Hey, Good Lookin') and the remaining are lesser known ("The Blues Come Around") or overdubbed ("Fool About You.") An aside..."Fool About You" was overdubbed on two separate occasions, once with Hank's usual country backing and later, in 1961, with a different set of players, this time the ace Nashville crew who played behind the Everly Brothers, Brenda Lee, Patsy Cline, etc. The beat of the song is changed to make a somewhat average country song into a hard driving, rockabilly tune. The CD ends with this tantilizing taste of what a 35-year-old Hank Williams would have done had he lived into the age of Elvis, Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers. I think Old Hank would have been one of those "Shack Shakers" and given them all a run for their money.
Strongly suggested for uptempo listening. Remember, people used to dance when Hank Williams sang.
