Hank Williams Blues

[smilnJackB]

I'm always looking for blues songs I like and can play and sing moderately well - (that puts some limits on me).
I've added 2 good old Hank Williams songs; Move It On Over (Come in last night at half past ten, that baby of mine wouldn't let me in) and Mind Your Own Business. Old Hank had a lot of great, bluesy tunes. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif Jack

[earthsave]

We do Honky Tonk Blues every once in a while. It rocks and swings.

[bluesmandolinman]

smilnJackB

Can you recommend a CD of Hank with the most Bluesy Stuff ?

I don´t have any so far...

Thanks,René http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[ira]

rene- beat me to the question. don't know much hank, but would love some good honky tonk blues to try and play along with.

[billkilpatrick]

any compilation disc is ok, even those poorly recorded - he was just so good.

i remember getting a ride from someone when i was hitch-hiking through the maritime provences of canada who had hank williams on the radio playing "the first fall of snow." that was 30 years ago and it must have lasted all of about two minutes but i'm still hearing it.

yodel-lay-dee-o-de-lay-dee-o-de-laydee-ou...

- bill

[duuuude]

Also check out Rocky Road Blues, same flavor as alot of Hank's stuff, and don't forget Milk Cow Blues! So many blues, so little time!
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[earthsave]

Moanin' the Blues and also Blue and Lonesome (Bill/Hank co-write)

[steve in tampa]

Lovesick Blues!

Long Gone Lonesome Blues!

I'm so Lonesome I could Cry!

Get the double album best of CD. Can't go wrong w/ Hank!

[smilnJackB]

Rene',
I would recommnend '20 of Hank William's Greatest Hits.' It has some of Hank's best classic songs and several with 'Blues' in the title. I think it would have to be one of the 10 best CDs ever.
I agree with Duuuude on Rocky Road Blues and Milk Cow Blues being similar good songs. Rocky Road is by Bill Monroe. I never heard Mr M. do it and some bluegrass fanatic may some day shoot me for doing it in the bluesy 12 bar style I do it with. My favorite version of Milk Cow Blues is on one of the (several) Will The Circle Be Unbroken CDs (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band & friends), sung by Doc Watson. My wife and I have fun on that one with alternate guitar and mando picking. Unfortunately, we can not sing it like Doc Watson.
Jack http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[smilnJackB]

Small Retraction: Steve is right, the double CD Hank albun would be a better choice than his 20 best, especially if you are looking for more blues. You know, I had that double CD and it went bad on me.
I do not have the best luck with CD longevity. I think I will start a thread on this in the 'general' category. Jack

[bluesmandolinman]

Thanks everybody for the recommendations.

As I always appreciate comments from my Blues Mandolin Buddys
I couldn´t resist and just bought a 3-CD compilation with 60 ! songs at Ebay......

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[billkilpatrick]

tonight you're settin' the woods on fire.

[smilnJackB]

Bluesmando man, Pleas tell us how you like it. Jack

[mrbook]

I decided years ago that I cannot - and should not - try to sing and play like Muddy Waters or B.B. King, as much as I like to listen to their music. I also discovered that people like Hank Williams do the kind of blues I can feel comfortable singing. Don't forget Jimmie Rodgers, either - Bill Monroe did a lot of his songs, and there is a great old RCA album out there of Lefty Frizzell doing his songs, too. I believe that Elderly Instruments has a 4-5 CD box set of all the good Hank Williams stuff for about $20, which I might still get even though I have most of his work on many LPs, CDs and cassettes. Lots of great songs that are a hit with any audience.

[Martin Jonas]

I believe that Elderly Instruments has a 4-5 CD box set of all the good Hank Williams stuff for about $20, which I might still get even though I have most of his work on many LPs, CDs and cassettes. Lots of great songs that are a hit with any audience.
I think that's the 4CD Hank Williams "Hillbilly Hero" box set published by Proper Records in the UK. I have it and I think it's preferable to the various budget compilations because it's only marginally more expensive but it's complete up to the end of 1951: every single studio recording, including the Luke The Drifter sides, plus some of the demos and one CD of Health & Happiness radio shows. What it does not have (for copyright reasons, I believe) is the 1952 sessions, which includes Jambalaya, Your Cheatin' Heart, Kaw-Liga and (I think) eight more. These are missing on a lot of the other cheaper compilations as well, so you may need to stick with the Mercury/Polygram releases for those.

In general, the problem with buying Hank Williams compilations is that there are hundreds of them, they all have a lot of overlap and if you start buying them and then want to fill in the gaps, you end up buying the same tracks over and over again. For this reason, I think the best ones to go for are either the Proper Box or the "Original Singles Collection Plus" 3CD set on Polygram. The latter is about twice as expensive and is missing the Luke The Drifter sides (which aren't that good anyway), but has all of the 1952 material. Of course, if money is no object then the 10-CD "Complete" box set is the one to go for, with all the demos and all the radio shows.

Not an awful lot of mandolin on any of these sides, but several Hank Williams songs work just fine on mandolin. I like to bash out Jambalaya, which is such a catchy riff and really works well in a session.

Martin

[mrbook]

"Jambalaya" is a great song to start a night or a set with - two chords, and everyone gets to stretch out, so we all get to see how well we are playing together that night. I also have a single CD budget Hank Williams compilation (can't remember the label, but probably English) called "Low Down Blues" that has about 20 good songs on it.

[bluesmandolinman]

Hey Jack
Got the 3 CD Hank Williams Set on Monday.
I like maybe half of the songs but some are too sad country Ballads ... that´s....hhhmmm http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

But there are several songs I really like and some that I already knew without knowing it is from Hank http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Very interesting is that most of the above mentioned numbers from other board members i like too ... similar mind among mandolin players I guess

Very little Mandolin though . But great Blues Fiddling [/U] on the bluesy numbers... i like the Up Tempo Numbers the best...

Numbers I like :
I can´t get you off my mind
Honky Tonkin´
Move it on over
My bucket´s got a hole in it
Rootie Tootie
and several others.......

Thanks for the recommendation because otherwise i wouldn´t have tested Hank i think !?

Cheers,René

[Jacob]

Hank Williams' Blues reflect the influence of Rufus "Tee-Tot" Payne (http://www.cmt.com/news/articles/1486323/20040412/williams_sr_hank.jhtml?headlines=true).
"All the music training I ever had was from him."

[mandocrucian]

René -

I did a couple of Hank Sr. tunes on my On Fire & Ready! (http://www.elderly.com/recordings/items/MANDOCRUCIAN-CD03.htm) album: Honky Tonk Blues which gets a Ry Cooderesque treatment, and Low Down Blues which is done in a Dr. John/New Orleans r&b groove. #There's also an instrumental (in doublestops) called The Mandocrucian Hop which I wrote after learning a bunch of Don Helms' steel guitar solos off Hank Sr. records; the tune is all table steel type licks.

Other good Hank tunes which I've played, on and off, are: I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive, I Heard That Long Lonesome Whistle Blow, Ramblin' Man, Lost Highway, Moanin' The Blues and Long Gone Lonesome Blues. #The best stuff isn't the well-known hits, imo.

There were a bunch of other guys who took up that Hank Sr. sound after he died.#The early Ray Price stuff is pure Hank, and in fact, he inherited the Drifting Cowboys and renamed them The Cherokee Cowboys and added a second fiddle in there. #Long before he had his hits with those stupid recitations (Phantom 409, Teddy Bear, Giddy-up Go), Red Sovine did some really good and funky honky-tonk on his earliest LPs - stuff like Juke Joint Johnny, Billygoat Boogie, How The Old Man Gets Around. #Another guy that did some really funky stuff before going to recitation (Deck Of Cards fame/dreck was T. Texas Tyler. #Of course, none of his best stuff (Let's Get Married, Dig A Little Hot Rod...) seems to be completely unavailable on any in-print compilations.

In the early 80's in Florida my brother Erik and I were doing a lot of funky honky-tonk, country boogie and rockabilly. #Hank Sr., T Tex Tyler, Red Sovine, Johnny Horton, Marvin Rainwater, Maddox Bros. & Rose, and early Buck Owens (which was about a decade later in the historical timeline). #None of the local country bands wanted anything to do with this tyle stuff - they were all into garbage like Alabama's Mountain Music. #And this was several years before Dwight Yoakum came along and put the Horton and Owens stuff back on the CW airwaves, and it became OK for the same country cover bands to do the stuff.

Speaking of that early Maddox Brothers (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:cx2m963o3epf~T1) stuff - wild, wacky and rocking, with Fred Maddox on an amped-up mando. However, you can still find their good stuff, like this Arhoolie album. (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wh9ss36ya3rg)

Niles Hokkanen

[smilnJackB]

Rene',
I am pleased you liked those bluesy Hank songs. Some of the rest may grow on you. Jack

[bluesmandolinman]

Hi Niles
I hadn´t heard the On Fire & Ready! CD for some time but I did today right after reading your comment.

Your versions of Hank´s songs are just great !!! Man there is more great Blues Mandolin Picking in just one song than in 5 songs of mine http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

I thank you so much for your frequent inspriration http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

Cheers,René

[s1m0n]

I also discovered that people like Hank Williams do the kind of blues I can feel comfortable singing.

For more of this manner of blues, I highly recommend a collection called Hillbilly Blues, on the UK label ASV, which sets firmly to rest the late-sixties question whether white men could play the blues. White men could and did, from the start.

It consists of 25 recordings from the 78 era, with excellent notes on players and instrumentation, including plenty of good mandolin. One of my faves.

http://entertainment.msn.com/album/?song=4183313&album=567978

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