Customer Reviews

Hank Wilsons Back

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I could actually put this on my dad's old counsel "hi-fi" record player and sit with my parents and enjoy the music. Yep. Back in 1973 my parents thought their 23 year old son with the long hair and strange friends had become a commie! But then, I came over one evening with this album and, voila! It was just like I had combed and parted my hair; shaved and spashed on some Old Spice; and pulled on a polyester polo shirt! I really was an American! What a hoot this album was back then. I loved it. Only Leon with his connections could round up the musicians he has on this album...great c&w players. Oh, I was a rocker and honestly, never did like country that much, but this album was different...and yet, it didn't try to "rock a billy" the music so we'd accept it...just played it traditionally and perfectly...maybe the instrumental breaks were a tich longer and packed with pickin', fiddlin' and grinnin'. I love the renditions of the great country standards that were selected for this album...it brought the kids of the 60's home to the parents and gave them something they could agree on for at least one evening! Great old time country music for the parents and a freaky guy with long hair and beard singing the lead for the kids! Wonderful memories for me in this album. It was too long missing from my collection...it's nice to have it on CD and enjoy those old standards the way they were meant to be enjoyed--with the stamp of approval of the WW-II generation--but don't let that scare you off...this is Leon, and it's great music played perfectly by the best country pickers of that time.

I am Japanese Leon Fan,19-year-old girl.I understand English a little .so forgive my mistakes in my expression.I love the way he sings country .I like especially�eRooling in My Sweet Baby's Arm�fand�eJambaraya'(and more..).His voice is more fantastic than any other singers,I think.I have Hank Wilson‚R.too. Please listen!!‚h love both of them.Leon,please come to Japan!!‚h love you so much.I've never seen him (I hear that Leon came to Japan 5?years ago.but I didn't know him then.sorry.)I'm very happy to be Leon Fan.

Probably only the Lord knows why I love this album so much. Like another reviewer, my wife and son won't let me play it while their around, so I play and sing along with it while I am alone in the car. Yes, Leon's voice is terrible to some, a little whiney to some but that is what gives the album its charm. You can hardly sing worse! The song selections are classic. The band is great. I love the steel guitars of Pete Drake, Curly Chalker, Weldon Myrick, and Hal Rugg. Then you have the classic Dobro of Tut Taylor on Uncle Pen! What more is there to love?

here's leon russell pretending he's Hank Williams, better then Hank Williams Junior will ever be able to. This is such a great CD you will love it from the first time you listen to it. a true labor of love.

I cant say that I liked or disliked country music as I'd never listened to it, then along came 'Hank' - and I listened. 30 years on and I'm still listenin. This is without doubt the album most responsible for turnin ordinary rock lovin souls onto country music. So befor you say "I dont like country" (or even after you've said it) have a listen to Hank Wilsons Back, befor you realize what you're doin - you'll be havin a hoe down y'all.
Add it to your collection, you wont be sorry!

I'm not a big fan of traditional country music, but this is a great CD. There's not a weak song in the bunch. Leon & Co. do a fine job on up-tempo tunes like "Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms" "Jambalya", & "Truck Drivin' Man" as well as ballads such as "She Thinks I Still Care", "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", "Am I That Easy to Forget", "The Window Up Above" & "Goodnight Irene", featuring some very nice harmonica work. The CD also features two bonus tracks not found on the orignal album.

I bought the original LP years ago. How nice to find the CD...plus two songs not on the LP. Leon Russell proves his versatility on this CD.Bonnie Reid

I first heard this album back in, oh,'71 or so, and didn't really appreciate it then. I found it again, on cassette, in '87, and played it so much (I was in Korea in the Army) that it wore out. I've been searching for another copy ever since then, so was really suprised to see it listed here - but oh course, about every great music ever recorded is listed here! This album is definately not for everyone - I let my father borrow mine, and my mother wouldn't let him play it in the house - he had to co out to the garage to listen to it (that's ok, this kind of music sounds better in the garage anyway!), and he's 67 years old! This is the really old whiny cry-baby wailing hillbilly music, some Hank Williams, some Jimmy Rogers, etc - music that you can put on, crank up really loud, and sing along with no matter how bad you sing (in fact, probably the worse you sing the better - this kind of music works that way). Get your kids to sing along too (ok, maybe not - my 16-year old runs and hides when I put this cd on), get your neighbors, get your father-in-law, get your dogs, get the whole neighborhood - they just don't record great sing-along music like this any more. This is just plain fun music!

One of the few LP's I ever owned, I wore it out. Hank Wilson's Back is as fresh today as it was in '71 or so.

After 29 years, I still sing the songs from that album. That is, when I'm not singing classical or ancient church music. These classic country hits transcend snobbery with their free expression and simple but unique music, if you let them.

Like an old South Carolinian once said, "Country music will never die because everyone can always sing along with a new song". Try it. Sing along!

On Thanksgiving Day 1974, some college buddies and I left in the falling snow to visit friends and acquaintances in different portions of the US. In those days, we were driving a Subaru, with a casette player. Remember them? As we approached Stillwater, Oklahoma, where a former dorm mate was a doctral student, my former roomie Dennis put on the tape of this gem.

Leon Russell was never all that much of a star. He became a little bigger as one of George Harrison's guests at the Bangla Desh concert. So, while I was familiar with him, I didn't know he was from--Dennis said--Oklahoma! So the tunes stuck with us.

I don't know if they're meant as more of a satire of Leon's own country nostalgia, but they're well done! (At the time, I wasn't into country but bluegrass was pop, so I was familiar with the style).

"She Thinks I Still Care" by Dickey Lee Lipscomb still rings a bell for me. And who can forget Hank Williams "Jambalaya."

"A Six Pack To Go" by Thomson, Lowe, and Hart certainly applied to us in those days.

Then, low and behold, I saw this on Amazon.com as a CD. How could I resist?

To tell you the truth, when I purchased it, I didn't even notice the "bonus tracks," "Hey Good Lookin'" and "In the Jailhouse Now" which add even more charm to a disc already well done.

If you want a county staple, with ringing steel guitar, piano, accoustic guitar, and fine instrumentalists on all of them, this is your choice.

Now, I wonder what Leon's up to these days...