Customer Reviews

Live at the Grand Ole Opry

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This 2-CD set brings together some truly sublime performances (the unearthly Grand Ole Opry debut of "Lovesick Blues" and "Move It On Over") on disc 1, but little of consequence is contained on disc 2. The "Move It On Over" track was 'recently discovered' in Mercury's vaults, but most of these live recordings were released on the 10-CD box set, lending truth to my suspicion that Mercury is hoarding the majority of these recordings and will release them one at a time at a premium price.

Ok, anything new by Hank is essential! But, the problem is that Mercury Nashville knows this & uses this to make a quick buck off of Hank's fans. Here's what you get with this set. You get disc one that is comprised of all Hank, but runs only about 60 minutes. The second disc has only one song by Hank. The rest is throw away stuff like a comedy skit by Jamup & Honey and some other lesser knowns. Yes, it's nice to hear Red Foley doing a live rendition of a gospel song, but when I buy a Hank CD, I do not want to hear Red Foley unless he is MCing the show. This second disc runs short of 30 minutes making it a total waste. Mercury should've taken the one song off of disc two and put it on disc one. If you are going to have this as a two-discer, how about some of the live stuff not included here? How about the video versions of "Cold, Cold Heart", "Hey, Good Lookin'" or the live version of "I Can't Help It" w/ Anita Carter? How about the live version of "Dear John" that appeared on the bootleg CD "Jambalaya"? I'm beginning to think Kira Florita & Mercury Nashville are more intent on fleecing the pocketbooks of Hank's fans than providing excellent retrospectives on Hank!

For those of you who own THE COMPLETE HANK WILLIAMS box set, this CD looks like a mere duplication of CD #10. It really isn't. It's substantially better. Well worth owning at the right price.

Five of the tracks ("I Can't Help It," "Wedding Bells," "Jambalaya," "Window Shopping," and "Half as Much") are brand new and excellent. The first and last are especially outstanding. Additionally, there are six new song versions that are generally longer and better than the versions on the set. "Long Gone Lonesome Blues," with more vocal inflection than any other, is the best live version. "Why Don't You Love Me," "Moanin' the Blues," and "Nobody's Lonesome for Me" are longer versions than on the set. "Cold, Cold Heart" has more feeling than the set version, although I prefer the set version for the violin quality of the fiddle.

Ignore the second disc; it's [not that great]. I suspect Mercury stuck this on so that the set would roughly correspond in quality and length to their HEALTH AND HAPPINESS set. The latter, while essential to own, totals only 96 minutes and has lots of filler with eight versions of "Happy Rovin' Cowboy," and "Sally Goodin'," plus Audrey's screeches, etc. Disc one of LIVE AT THE GRAND OLE OPRY makes the whole thing worthwhile.

In conclusion, Disc One of LIVE AT THE GRAND OLE OPRY is worth owning. Look for a good used copy, or an inexpensive new copy, of this. It probably isn't worth paying the retail price for this product, any more than the HEALTH AND HAPPINESS SHOWS is worth the full retail price. ...

This set is a start by Mercury of what should be a long lived series of releases of live recordings. Hank recorded so much live material in his career that this only touches the tip of the iceberg. I'm thinking here of "live" recordings that have found their way onto bootleg CD's such as the oft-mentioned "Jambalaya". No, we're not talking "Mother's Best" here, but so many have made the point that even though CD#2 is a "bonus", it is practically worthless except to historians, completists or fans of these other artists, so that is a turn-off to this set. Polygram done a heckuva job in the 1980's with their multi- volume set, so I'd suggest Mercury take the same road with the live recordings and do some sort of a commemorative set of "live" recordings for the completists out there.

This 2 CD set of transcriptions recorded live at the Grand Ole Opry is a must have for all country music collectors as it not only is a reissue of an LP issued in the 1970's, but is a 2 CD set with not only performances by Hank but also Minnie Pearl, Rod Brasfield, Red Foley, Oak Ridge Quartet and other Opry regulars at the time Hank appeared on the show. The 2nd disc does contain an entire show from 1950 while the first disc does have Hank performances from 1949 (his debut on the Opry to 1952). The packaging is a nice hardcover book with pages of nice liner notes and rare photos. I'll repeat this but this isn't only for Hank fans, but for all country music collectors no matter how big a Hank fan you are as the humor is a major part of the Opry.

...that hasn't already been written. Still, it seems that anyone who hears this man's recordings (especially in my little part of the world) is moved to words...and usually those words are his, sung in unison with whomever else happens to be around. Everyone, it seems, knows all the words - everyone knows the melodies. And, deep down, everyone knows the emotions that we can only assume spurred the writing of these songs. In his wonderful liner notes for this release, Rick Bragg writes about Hank Williams: "I thought he lived in our house". Yep, these songs do hit damn close to home. These Opry recordings are extrordinary. It's wonderful to hear the crowd react to Hank's first Opry performance - an amazing rendition of "Lovesick Blues" - by repeatedly erupting during the song into chears of joy. It was 1949, and there had never been anything like him. Fifty years later, there still hasn't.

this is so sweet. its an awsome live album by mr williams sr. kinda makes you feel like your there watching the concert in person, so i give this one a 5 stars for sure. long live the king hank williams sr.

While the prior review is generally knowledgeable, its perspective seems to be unduly harsh (please also refer to the writer's negative review of The Complete Hank Williams boxset for further evidence of this pattern). Despite the sixty minutes of music on disc one justifying a five star rating, the additional twenty minutes on disc two is admitedly grossly inferior...however there's no way no how that that this set merits an OVERALL score of only TWO STARS! I mean this is like poo-pooing a great steak dinner because the desert and coffee were below par. Whereas I would normally have given this collection 4 stars all things considered, the prior review's low-ball score forces me to give this baby FIVE (count'em * * * * *) STARS! The steak and all the trimmings are fine here folks...just go somewhere else for desert! ; )

Listening to this 2 disc set, is like going back in time, to the late 1940's & early 1950's. It's like listening to live music on the radio, that was being performed/broadcasted, live at the Grand Ole Opry. The first disc contains a compilation of 21 performances by Hank Williams, including some comedy with Minnie Pearl & Others. The CD notes give the date of each perfomance by Hank, on the Grand Ole Opry. The dates range from 1949 - 1952. You get to hear stage annoucements, and etc., and I like that. I'm glad they didn't edit out some of the stage talk.

On disc 2, you get a complete "Armed Forces Radio Show"/"Grand Ole Opry Show", that was performed/broadcasted on 2/18/50, it includes 2 performances by Hank, plus 8 other performances &/or comedy from other country music artists. It's really like going back in time.

When I was a child, my Mom & Dad took me and my brother, to see a Grand Ole Opry show at the old Ryman Auditorium. I value that experience.

The liner notes to this cd set were well written by Rick Bragg, Pulitzer Prize-Winning author of the best seller "All Over But The Shoutin'". He was raised in Alabama, while Hank was in his prime, and when Hank's songs were being played consistently on radio stations.

If you like Hank, and/or American Music History, then I highly recommend this cd set. Thanks!!!!

Being a Hank Williams fan for some time I am biased...but that said I really enjoyed this CD. Some of the tracks are performed just a little differently than the commercially released versions, and I liked that. Some of the tracks have captured just a little more spark of the live performance. The tracks by other artists including the comedy routines did not interest me, but the banter between Hank and the others at the Opry was entertaining. I would recommend Mama's Handthis CD to anyone who is a Hank Williams Sr. fan