Live at the Grand Ole Opry [EXTRA TRACKS] [LIVE]

Hank Williams Sr.

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 28, 1999)
• Original Release Date: September 28, 1999
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Extra tracks, Live
• Label: Mercury Nashville
• ASIN: B00001QGTM
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #175,012 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Some years ago, MGM Records issued an LP of 11 Hank Williams Opry performances originally recorded for broadcast on Armed Forces Radio. Years of digging have unearthed much more Hank at the Ryman in crystal-clear monaural sound. Disc 1's 19 songs, punctuated by onstage joshing with singer Red Foley and Opry comics Minnie Pearl and Rod Brasfield, begin with his June 1949 debut as an Opry regular, ending in July 1952, a month before his firing over drinking-related no-shows. These powerful live renditions include the broadcast debuts of "Jambalaya" and "Window Shopping" along with two stark, chilling gospel numbers. Even with his physical stamina failing--as it clearly was on the final two songs--these raw performances are powerful testaments to Hank's charismatic genius and remain as arresting today as at the moment of broadcast. Disc 2, a complete 1950 Opry segment featuring Williams, Foley, and other Opry acts, is a historically valid, though musically inferior document, and including it on a Hank Williams package tends to dissipate the album's overall focus. --Rich Kienzle

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 2 Unearthly Performances, December 4, 2001

By A Customer

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.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice, but should've been condensed down a bit!, April 18, 2000

By	Ronald G. Reagan (Steele, Mo.) - See all my reviews

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!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ok, it's a start, October 5, 2000

By	Hankman (USA) - See all my reviews

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.