Hank Thompson and Friends

Vintage Collections Best known for 1951's "The Wild Side of Life," Thompson wed prewar Western swing to postwar honky-tonk and created a sound that proved viable both on the radio (where swing was usually ignored) and in the dance halls. He kept it up with a steady string of hits that included beer-...	Seven Decades Ever since rock rose to dominate popular music, it has fallen upon country music to deal with matters of maturity. While rock rings with anthems of young love and angst, country croons about marriage, kids, and holding on to the farm. Who better, then, to bring us joyfully engagi...	The Best of Hank Thompson: 1966-1979	Hank Thompson - All-Time Greatest Hits	Greatest Songs, Vol. 1
Last of the Breed Once an Outlaw, later a Highwayman, now an elder statesman, Willie Nelson joins forces with Merle Haggard and Ray Price (both of whom have recorded duet albums with Nelson) in a celebration of the classic country song. Everything about this is defiantly old school, from the prod...	Dwight Sings Buck Of course, you're thinking, when did Dwight not sing Buck? A fine question, since Yoakam built much of his vocal style around that of the late Bakersfield master, and recorded with him on occasion, the two even collaborating on Owens's own work ("Streets of Bakersfield"). So whi...	Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys Ray Benson's Asleep At The Wheel deserve admiration for keeping alive the sounds of western swing, but with a rhythm section that's usually straight-up-and-down stiff, The Wheel's recordings mainly just leave you craving their inspirations. The 18-song Tribute overcomes this prob...	Greatest Songs, Vol. 2	The Greatest Hits Collection As a superstar who's revered by both the young country audience and traditionalists, Alan Jackson is at his finest when he's steers clear of trifles like "Chattahoochie" and takes those younger fans to school. Here he does just that by paying respects to Hank ("Midnight in Mont...

BRIDGING THE GENERATIONS
I have been a Thompson fan since finding one of his Greatest Hits albums in a radio station where I was working in 1969. I know I played his stuff more than was justified by his popularity at the time,but The King of Western Swing made me a devotee of the music for life. Hearing this CD reaffirmed several feelings on Hank's music. It still sounds great,as does Hank; the modern musicians and recording techniques only serve to enhance a nearly pefect product,and whether the material is new or old,it just feels beter when Hank sings it. Frankly, I could have done just fine without the "Friends",but it was particularly pleasing to hear the likes of Vince Gill,David Ball,Tanya Tucker,Lyle Lovett,and other contemporary stars singing with one of the Masters,and sounding as though they loved every minute of it.

Brings back good ol' memories of Texas and Oklahoma!
As an old Okie who grew up in the '50s listening to the Texas/Oklahoma variety of western swing music, Hank Thompson always stood out as the best ever. His band was always top notch, tight and tasteful, with a sound that made people want to dance. Hank's singing, with that warm sincere voice, always pleased the ear. On this new CD he sounds exactly the same, if not better, and the band is great. His unique songs like "Green Light" and "I'll Still be Here Tomorrow" show his mix of humor and simple sincerity, with musical taste.

Modern versions of a venerable song writer's music.
For those of you who don't know who Hank Thompson is, this is a great chance to get to know this CMA Hall of Famer.The album opens with a rendition of the classic Thompson song "Six Pack to Go." Thompson is accompanied on this number by Vince Gill, who lends a high and lonesome sound that adds dimension to this, one of my personal favorite songs by this Texas songwriter.Hank is accompanied on this album by stars from a variety of backgrounds, such as Delaney and Bonnie who do a great rendention of "Dry Bread", as well as by their daughter Bekka Bramlett who lends her booming voice to fill out "I Picked a San Antonio Rose." "Hooked on Honky Tonk" features Brooks and Dunn lending that bar room feel to the song. And then there is the treat of listening to Hank's traditonal western voice weaving in and out with the velvet throated Lyle Lovett on the humorous number "Total Stranger," a treat that alone is worth buying this cd for.The performers that Hank sounds most at home with are Junior Brown, who lends both voice and guit-steel to "Sell Them Chickens", and George Jones featured on the song Hank wrote especially for them, "Hey George, Hey Hank."But the coup de grace on this album has to be Hank performing his classic "Wild Side of Life", only to be answered, as he was in real life, by Kitty Wells and Tanya Tucker doing the song that made Wells a household name, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels". Buy this album! Listen to this album! Enjoy this album! Have your faith restored in the music biz!

Modern versions of a venerable song writer's music.
For those of you who don't know who Hank Thompson is, this is a great chance to get to know this CMA Hall of Famer.The album opens with a rendition of the classic Thompson song "Six Pack to Go." Thompson is accompanied on this number by Vince Gill, who lends a high and lonesome sound that adds dimension to this, one of my personal favorite songs by this Texas songwriter.Hank is accompanied on this album by stars from a variety of backgrounds, such as Delaney and Bonnie who do a great rendention of "Dry Bread", as well as by their daughter Bekka Bramlett who lends her booming voice to fill out "I Picked a San Antonio Rose." "Hooked on Honky Tonk" features Brooks and Dunn lending that bar room feel to the song. And then there is the treat of listening to Hank's traditonal western voice weaving in and out with the velvet throated Lyle Lovett, a treat that alone is worth buying this cd for.But the coup de grace on this album has to be Hank performing his classic "Wild Side of Life", only to be answered, as he was in real life, by Kitty Wells and Tanya Tucker doing the song that made Wells a household name, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels". Buy this album! Listen to this album! Enjoy this album! Have your faith restored in the music biz!