It’s impossible to get closer to the heart of Hank Williams’ work than this collection, which finds the country legend armed only with his acoustic guitar and plaintive pipes. Most of the tracks were cut as demos, and hearing Hank skirting the edge of heaven on the spiritual “Thy Burdens Are Greater Than Mine” or hurtling toward hell on the wastrel’s lament “Honky Tonk Blues” in such stripped-down settings underscores his almost preternatural power as both singer and songwriter.
- Johnny Cash
- Hank Williams, Hank Williams III & Hank Williams, Jr.
- Ernest Tubb
- Lefty Frizzell
- Merle Haggard & The Strangers