Classical

January, 1999

The biggest boxed set in Nashville history is The Complete Hank Williams (Mercury). The ten CDs contain more than 225 tracks, including 53 previously unreleased cuts. All of Williams' hits are here--along with his Luke the Drifter narratives and his talking blues response to Senator Joe McCarthy. But what make this set worthwhile are the recordings we've never heard. The most innocent and optimistic cut is 1939's Happy Rovin' Cowboy, his earliest known recording. At 17, Hank made Cowboy with an...