Hank Thompson - Songs for Rounders-At the Golden Nugget - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Hank Thompson was one of the most important personalities in country music across several decades, keeping alive the spirit of western swing and the hillbilly roots of country music, performing with his highly-rated band The Brazos Valley Boys, while subsuming it into the honky-tonk style which characterised much of the successful and popular country music of this era. He was also a versatile vocal stylist, his hits including romantic ballads as well as his trademark swinging hardcore honky-tonk. He was a prolific hit-maker, and during the fifteen years or so covered by this collection had no less than 46 country hits, all of which are included in this great-value 57-track 2-CD collection. Those hits included the country No. 1s InchWild Side Of Life, InchRub-A-DubInch and InchWake Up, IreneInch, plus twenty other Top 10 hits in the country charts. As well as featuring his hits for his primary record tag, Capitol, this anthology also includes recordings from his early career on the small Blue Bonnet and Globe labels in 1946. It's an entertaining showcase for one of country music's most distinctive stylists of the post-war decades, and a comprehensive overview of the music which made him a fixture in the country charts through the 1950s

Albert Roussel's Piano Concerto, Op. 36 performed by the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra and Sylvia Capova conducted by Tibor Fresco.

Hank Williams was, quite simply, one of the most important artists, as a singer, songwriter and performer, not just in country music but in the entire landscape of American popular music during the post-war decades. Despite the fact that his recording career was restricted to no more than five years, the impact and influence of his music has resonated through country, pop and rock since has tragically early death in 1953 at the age of 29. During that brief career, and also posthumously, he had 35 country chart hits, including no less than eleven No. 1s, including landmark songs like InchLovesick BluesInch, InchHey Good Lookin'Inch, InchJambalayaInch, the disturbingly prophetic InchI'll Never Get Out Of This World AliveInch and InchYour Cheating HeartInch. He was very much a pioneer of the honky-tonk style which was a key strand of country music during the '40s and beyond, and which he lived out in his tempestuous life, and his songs have been recorded by hosts of artists across the genres down the years. This great value 103-track 4 CD set comprises the A and B sides of all his releases, from his debut on the Sterling tag in 1947, and through his years with the MGM tag and the posthumous releases up to 1955. It also includes the releases he made under the name of Luke The Drifter. It's a comprehensive overview of his work, and a worthy showcase for a unique talent.