This came out in 2001 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Everybody from Roy Acuff to The Residents has covered ole Hank. And there’s no lack of tribute albums to the original honky-tonk man — though usually they’re by the likes of George Jones, Roy Clark and Hank Jr.
Timeless takes a fresher and more freewheeling approach, enlisting a roster of rockers to root around in Williams’ discography. Bob Dylan wheezes a swinging I Can’t Get You Off of My Mind, Sheryl Crow yodels (!!) up a storm on Long Gone Lonesome Blues, Beck murmurs a dreamy version of Your Cheatin’ Heart, guitar whiz Mark Knopfler and country angel Emmylou Harris do double duty on Lost on the River and Alone and Forsaken, Hank III summons grandaddy’s ghost on a soundalike version of I’m a Long Gone Daddy, and none other than Keith Richards stumbles through You Win Again with his usual shambling gait and sloshed elegance. Timeless indeed. Peerless too.
