This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
It was the Electric Circus of its day: The Grand Ole Opry, broadcast every Saturday night from Nashville. And on many of those Saturday nights between 1949 and ’52, country legend Hank Williams was there.
This two-CD set compiles those performances — many of them available here for the first time — all the way from his first hit Lovesick Blues through his heyday with Cold, Cold Heart and Hey Good Lookin’, and on to his final appearances months before his untimely death. You also get plenty of extras: A couple of good essays, comedy bits with Hank yukking it up with Minnie Pearl, gospel numbers, interview segments and a whole Opry show just for context. But Hank’s soul-baring lyrics and spine-tingling voice are still the real stars, just like they were half a century ago.
