Roy Acuff Sings Hank Williams (For The First Time) (Vinyl record album review)

Record basics

Album name: Roy Acuff Sings Hank Williams (For The First Time)

Artist name: Roy Acuff

Year: 1966

Number of discs: one

Label: Hickory Records

Collection: Friedman

Buy it on Ebay: $5.77

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I am familiar with Hank Williams and with a bunch of these songs, and I think I’ve heard of Roy Acuff before, but don’t know any of his music.

What I expected

Country.

What it was actually like

This was so great, and the only thing that bothered me was that more country music is not like it. I especially liked the fiddle and the harmonica throughout the record.

Acuff’s Hey, Good Lookin’ was very charming, and it reminded me of my grandmother singing it to my grandfather, or maybe the other way around – it’s not easy to remember that far back – which I’m pretty sure was the first time I ever heard it.

Your Cheatin’ Heart was another favorite, and the first time I remember hearing it was on the famous Pepsi commercial, which I recall my father thinking was hilarious.

Jambalaya was the best song on the record, and it also came up last month when I reviewed Song for Juli by Jesse Colin Young:

On the second side, there was a stretch of three great songs in a row, all covers. The first was a great and fun version of the blues classic T-Bone Shuffle with harmonica and piano (and here is the original). The other two, Clifton Chenier’s Lafayette Waltz and Hank Williams’ Jambalaya (which was the only song that I recognized), ran together as one song and were outstanding, but maybe that’s just because I think Zydeco (or maybe Creole, or Cajun) music is great. Here are originals of the former and the latter, and here are some covers of the former and the latter too. If I were Jesse Colin Young 50 years ago, I would record an entire record of covers like these.

Grade

5/5: love it