You all know that Hank Williams was a top notch song writer. So it should come as no surprise that there are many great cover versions of Hank's songs. I was going to do a massive post of my favorites but decided instead to just let them trickle out one at a time. Friday seems like a good day for Hank covers, so let's get started with a real barn-burner from my favorite cow punk band:
Jason & The Scorchers – Lost Highway (Live) (buy album).
This one really captures the attitude that made Hank so great:
"I was just a lad, nearly 22, neither good nor bad, just a punk like you, but now I'm lost, too late to pay, just a-travelin' down that lost highway..."
Here's an extra-special bonus cover of a Jimmie Rodgers' blue yodel:
Jason & The Scorchers - Jimmie Rodgers' Last Blue Yodel (Unplugged) (buy album).
It's a real train song from a guy wearing a real train hat.
"I love the women, and I love them all the same.
I love the women, and I love them all the same.
I love the women, but not enough to give them my name."
These songs come for the excellent Jason & The Scorchers collection called Wildfires & Misfires: Two Decades Of Outtakes & Rarities.
Make sure you check back here every Friday for a new Hank cover (while supplies last).
*UPDATE!: Major goof today. Turns out Hank didn't write "Lost Highway" after all. All these years I was giving him the credit that should have gone to Leon Payne. Thanks to Kylis for pointing this out. I'm still counting this as a Hank cover because I suspect Jason & The Scorchers had Hank in mind when they recorded it. Next time I'll try to do my homework.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Hank* Cover Friday: Jason & The Scorchers - Lost Highway (Live)
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7 comments:
Good god, this is a tremendous blog. If you had been born thirty years earlier, you would have been the owner of a very cool (indispensable, even) niche record shop.
I wish.
Thanks for your really nice comment!
Hank didn't write Lost Highway. It was written by Leon Payne. He also wrote They'll Never Take Her Love From Me, another tune Hank covered.
Great site.
Kylis
Dang! That's what I get for not doing my homework...
Hank did write a lot of great songs, though.
In addition to the songs metnioned above, Leon Payne's wrote Elvis Costello's Psycho, supposedly influenced by the Texas Clock Tower shootings.
Well, in addition to hiring an intern/fact-checker, I think it's time to put a Leon Payne feature into the pipeline here.
YES! More Leon Payne!
Kylis
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