Recorded: 1947-52

Released: Oct. 11, 2005

Rating:

Genre: country

Quotable: --

Album Tracks, Disc 1:

1. Honky Tonkin’
2. Rockin’ Chair Money
3. I’m a Long Gone Daddy
4. I’ve Been Down That Road Before
5. Moanin’ the Blues
6. I Heard That Lonesome Whistle
7. Rootie Tootie
8. You Better Keep It on Your Mind
9. Settin’ the Woods on Fire
10. Wearin’ Out Your Walkin’ Shoes
11. Too Many Parties and Too Many Pals
12. Ramblin’ Man
13. Tennessee Border
14. Howlin’ at the Moon
15. Move It on Over
16. Hey, Good Lookin’
17. Leave Me Alone with the Blues
18. Lost Highway
19. Honky Tonk Blues
20. There’s a Tear in My Beer

Album Tracks, Disc 2:

1. Lovesick Blues
2. Wedding Bells
3. A Mansion on the Hill
4. I’m Free at Last
5. My Love for You Has Turned to Hate
6. Your Cheatin’ Heart
7. First Year Blues
8. On the Banks of the Old Pontchartrain
9. May You Never Be Alone
10. A House without Love
11. They’ll Never Take Her Love from Me
12. I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry
13. Let’s Turn Back the Years
14. I’m So Tired of It All
15. Cold, Cold Heart
16. You Win Again
17. Please Make Up Your Mind
18. Fool about You
19. Weary Blues from Waitin’
20. I Can’t Escape from You

Album Tracks, Disc 3:

1. I Saw the Light
2. Thy Burdens Are Greater Than Mine
3. Calling You
4. Wealth Won’t Save Your Soul
5. The Pale Horse and His Rider
6. Beyond the Sunset
7. Are You Walkin’ and a Talkin’ for the Lord?
8. Let the Spirit Descend
9. The Battle of Armageddon
10. Alone and Forsaken
11. Drifting Too Far from the Shore
12. A House of Gold
13. Where the Soul of Man Never Dies
14. How Can You Refuse Him Now?
15. A Tramp on the Street
16. Lost on the River
17. When God Dips His Love in My Heart
18. ‘Neath a Cold Gray Tomb of Stone
19. I’ll Have a New Body (I’ll Have a New Life)
20. Angel of Death

Sales:

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Peak:

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Singles/Hit Songs:

• Move It on Over (8/9/47) #4 CW
• Honky Tonkin’ (7/3/48) #14 CW
• I’m a Long Gone Daddy (7/24/48) #6 CW
• Lovesick Blues (3/5/49) #1 CW, #24 US. Sales: 1 million
• A Mansion on the Hill (3/5/49) #12 CW
• Wedding Bells (5/14/49) #2 CW
• Lost Highway (10/1/49) #12 CW
• I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry (11/26/49) #43 CW
• They’ll Never Take Her Love from Me (10/7/50) #5 CW
• Moanin’ the Blues (11/18/50) #1 CW
• Cold, Cold Heart (3/3/51) #1 CW, #27 US
• Howlin’ at the Moon (5/26/51) #3 CW
• Hey, Good Lookin’ (7/14/51) #1 CW, #29 US. Sales: 1 million
• I Heard That Lonesome Whistle (10/20/51) #9 CW
• Honky Tonk Blues (3/1/52) #2 CW
• Settin’ the Woods on Fire (10/11/52) #2 CW
• You Win Again (10/11/52) #10 CW
• Your Cheatin’ Heart (2/21/53) #1 CW, #25 US. Sales: 1 million
• Weary Blues from Waitin’ (10/10/53) #7 CW

Awards:

With all due respect to Tyrangiel and Light, the DMDB would not recommend this box set as a starting point for anyone looking to explore the music of Hank Williams. The thematic approach to this set makes this much more an attempt to create three Hank Williams’ albums, when most fans are looking for a hits collection. Williams’ highest-rated album on the DMDB is 40 Greatest Hits. It certainly is not a “scattershot” collection; instead it gathers two discs worth of hits that could well be the starting and end point for most fans. That collection lives up to its name, assembling 40 greatest hits, while Turn Back the Years doesn’t particularly gather “essential” Hank Williams at all. Of the 60 songs on this collection, only about a third also show up on 40 Greatest Hits. It seems odd to call a collection “essential” that omits that many popular songs.

In any event, the DMDB recommends you check out 40 Greatest Hits before diving into this set. Check out the link below to read more about that album.