ALBUM DU JOUR #7: Hank Williams Psych-sploitation

Country music legend Hank Williams just won the Pulitzer Prize. That's pretty interesting, because 1) he's been dead for well over a half-century, and 2) they give Pulitzer Prizes for music? I thought that it was a journalism award. Well, in any case, I'm sure that it must have been this album that swayed the committee.

The experience of listening to "Songs of Hank Williams - A Return Trip - Modern Sounds," a '60s album released by L.A.'s Alshire label (101 Strings), can best be summed up by the the liner notes: "Presented here is a program of ten of the most famous songs made famous [a redundant redundancy?] by the immortal Hank Williams. A group of exceptionally talented modern musicians were assembled with two top vocalists. These great songs were arranged in a modern Rock-Acid style, without losing the melodic line of the lyrics, and are presented here for the modern music lover. The whole idea of this album is to bring Hank's great music to the modern young generation, for truly they are great 'heart and soul' songs as evidenced by the millions upon millions of records they have sold. ENJOY THIS PROGRAM OF MODERN ACID-ROCK HANK WILLIAMS SONGS PERFORMED AND SUNG BY A FINE YOUNG GENERATION GROUP."

Sacrilege? It's pretty groovy, actually, with some funky rhythms, and fuzzed-out guitar. No musician credits. It isn't very psychedelic, tho the album cover shows a hippie girl giving a horse some multi-colored sugar cubes.

Hank Williams - A Return Trip - Modern Sounds

(Thanks to windbag!)