The Righteous label is an imprint of Cherry Red Records specializing in "aching country, forgotten soul music and other strange exotica". This release mixes the aching with the exotic.
This twofer places 'George Jones Salutes Hank Williams' back to back with Jack Scott's 'I Remember Hank Williams'; these being remastered recordings of hard to find LPs, both of which were originally released in 1960.
If nothing else, the twenty four tracks remind us what a great, instinctive songwriter Williams was. His assertion that "If a song can't be written in 20 minutes, it ain't worth writing" is included as a tag-line to the track listings.
The songs by country music legend George Jones are the most faithful copies with the fiddle, honky tonk piano and pedal steel guitar emphasising the bittersweet humour of the lovelorn lyrics.
The string-driven croon of Canadian rock'n'roller Jack Scott , backed by a celestial girly chorus, take more liberties and reduce the songs to schmaltzy ballads.
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Cold Cold Heart is the only song that is covered by both artists and while Jones retains the authentic country drawl, Scott hams it up like a second-rate Elvis impersonator.
These two records qualify as interesting curiosities but neither hold a candle to the original songs.
Hank Williams was a one-off and any cover versions invariably have the effect of drawing you back to the immediacy and freshness of his inimitable recordings.
in other words, songs by Hank will always beat songs for Hank.
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