ROOTS

Latest releases reviewed.

HANK WILLIAMS
The Final Sessions Proper Music
****

If you don't have Polydor's 40 Greatest Hits or indeed any one of the many compilations of Hank Williams's music, and are wondering just what all the fuss is about this legend of country music, then this budget-priced collection, another one of the "Proper Introduction " series, is a fine starting place. Even as the twin demons of alcohol and drugs that would consume Williams in 1953 gathered momentum, his voice conveyed a level of sadness and pain that never wanes with repeated listenings. There are 30 tracks, including many of his best-known songs (I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive, Your Cheatin' Heart). Not every one is a gem, but those that are shine forever. www.cmt.com Joe Breen

WEBB PIERCE
Groovie Boogie Woogie Boy Proper Records
***

The title track of this latest offering in the "Proper Introduction" series may be a little misleading. Webb Pierce, while a honky tonk singer of great renown in the 1950s and '60s, was apparently not the coolest dude on the block. Indeed, the man who had a guitar-shaped swimming pool and was among the first to wear gaudy Nudie suits was a hard-drinking man with a nasty reputation. However, in his prime, he was also a demon honky tonk singer, capable of letting it rip with tracks such as High Geared Daddy and New Panhandle Rag or crying into his beer with the likes of I'm Happy You Hurt Me or I Need You Like a Hole in the Head. Pierce died in 1991 from cancer, a forgotten figure, but his reputation has been revived courtesy of compilations such as this one. www.countrymusichall offame.com/inductees Joe Breen