Live at the Grand Ole Opry [1999]

Disc 1
1	Lovesick Blues 3:11
2	Wedding Bells 2:50
3	You're Gonna Change (Or I'm Gonna Leave) 3:04
4	Why Don't You Love Me (Like You Used to Do)? 3:04
5	Comedy with Hank Williams/Red Foley/Minnie Pearl 2:56
6	They'll Never Take Her Love from Me 1:34
7	Moanin' the Blues 2:55
8	Nobody's Lonesome for Me 2:46
9	Dear John 2:08
10	Cold, Cold Heart 2:49
11	Hey, Good Lookin' 2:46
12	Honky Tonk Blues 1:54
13	Let the Spirit Descend 2:05
14	Baby, We're Really in Love 1:36
15	Comedy with Hank Williams/Rod Brasfield 4:23
16	The Old Country Church 2:35
17	I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You) 2:18
18	Jambalaya (On the Bayou) 3:26
19	Half as Much 2:39
20	Window Shopping 3:24
21	Long Gone Lonesome Blues 2:53
Disc 2
1	Aunt Jemima's Plaster / Red Foley 1:29
2	Lead Me to That Rock / Wally Fowler & The Oak Ridge Quartet 1:38
3	I Just Don't Like This Kind of Livin' 3:30
4	Comedy with Minnie Pearl 3:59
5	Lord, I'm Coming Home / Red Foley 2:21
6	Oh, You Beautiful Doll 1:21
7	Comedy with Jamup & Honey 3:28
8	Lovesick Blues 2:40
9	You Ain't Got Faith / Wally Fowler & The Oak Ridge Quartet 1:29
10	Church Music / Red Foley 2:46

Barnes & Noble

Far superior to the long-out-of-print 1976 vinyl release of the same title, Mercury's new double-CD set of Hank Williams live at the Grand Ole Opry fills in one of the few remaining gaps in the refurbished Williams catalog. Disc one's 21 cuts (culled from nine Opry shows recorded between 1949 and 1952) focus entirely on Williams. There's his earth-shaking Opry debut in 1949, when his version of "Lovesick Blues" sent the audience into such a frenzy that he was called back for a still-unmatched six encores, laying the foundation for his enduring legend. The music is stark and dynamic, the performances mesmerizing in intensity -- Hank could flat-out sell a song. A lot of the familiar gems are here, including two previously unissued cuts, "Long Gone Lonesome Blues" and "Window Shopping," both from 1952, both among the last songs Williams performed on the Opry. Disc 2 is a complete Opry show, hosted by the great Red Foley (who sings three songs himself), with Williams performing only two songs in between performances by other Opry regulars, including Minnie Pearl. It offers the opportunity of hearing Hank in the context of the music of his time, and demonstrates the utter singularity of the style that changed country music forever. Consider this one essential. David McGee

All Music Guide

This two-disc set brings together every extant performance from Hank Williams' brief hookup with the Opry. The first disc collects 21 performances, both musical and in the company of Opry comedy regulars Minnie Pearl and Rod Brasfield. To give a sense of how his presence worked in the format of the show, the second disc is a complete Opry broadcast from 1950 with Williams as part of the cast that also features Red Foley, Wally Fowler and the Oak Ridge Quartet (forerunners of today's Oak Ridge Boys), Minnie Pearl, Claude Sharpe and the Old Hickory Singers, and blackface comedians Jamup and Honey. Whether he's singing one of his famous hits or an old gospel favorite, or playing straight man to Brasfield or Pearl, it's obvious that here was a performer with personality aplenty, and it comes across on these old acetates with amazing impact. Cub Koda