He’s back with some rocking country.
It’s been four years since Hank Williams Jr. released a new album. Around that time he made no bones about his frustration with Curb Records. Hank said he was doing all he could to get off the label and he eventually did.
Curb has this storied history in country music. I don’t know why they don’t address the frustrations of their artists. We’ve heard this before from Tim McGraw, Leann Rimes, Clay Walker and others.
It seems like keeping the artists happy would be good for business, but that’s just me.
Anyway, Hank is now on the Big Machine team on their Nash Icon venture and he’s ready to rock once again. Here is the latest song he unveiled.
Are You Ready For The Country – Hank Williams Jr.
I had to look into this one a little bit and it turns out that this song has been around. Neil Young wrote and released it back in 1972 on his huge album, Harvest.
Waylon also released the song a few years after that and had a hit single with it. When you listen you can kind of feel the Waylon influence on this version.
But Hank puts his own stamp on it as well and he definitely did the other day at the CMAs although the instruments in the back where too loud and Hank was just trying to keep up. The recorded version sounds much, much better.
This is classic rocking Hank, but he feels rejuvenated on this track. He may have never had the best voice, but he always had style and a passion in the way he sang.
I don’t know if there is room on the radio for Hank Jr. in today’s country music world, but if a guy is going to make it happen it would be Hank.
CML Points: 85/100
I like to hear country music.