1.If only Hank had lived a little longer 2.Rockin' chair money 3.Honky tonk blues 4.I'll be a batchelor till I die 5.I'm so lonesome I could cry 6.I'm going home 7.Fool about you 8.Lovesick blues
Rusti Steel and The Tin Tax
9.I know Hank wrote them songs for me 10.No-one will ever know 11.Fly trouble 12.Rootie tootie 13.Devil's train 14.Roly poly 15.I'm satisfied with you 16.Mind your own business
This is the CD that won the British Country Music Awards 'Album Of The year' (1999). Both acts are big fans, and that old 'thin' country sound is well captured here, with some nice little steel guitar 'moments'. The two new songs that are about Hank fit perfectly, and John Lewis (Rimshots) has one of the finest voices around.
Two well established Rockabilly outfits pool their considerable resources here to pay tribute to Hank Williams, each contributing eight songs, mostly Williams covers. The Rimshots material is authentically and faithfully reproduced even down to the yodelling vocal style of 'Lovesick blues' with some nice lap steel throughout. The Rusti Steel tracks are also incredibly authentic with good use of fiddle and steel. I liked the clean, dry guitar too which was spot on. Highlight for me had to be 'Mind your own business' which has always been one of my favourite Hank Williams tracks. A fitting, well put together tribute. Deathrow Database #31
"Tributes to Hank Williams have been around since about 30 seconds after the country legend's death. Some have been heartfelt and well-done and others have been so bad as to arouse suspicion that the artist might have been personally responsible for snuffing the Hillbilly Shakespeare.. Fortunately, that's far from the case with this new tribute, split between the Welsh band The Rimshots and the English group Rusti Steel & the Tin Tax. Each contributes eight songs; one being an original composition written as a tribute to Williams and the other seven covers of songs associated with the man. Of the originals, the Rimshots' 'If Only Hank Had Lived a Little Longer' is probably the the stronger of the two, partly due to John Lewis' vocals bearing an eerie resemblance to those of the song's subject. Each band took different tacks in choosing their songs. The Rimshots leaned towards songs written by Williams ('Honky Tonk Blues', 'I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry', etc.) and Rusti Steel has largely tackled more obscure numbers that were, in all but one case, written by Fred Rose and others. The production (by Big Six drummer Ricky Lee Brawn) has the warm vintage sound associated with Brawn's other production jobs. An excellent tribute well deserving of its success in Europe over the past several months." Jon Johnson 1999
