Hank Williams 'Your Cheatin' heart'
17. October 2014 By Walter Price 0

Hank Williams: Your Cheatin’ Heart

Hank Williams 'Your Cheatin' heart'By Walter Price

 

Depending on whom you’re drinking with the Top 5 country songs of all time will be a long and winding debate and unless you or your partner think something recorded in the past 10 years makes the list, you’ll probably both be right. No need for fisticuffs…

George Jones’ rendition of He Stopped Loving Her Today (Bobby Braddock& Curly Putman 1980) would be most people’s choice for #1 and rightly so. If you filter the list to songs written and performed by the artist then you’d find Hank Williams’ Your Cheatin’ Heart (Williams 1952)  topping out my side of the argument.

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Released the same month Williams passed away from complications of being a well-traveled superstar, January 1953, the straight forward personal tale pulls no punches and has filled melancholy barroom souls ever since.  There is power in the simplicity from Williams that couldn’t be duplicated.

As that may be, there have been some amazing covers or tributes, if you will, over the years and here are the three that top my list.

Louis Armstrong 1953

 

Ray Charles 1962

 

Patsy Cline ‘live’ 1958

 

BONUS: Hank Williams, Jr. 1964