40 Greatest Hits is a two-record compilation that, true to the title, contains forty hit singles from country music icon Hank Williams. It was released in 1978 by Mercury Records — who under PolyGram became responsible for the MGM tape vault — on the 25th year anniversary of Williams' death. Significantly, it was the first anthology in quite some time that did not subject Williams' recordings to either rechanneled stereo, posthumous overdubs, artificial duets with family members (like his son Hank Jr.

Hank Williams, Jr.

Randall Hank Williams , better known as Hank Williams, Jr. and Bocephus, is an American country singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style is often considered a blend of Southern rock, blues, and traditional country...

), or most or all of the above. Because of both this major fact, and the value-for-money attraction of having a deeper song selection than previous single-disc compilations issued previously by MGM Records, many reviewers consider this anthology to be the perfect starting point for newcomers to Williams' recorded legacy.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 129 on Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time

The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...

.

Critical Reception

Disc one

1. "Move It on Over"
2. "A Mansion on the Hill" (Fred Rose
   Fred Rose (musician)
   Fred Rose was an American Hall of Fame songwriter and music publishing executive.-Biography:Born in Evansville, Indiana, Fred Rose started playing piano and singing as a small boy. In his teens, he moved to Chicago, Illinois where he worked in bars busking for tips, and finally vaudeville...
   
   /Hank Williams)
3. "Lovesick Blues
   Lovesick Blues
   "Lovesick Blues" is a show tune written by composer Cliff Friend and co-lyricist & producer Irving Mills. It has become a pop standard and an even more popular country song since it helped make Hank Williams famous in the 1940s. Published through Tin Pan Alley in 1922, the song was first recorded...
   
   " (Cliff Friend
   Cliff Friend
   Cliff Friend was an accomplished songwriter and pianist. A member of Tin Pan Alley, Friend co-wrote several hits including "Lovesick Blues," "My Blackbirds Are Bluebirds Now" and "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down," also known as the theme song to the Looney Tunes cartoon series.-Early life:Friend was...
   
   /Irving Mills) (*)
4. "Wedding Bells" (Claude Boone)
5. "Mind Your Own Business"
6. "You're Gonna Change (Or I'm Gonna Leave) "
7. "Lost Highway" (Leon Payne
   Leon Payne
   Leon Payne , "the Blind Balladeer", was a country music singer and songwriter.-Life:Leon Roger Payne was born in Alba, Texas on June 15, 1917. He was blind in one eye at birth, and lost the sight of the other eye in early childhood. He attended the Texas School for the Blind from 1924 to 1935,...
   
   )
8. "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It"
9. "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
   I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
   "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer-songwriter Hank Williams in 1949. The song about loneliness was largely inspired by his troubled relationship with wife Audrey Sheppard...
   
   "
10. "I Just Don't Like This Kind of Living"
11. "Long Gone Lonesome Blues"
12. "My Son Calls Another Man Daddy" (Hank Williams/Jewell House)
13. "Why Don't You Love Me"
14. "Why Should We Try Anymore"
15. "They'll Never Take Her Love from Me" (Leon Payne)
16. "Moanin' the Blues"
17. "Nobody's Lonesome for Me"
18. "Cold, Cold Heart
    Cold, Cold Heart
    "Cold, Cold Heart" is a country music and popular music song, written by Hank Williams. This blues ballad is both a classic of honky tonk and an entry in the Great American Songbook....
    
    "
19. "Dear John" (Tex Ritter
    Tex Ritter
    Woodward Maurice Ritter , better known as Tex Ritter, was an American country music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter family in acting...
    
    /Aubrie Gass)
20. "Howlin' at the Moon"

Disc two

1. "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)"
2. "Hey, Good Lookin'
   Hey Good Lookin' (song)
   "Hey Good Lookin" is a 1951 song written and recorded by Hank Williams, and his version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001. Since its original 1951 recording it has been covered by a variety of artists.-Chart performance:...
   
   "
3. "Crazy Heart" (Maurice Murray/Fred Rose)
4. "(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle" (Jimmie Davis
   Jimmie Davis
   James Houston Davis , better known as Jimmie Davis, was a noted singer of both sacred and popular songs who served two nonconsecutive terms as the 47th Governor of Louisiana...
   
   /Hank Williams)
5. "Baby, We're Really in Love"
6. "Ramblin' Man"
7. "Honky Tonk Blues"
8. "I'm Sorry for You My Friend"
9. "Half as Much
   Half as Much
   "Half as Much" is an American pop standard written by Curley Williams in 1951. It was first recorded by country music singer Hank Williams in 1952 and reached #2 on the Billboard Country Singles chart. The same year, Rosemary Clooney recorded a hit version for Top 40 markets and Alma Cogan in the...
   
   " (Curley Williams
   Curley Williams
   Curley Williams was an American country and western musician and songwriter from Georgia. His best-known song is "Half As Much". He was admitted to the in 1999.-Life & Career:...
   
   )
10. "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)
    Jambalaya (On the Bayou)
    "Jambalaya " is the title of a song written and recorded by American country music singer Hank Williams that was first released in July 1952...
    
    "
11. "Window Shopping" (Marcel Joseph)
12. "Settin' the Woods on Fire" (Ed G. Nelson/Fred Rose)
13. "You Win Again
    You Win Again (Hank Williams song)
    "You Win Again" is a 1952 song by Hank Williams. In style, the song is a blues ballad and deals with the singer's dispair with his partner. "You Win Again" would peak at number ten on the Most Played in C&W Juke Boxes chart, where it remained for a single week .-Cover versions:* Late in 1957,...
    
    "
14. "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive
    I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive
    "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive" is a song written by Fred Rose and American country music singer-songwriter Hank Williams, released by Williams in 1952. The last single to be released during Williams' lifetime, it reached #1 on the Billboard Country Singles chart posthumously in January...
    
    " (Hank Williams/Fred Rose)
15. "Kaw-Liga
    Kaw-Liga (song)
    Kaw-Liga is a country-music song written by Hank Williams and Fred Rose. Backed by the Drifting Cowboys, Hank Williams recorded the song in Nashville in September, 1952 and the single was released posthumously in January 1953 on the MGM Records label. It remained No. 1 on the Billboard Country...
    
    " (*)
16. "Your Cheatin' Heart
    Your Cheatin' Heart
    "Your Cheatin' Heart" is a song written and recorded by the American country music singer and songwriter Hank Williams in 1952, but released after his death in 1953.. It is often considered one of his greatest songs, and one of the great songs of country music...
    
    "
17. "Take These Chains from My Heart" (Fred Rose/Hy Heath
    Hy Heath
    Songwriter, composer and author Hy Heath was educated in public schools and then became a comedian in musical comedy, vaudeville, minstrel and burlesque shows. His chief musical collaborators included Johnny Lange and Fred Rose. His most successful composition was 'Mule Train' which earned him an...
    
    )
18. "I Won't Be Home No More"
19. "Weary Blues from Waitin'"
20. "I Saw the Light
    I Saw the Light
    "I Saw the Light" is a 1948 gospel song written and first performed by Hank Williams, not to be confused with the hit song by Todd Rundgren or the No. 1 country hit by Wynonna Judd....
    
    " (*)

Technical details

• Most titles recorded at Castle Recording Studio, Nashville, TN.
• "Lovesick Blues", "My Bucket's Got A Hole In It", "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" and "I Just Don't Like This Kind Of Living" recorded at Herzog Recording Studios, Cincinnati, OH.
• Digital preparation and transfers from best available mono sources: Tom Ruff and Tim Rogers at Polygram Studios
• Digital preparation and transfers from 78 RPM discs (where noted with (*)): Alan Stoker and Tim Rogers at Country Music Foundation
  Country Music Foundation
  The Country Music Foundation chartered by the state of Tennessee in 1964, is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and education surrounding Country Music. The CMF currently employs more than 70 full-time professionals and is "the world's largest research center devoted to a...
  
  

Technical personnel

• Tony Byworth
  Tony Byworth
  -Career:Tony Byworth has been involved in country music for over 35 years, working initially as a country music journalist with columns in various publications and editing the consumer publication Country Music People...
  
   – album compiler, liner notes
• Ted Jensen
  Ted Jensen
  Ted Jensen is an American recording engineer. Jensen is the chief mastering engineer at Sterling Sound. He started his career as a mastering engineer in 1976 and is currently the most active Mastering Engineer in the industry...
  
   – CD mastering