Before Waylon, Willie and the boys, Hank Locklin was singing and twanging the honky tonk boues with the best of them. This 2 disc collection covers the output of his singles form 1948-62, capturing the slow evolution of the genre, which started out sounding a lot like the Western Swing pioneered by Bob Wills.
Locklin had a few major hits, such as “Let Me Be The One” from 1953 as well as Send Me The Pillow That You Dream On” and “Please Help Me Im Falling” from ’57 and ’60, respectively . But the real treat here are the drummerless early pieces such as “Please Come Back and Stay” and the ’49 read of “Pillow” while mix swing, blues and hockum into a wonderful local stew. Locklin gcould moan with the best of them, and his picking is finger licking good. Check this one out. A HA!