Turn Back the Years: The Essential Hank Williams Collection (2005)

Having been blessed with two comprehensive Hank Williams collections, do we really need a third? In a word: yes. While Turn Back the Years adds no new material, it compels fans to look at the hillbilly bard thematically, separating 60 songs into three discs (Honky Tonkin', Cold, Cold Heart, and I Saw the Light). Casual listeners may prefer a single best-of compilation, but this sequencing might make serious students hear new things in each catch-and-moan bray of misery—like the pre-Elvis roots of rock & roll.