NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Hank Williams, the country pioneer who is among the most influential singer-songwriters in music, was given a special Pulitzer Prize citation.

The Pulitzer board awarded the late singer for his lifetime achievement, based on a confidential survey of experts in popular music.

Drinkin,’ lovin’ and prayin’.  Never before have those powerful themes been spotlighted in the music of the legendary Hank Williams as they are on the three-CD box set Turn Back The Years: The Essential Hank Williams Collection (Mercury/UMe), released October 11, 2005.  Featuring 60 original recordings, newly digitally remastered--20 each on CDs titled “Honky-Tonkin’,” “Cold, Cold Heart” and “I Saw The Light”--Turn Back The Years illuminates the forces that shaped and ruled the short and troubled life of a man whose songs are part of Americana and continue to be reinterpreted by artists of nearly every genre. 
Co-produced and annotated by Grammy winning country music authority Colin Escott, Turn Back The Years is marked by a 24-page deluxe booklet including an essay and rare photos.  Spanning Williams’ entire recording career of 1946-1952, the set shines a focused light on one of the most important figures in the history of American music.  By the time Williams died on New Year’s Eve 1952, he had redefined country music and laid the foundation for rock ‘n’ roll.  He was 29 years old and had recorded just 88 songs under his own name.  But half of them were hits and he was as big a star as anyone who had ever stepped on a stage.
The “Honky Tonkin’” CD illustrates Hank’s rooting in black music and his affinity for what would be called “rock ‘n’ roll attitude.”  In fact, “Move It On Over,” his first hit, had a blues melody that later became “Rock Around The Clock.”  He epitomized blunt honesty (“I’m A Long Gone Daddy”), carnal desire (“Hey, Good Lookin,’” “Howlin’ At The Moon,” “Rootie Tootie,” “Settin’ The Woods On Fire”) and rowdiness (“There’s A Tear In My Beer,” “Too Many Parties And Too Many Pals”).  The latter was issued under his Luke The Drifter guise, as was “I’ve Been Down That Road Before” and “Ramblin’ Man.”  Heard too are “Honky Tonkin’,” “Wearin’ Out Your Walkin’ Shoes,” “Rockin’ Chair Money,” “Lost Highway,” “(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle,” “Honky Tonk Blues” and more.
The “Cold, Cold Heart” CD contains the classic “Lovesick Blues” which was a huge hit in 1949.  Today, two other songs are perhaps more popular--“Your Cheatin’ Heart” and “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.”  Other gems include the CD’s title track “Cold, Cold Heart,” “Please Make Up Your Mind,” “A Mansion On The Hill,” “My Love For You (Has Turned To Hate),” “You Win Again” and Ernest Tubb’s “I’m Free At Last,” “First Year Blues” and “Wedding Bells.”  
The “I Saw The Light” CD boasts a few of his earliest recordings--“Calling You,” “Wealth Won’t Save Your Soul” and “I Saw The Light,” among the most popular of latter-day hymns.  Hank’s gospel streak yielded “The Pale Horse And His Rider,” “I’ll Have A New Body (I’ll Have A New Life),” “Where The Soul Of Man Never Dies,” “When God Dips His Love In My Heart,” “Neath A Cold Gray Tomb of Stone,” “Alone and Forsaken,” “House Of Gold,” “Angel Of Death” and other songs.
Within two years of his death, Elvis would start recording and the world that Hank Williams knew would change forever--but it was a world that Hank Williams helped create.  

The Best Of Hank Williams features five #1 hits from the legendary country great

Hiram "Hank" Williams is the giant of country music, the father of contemporary country and the country artist with the greatest influence on rock 'n' roll--and he did it all in just four short years.  A superstar by the age of 25, his turbulent life ended at 29.  But he left behind a body of songs that has become a classic American songbook, a style that's the standard for performers, and a legend that lives on.  A charter inductee into the Country Music Hall Of Fame, Williams was also named one of the first members of the Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame.  In 1994, Life magazine ranked him #1 on its list of The 100 Most Important People In Country Music.

The Best Of Hank Williams edition of 20th Century Masters/The Millennium Collection (Mercury Nashville/UMG), released October 19, 1999, features the original versions of 12 of the greatest hits and songs by country's all-time hit king, including five #1 smashes: "Lovesick Blues" (#1 for a remarkable 16 weeks in 1949), "Long Gone Lonesome Blues" (1950), "Why Don't You Love Me" (1950), "Hey, Good Lookin'" (1951) and "Jambalaya (On The Bayou)" (#1 for 14 weeks in 1952).  Each track has been digitally remastered and the package contains new liner notes.

From March 1949 to October 1953, Williams had 34 consecutive hit singles, 32 hitting the Top 10, and 11 going to #1, including three which did so after his death.  The Best Of Hank Williams also includes the Top 10s "Move It On Over" (1948), his first single for MGM Records; "Lost Highway" (1949); "(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle" (1951); "Setting The Woods On Fire" (1952) and "Honky Tonk Blues" (a #2 hit in 1952).  The collection also reaches back into the archives for "Honky Tonkin'," one of the first two singles he recorded for Sterling Records in early 1947; and another classic song from that year, "I Saw The Light."

Williams was so popular that when he appeared on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry in 1949, he received an unprecedented six encores.  Today, nearly half-a-century since he died in the backseat of his 1952 Cadillac enroute to an engagement in Canton, Ohio on January 1, 1953, Hank Williams' music is as admired and acclaimed as ever.

The series 20th Century Masters/The Millennium Collection features new "best of" albums from the most significant music artists of the past century.