Review Summary: "Don’t buy it, but get it some other way and burn the hell out of it and give it to everyone." - Hank III
In regards to this release, which was actually a previously-shelved album Hank III recorded in 2003, Hank himself, and this album's recording band (which includes former
Jesus Lizard guitarist Duane Dennison), deserve big thumbs up for the musical effort. On the other hand, Curb Records deserves both middle fingers.
Hank recorded this album as a precursor to the style of music that he wanted to begin releasing, after recording two straight albums of traditional country. The original title of this album was
This Ain't Country, which is more definitive because it
isn't country. Of course, it's also wildly different from his death metal band
Assjack. This album is metal, definitely, but with a stronger country backbone. There's plenty of screaming and electric guitar feedback, but also fiddles, stand-up bass, country singing and a lot of themes carried over from Hank's country music: boozing, drugging, sleeping around, and hillbilly lifestyle.
It's great to hear a full-fledged rock album from Hank III, who played in punk and metal bands before taking after his grandfather and starting a country career. Many of the more country-oriented rock tracks on this album are definitely in the vein of the rock tracks from his later recording
Damn Right, Rebel Proud, and there are also touches of his Assjack material here, too. In addition to the country/metal fusion, a few tracks are more in the vein of a metal sound, like the drudgy, atmospheric "Now He's Dead". The hard-edged country rock track "Drink It, Drug It" has a lyrical tip of the hat to listening to rock and roll, soul and blues, while drinking, drugging and ***ing.
Curb had a number of problems with this album, such as that the grandson of country legend Hank Williams and the son of chart-topping Hank Williams Jr. was not expected to release such profane, rowdy music, and that they weren't going to release a metal album, because they were a country label. They still had a problem with the next album Hank recorded for them,
Straight to Hell, even though it was a country album, because it was as profane, booze and drug-oriented as his metal album. When it finally came out on the imprint Bruc, it was actually the first time a major label had released a country album with a parental advisory sticker (although
David Allan Coe had released a series of filthy underground country albums back in the 1980s).
Hank III completed his contract with Mike Curb under the reestablished Sidewalk Records with the albums
Damn Right, Rebel Proud, which touches upon some of the rock influence and fusion heard on
This Ain't Country, and
Rebel Within, which was more traditional country in the vein of his first two albums, but maintaining the lyrical connection to the
Straight to Hell/
This Ain't Country/
Rebel Proud lyrical themes. Then Curb retitled
This Ain't Country as
Hillbilly Joker and released it without warning upon unsuspecting fans.
Some fans who haven't heard this album in bootlegged form were pissed off because there was no indication given that this wasn't a country album. Other fans got wind from Hank himself that Curb screwed him over with this release, and were told to steal the album if they wanted a copy. Granted if you want to hear the album, it's better to hear it without the degenerated audio quality of the
This Ain't Country bootleg, but don't waste your money to line Curb's pockets by purchasing this CD.
Hillbilly Joker is a rip-off, not because it's a bad album - on the contrary.
Hillbilly Joker is a rip-off because Hank III isn't making a dime off of this album's sales (or, for that matter, the Hank III box set released to cash in on his cult popularity and critical acclaim). In our current economic crisis, it's just not at all a good idea to put money down for no good reason. Without the main reason for buying albums -- to support talented artists -- there is no reason to buy albums. Buying Hank III's music is a better use of your money than buying one of the "pop country" artists Hank III slags in one of his fan favorites, "Dick In Dixie", but since buying
Hillbilly Joker only lines Mike Curb's pockets, there's no difference between buying this and buying an album by one of those pop-country artists Hank III despises.
The bottom line is, don't spend any money on this album. If you prefer Hank III's country music, avoid this like the plague. If you like Hank III's rock and metal side, download this album for free off the Internet. It's definitely worth downloading for having better sound quality than the
This Ain't Country bootleg, but it's a waste of money if buy albums to support the artists. It would be worth spending money on if Williams got paid for your troubles, but save it and download it instead.
