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Take These Chains from My Heart
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Wikipedia article
"'Take These Chains from My Heart'" is a song by Hank Williams. It was written by Fred Rose and Hy Heath and was recorded at Williams' final recording session on September 23, 1952, in Nashville. The song has been widely praised; Williams' biographer Colin Escott deems it "perhaps the best song [Rose] ever presented to Hank...It was one of the very few songs that sounded somewhat similar to a Hank Williams song." Williams is backed by Tommy Jackson (fiddle), Don Helms (steel guitar), Chet Atkins (lead guitar), Jack Shook (rhythm guitar), and Floyd "Lightnin'" Chance (bass). In the wake of Williams' death on New Year's Day, 1953, the song shot to No. 1, his final chart-topping hit for MGM Records. Like "Your Cheatin' Heart," the song's theme of despair, so vividly articulated by Williams' typically impassioned singing, reinforced the image of Hank as a tortured, mythic figure.
Cover versions
*Tommy Edwards recorded the song for MGM in 1953.
*Jack Scott recorded this song on an album in 1960.
*Kitty Wells released the song on Decca in 1962.
*Pianist Floyd Cramer recorded an instrumental version of the song in 1962.
*George Jones recorded the song for his 1962 LP 'My Favorites of Hank Williams'.
*Ray Charles (October 1962) on the album 'Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music Volume Two'. The song peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 7 on the R&B singles chart, and at No. 5 in the UK charts, in 1963.
*Bill Anderson cut the song for Decca in 1963.
*Grant Green (jazz guitarist) recorded the song for Blue Note Records in 1963 at Rudy Van Gelder studios.
*Al Martino in 1963. His version was included on the album "I Love You Because".
*Carl Smith recorded the song for Columbia Records.
*Dean Martin recorded the song for his 1965 album (Remember Me) I'm the One Who Loves You.
*Williams' hero Roy Acuff recorded it in 1966 for Hickory.
*Conway Twitty covered the song for Decca.
*Dottie West 1968.
*Marty Robbins with Chet Atkins on Marty's TV show 1968.
*Williams' idol Ernest Tubb cut the song in 1968.
*Stonewall Jackson (musician) released the song on Columbia in 1969.
*Jerry Lee Lewis performs the song on his 1970 album 'Live at the International, Las Vegas'.
*Don Gibson recorded the song for RCA in 1971.
*Glen Campbell included the song on his 1973 LP 'I Remember Hank Williams'.
*Johnny McEvoy cut the song in 1974.
*Sonny James recorded the song for Columbia in 1974.
*Charlie Rich 1974.
*Dolly Parton on her TV show 1976.
*Boxcar Willie in a medley of Hank Williams song in his concert show.
*Little Willie Littlefield recorded a version for his 1990 album 'Singalong with Little Willie Littlefield'.
*Lee Roy Parnell covered the song on his album 'On the Road', with a guest vocal from Ronnie Dunn of Brooks & Dunn.Whitburn, p. 315 Parnell's version peaked at number 17 on the 'Billboard' Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.
*The song appears on the 1997 album 'The Ghost of Hank Williams' by David Allan Coe.
*Merle Haggard covered the song on his 2001 album 'Roots, Volume 1'.
*Canadian singer Anne Murray covered the song in 2002.
*Martina McBride recorded the song for her 2005 album Timeless.
*The Kentucky Headhunters included the song on their 2005 album 'Big Boss Man'.
*Rosanne Cash included the song on her 2009 album 'The List'.
*The song appears on Lacy J. Dalton's 2010 tribute album 'Here's to Hank'.
*Madeleine Peyroux (2013) on the album 'The Blue Room'.
*Daniel O'Donnell 2015
Chart performance
Lee Roy Parnell
References
Bibliography
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Category:Songs written by Fred Rose (songwriter)
Category:1952 songs
Category:Lee Roy Parnell songs
Category:Ronnie Dunn songs
Category:Hank Williams songs
Category:Ray Charles songs
Category:Conway Twitty songs
Category:Glen Campbell songs
Category:Stonewall Jackson (musician) songs
Category:Charlie Rich songs
Category:Ernest Tubb songs
Category:Martina McBride songs
Category:Dottie West songs
Category:Rosanne Cash songs
Category:The Kentucky Headhunters songs
Category:Little Willie Littlefield songs
Category:Country ballads
Category:1953 singles
Category:1994 singles
Category:Songs written by Hy Heath
Category:Song recordings produced by Scott Hendricks
Category:Arista Nashville singles
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