Charley Pride, "Kaw-Liga" The tom-tom war-paint beat of Hank's version absolutely drove my little pre-rock-and-roll head insane as a small child. Charley Pride did an entire album of Hank covers, There's a Little Bit of Hank in Me, in 1980, but in my view nothing on that album measured up to his live version of "Kaw-Liga" from the monumental Charley Pride In Person, recorded live at Fort Worth's Panther Hall in 1969. Pride was at the top of his powers, which were considerable, and "Kaw-Liga" has always been a crowdpleaser as exhibited by the Panther Hall crowd (Pride was also armed with the incomparable steel guitar of Lloyd Green in his road band.)

Hank's version was issued posthumously in 1952 and streaked to No 1, where it remained for 14 weeks. The flipside, the arguably more famous "Your Cheating Heart," followed with six weeks at No. 1. Again, an array of artists have covered "Kaw-Liga" -- Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, Loretta Lynn, Boxcar Willie, Don McLean, and modern rockabilly aces Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys.

Bobby Helms, "I'm a Long Gone Daddy" Old Hank took this one to No. 6 on the hillbilly charts in the middle of 1948, just as things with Korea were getting a bit tense. Like many of his tunes, it was a straight-up swipe at his wife Audrey ("Miss Ordree," as he pronounced it). Bobby Helms, known primarily for the definitive version of "Fraulein," which rode the country charts for an amazing 52 weeks in 1957 (the same year he had another No. 1 with "My Special Angel"), covered the tune on his live shows. Helms was primarily a crooner, but when he jammed it into high gear with guitar monster Joe Maphis behind him (see the video), he and his band could hang with top rockabilly stars like Johnny Horton. George Jones, who always admitted he took his singing cues from Hank (and was no stranger to woman trouble himself), also had a high-energy take on the tune.

Take the steel guitar off Jones's version and you've pretty much got the basics of rock and roll. Like we said earlier, there's a reason ole Hank is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: His music was at times a forerunner to rockabilly and rock and roll. If he were alive today, he'd likely as not be playing this one about the same way Helms and George did. Ernest Tubb, the Texas Troubadour, had a minor hit with the song, and Hank III titled his album of honky-tonk covers I'm a Long Gone Daddy. Today the tune is something of a standard for many rockabilly bands.

ROCKS OFF'S GREATEST HITS