This Hank Thompson collection on Barcelona’s El Toro label is one among the most original of Thompson retrospectives ever to appear on the market. Containing two discs, the first is a killer 24-song collection of studio tracks cut by the great honky tonk singer and songwriter between the original 1947 version of “Humpty Dumpty Heart” and 1959's “Roving Gambler” -- these are the bookends of the set with the earliest cut being the last, and the1959 number opening the collection. While the set is not compiled chronologically, it nevertheless sequences tunes according to their best order aesthetically. Along the way are stops at monster Thompson hits like the original versions of “Wild Side of Life,” “Rub-A-Dub’Dub,” the hit version of “Humpty Dumpty Heart,” the psychobilly “Drunkard’s Blues,” and rockabilly of “Rockin’ in the Congo,” the Western swing of ”Drivin’ Nails in My Coffin,” and four OPS Radio transcriptions, among others. The second disc is a radio interview complete with music taken from 2001, from Rudolphe Guiheux's program on Radio France. It contains excerpts of tunes by Thompson and his heroes, from Jimmie Rodgers to Dinah Shore to Spade Cooley -- and includes performances from Cooley’s TV shows, and even Django Reinhardt. This is a fascinating look into the man, his myth, and his magic, spoken plainly, insightfully, and without much interruption from his interviewer.