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Hank Williams - Hank Williams Unreleased Recordings
| Rollingstones |
| In 1951, if you were awake at 7:15 in the morning and your radio was within the long reach of Nashville's WSM-AM, you had Hank Williams with your farina, singing with his Drifting Cowboys and selling sacks of flour for his sponsor, Mother's Best. Williams wasn't in the WSM studio at that hour; he prerecorded the shows on days off from touring. But the 54 performances in this three-CD set pack a magical, concentrated immediacy that is, in its time and way, as electrifying as Johnny Cash's Sixties prison shows or Bob Dylan's early acoustic concerts. Williams' nasally drawl is crisp and strong, like the young Dylan without the sandpaper; he holds the long, desolate notes in "Cool Water" with stunning force. Williams' wide-ranging songbag is also a rare window into his daily life as an entertainer. He takes requests (the pre-Civil War spiritual "Lonely Tombs"), debuts new originals like "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love With You)" and puts his own potent spin on hits by Ernest Tubb and Roy Acuff. But these broadcasts were a unique, intimate showbiz, too, for a working class to whom a good tune and some harmony could be the best part of a day. "That's a mighty fine song for you boys to send out, especially to all our shut-in friends this morning," an announcer says after a bunkhouse-choir reading of the hymn "Where He Leads Me." Play these songs over your breakfast, and wake up right....full text |
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| Popmatters |
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It’s unnecessary to say that hearing Hank Williams for the first time has been a revelation to many. It’s more appropriate to point out that hearing him each time after that can also be a revelation. He’s in the top echelon of artists, period. He inhabits a world that speaks to forlornness, desire, and alienation in such heartfelt manner that few can touch him for his combination of portrayal and sincerity. He puts words to feelings that seem obvious, but only because they’re plainly true: “I’m so lonesome I could cry”. Moreso than even his lyrics, it’s Williams’s voice that captures the essence of what has made him so important. He’s always sounded as if he’s completely alone, surrounded by distance that he cannot cross. The Unreleased Recordings finds him introducing songs with panache, but even the many upbeat numbers find their connection in disconnection. Williams is always searching for attachment and the impossible-to-describe but easily heard cadence in his voice registers the immeasurable feat of this. Even on his well-known cover of “Tennessee Border”, he gets the girl, but there’s the catch in the lyrics and vocals, “Well I picked her up in a pickup truck / And she broke this heart of mine”. After this line they go on to wed, which serves to cement the impossibility of connection in his world. He’s just married a woman who may not even care about him. The music remains lively as the vocals simply tell the tale. The listener knows what to expect....full text |
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| BBC |
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''An incredible discovery!'' trumpets the press release for this handsomely packaged 3CD set of 'lost' recordings by the 'King of country music'. Well, not exactly. These 54 songs are just the first instalment of 143 cut for 72 live radio shows Williams did in 1951 on WSM's Mother's Finest Flour Show. In fact they were originally 'discovered' during a clear out and passed on to William's daughter Jett. In her foreword for the booklet, she relates how another copy found its way into somebody else's hands, so that adulterated versions of these recordings have already surfaced. However, after an eight-year legal battle, the family estate finally won exclusive marketing rights in January 2006. They wasted little time restoring and compiling the material, and the bang-up-to-date notes even acknowledge the death of Williams' steel guitarist Don Helms on 11th August, 2008. The 40-page booklet includes numerous photographs, posters, sheet music covers and suchlike as well as Colin Escott's detailed and illuminating notes for every song. These range from versions of well known originals that were already hits, such as Hey, Good Lookin' and Cold, Cold Heart, to a wide variety of intriguing covers that shine a light on Williams' formative influences and creative DNA. There are several 19th century 'Victorian parlour songs', African-American gospel standards, country gospel songs, hymns, Appalachian folk songs and numerous covers of songs by forebears and contemporaries of Williams. In particular, the surprising number of churchy songs distinguishes this from available collections....full text |
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