Rating:
Genre:
Country
Release Date: 11/03/2009
1951 was a breakthrough year for
Hank Williams. He had a string of moderate
country hits already under his belt, but the release that year of his version of an old
jazz age novelty tune called
"Lovesick Blues," originally recorded in 1922 by
Elsie Clark and given a
country arrangement in 1939 by
Rex Griffin (the template for
Williams' version), suddenly made him a big star. It also meant his touring schedule increased, but he still found time that year to slip into Nashville and prerecord shows for the Mother's Best Flour Company. These good-natured and intimate performances were cut to acetate discs and then played over the air on Nashville's
WSM radio station. Brittle, disposable, and made for only a few plays, these acetates were then shelved and forgotten until they were literally rescued from the trash in the '70s by an alert
WSM employee. In all, 72 of these shows survived, containing some 143 songs, and this three-disc set is the second installment in
Time Life's CD preservation of this amazing treasure trove. The performances are intimate and relaxed, and
Williams tackles an amazingly varied set list, singing old mountain ballads, hymns, cowboy tunes, and delivers recitations of parlor poems and other various cautionary tales as well. What emerges is a full, rounded portrait of
Williams at his creative and commercial peak.
"Lovesick Blues" is here, along with fine versions of
"I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)," "A Mansion on the Hill," and the
Williams-composed
gospel classic
"I Saw the Light," among others, including a spirited instrumental romp through the old fiddle tune
"Eighth of January," which celebrated the British defeat at the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815 (
Jimmie Driftwood added lyrics to the tune and had a huge hit with the resulting
"The Battle of New Orleans" in 1959). That these long-lost recordings are an absolute treasure simply goes without saying.
Hank Williams was
country music's first modern superstar and that all these years later, we are given several hours of
Williams performing in an intimate setting just as he was beginning to break across the nation's radar, is nothing short of a miracle.
~Steve Leggett, All Music Guide
;)
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