Hank Williams - The Unreleased Recordings
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Free Music Notes for The Unreleased Recordings
Free Music Review: Hank is the Empire State Building of country music!
Hit: 5 Stars
The man who gave Hank Williams his sound, Don Helms, his steel guitarist, died August 11, 2008. This occurred as this set was being readied for release.
Don recalled that he and Hank were once playing an outdoor venue when it began to rain. Hank and the band took cover under an enclosed area, but Hank's fans were caught in the deluge. Hank looked over his soaked fans, who had not budged and were still awaiting his next song. Hank walked into the downpour and announced,
"If you folks have the guts to listen to me in the rain, then I've got the guts to sing to you in the rain!"
And so Hank finished the show in the rain. Hank considered every person his brother and sister.
Sure, Hank lived long ago, but so did Washington and Lincoln and Christ. The Empire State Building is even older than Hank's songs, but that doesn't stop us from admiring the building, which towers over its newer and less interesting counterparts.
THE UNRELEASED SET only adds to the allure of this melancholy genius. Hank transcends country music and transcends time. Like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, be belongs to the ages. What Johnny Cash accomplished in 48 years, Hank accomplished in only six.
Some comments on this set--
1. I own 65 of the 72 Mother's Best shows and was always unhappy with their sound quality, but these songs are top notch. Still, the bass should have been higher and the treble lower. Some reviewers have complained that the shows are not complete, but having to fast-forward through a series of shows just to hear a particular song is a chore. At some point in the next few years, Time-Life will no doubt release the entire 18 hours of shows for historical purposes and at a cost of $200+.
Go ahead and buy this listenable set at its modest price.
2. "Blue Eyes Cring in the Rain"-- There were two (2) versions of this song by Hank. This is the longer version, with a musical bridge supplied by fiddler Jerry Rivers and steel guitarist Don Helms. The better-known shorter version floating around the internet is an oddity. It's from a mysterious Mother's Best show or show fragment which is unaccounted for on the Mother's Best website.
3. "Lonely Tombs"-- There were three (3) versions of this song by Hank. This is, disappointingly, one of the shorter two versions. On his very last show, Hank did the best, longest, and most emotional version of "Lonely Tombs." It contained a third verse,
"I then came to the place where my mother did lay,
And her voice , soft and low, from the tomb,
It said, 'Son, I'm at rest with the savior above,
I am safe in my heavenly home.'"
Why doesn't the set use the longer, better version? Perhaps there was a problem with its sound quality.
4. "Cool Water"-- Hank starts in the key of C but changes his mind and rachets it up to D. Hank's solo version of "Cool Water," on THE COMPLETE HANK WILLIAMS, is performed in the key of C.
5. Folks, lots of good material remain for the next set. My favorites include "Lonesome Whistle" and "My Sweet Love ain't Around." The latter is performed one show after "I'm so Lonesome I could Cry," and Hank compares the two. The Mother's Best version has different lyrics from the studio version:
"Memories come back to haunt me,
My dream house has just fell down--
This old world is dark around me
'Cause my sweet love ain't around.
Something telle me that I'm losin,'
'Cause these weary blues I've found--
Lawd, my baby left this mornin'
And now my sweet love ain't around."
I hope you've enjoyed my review and see my reviews for THE COMPLETE HANK WILLIAMS AND the HEALTH AND HAPPINESS SHOWS. E-mail me at geraldlrussell@hotmail.com.
Finally, Time-Life, when will you do a set of Hank's overdubs from the years immediately after his death? Don Helms was a part of these. The MGM lp, THE LONESOME SOUND OF HANK WILLIAMS especially deserves a transfer. If you've lost the tapes, see me. I bought a sealed version of the lp in 2006 and it is in mint condition.
Free Music Review: Invaluable Release For All Fans Of Hank Williams' Work
Hit: 5 Stars
This 3 CD set features 54 songs recorded for "Mother's Best" radio shows in 1951.
A significant number of demo and live recordings by Williams have been available for years but with those recordings sound quality is often marginal. 2 things stand out on this new 3 Time Life CD set: the sound quality is excellent and Williams' singing is as strong as ever (clearly he wasn't in the midst of one of his binges during the period that most or all of these sides were drawn from).
This 3 CD set does not feature straight radio programs. Instead, it features single song selections from the programs. There is a little banter here and there, but not a tremendous amount. This approach by the folks at Time Life is ideal for playback in a device such as an iPod but I would still like to hear entire 15 minute shows; perhaps in the future some of those will be made available in a legal manner (reportedly more from the "Mother's Best" shows will be commercially issued but one must assume that this 3 CD set contains the cream of the crop).
Williams' most lasting hits heard live here are "Wedding Bells," "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You)," "May You Never Be Alone," "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," "Hey, Good Lookin'," and "Cold, Cold Heart."
I already had Williams singing a handful of songs that I absolutely love, that he didn't write, and that appear again in this 3 CD set. These are "At The First Fall Of Snow," "The Prodigal Son," "Cool Water," "Thy Burdens Are Greater Than Mine," and "Tennessee Border." These newly released versions are certainly welcome! "Cool Water" features an especially dynamic performance by Williams; his Drifting Cowboys know exactly how to back him here (nice fiddle by Jerry Rivers!).
My top 5 tracks in this 3 CD set that I've never heard Williams sing before, all written by others, are "The Blind Child's Prayer" (aka "There'll Be No Blind Ones There"), "When The Fire Comes Down," "Low And Lonely," "Just When I Needed You," and "The Pale Horse And His Rider." In fact, I can't say that I've heard anyone ever sing "When The Fire Comes Down" and it is a great song! "The Pale Horse And His Rider" is one of my all-time favorite sacred songs and hearing this incredible rendition by Williams was, for me, truly mind-blowing.
More personal favorite performances/arrangements are on "Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain," "I'll Sail My Ship Alone" (1 of 2 Moon Mullican covers, the other being the frivolous "Cherokee Boogie"), "Next Sunday Darling Is My Birthday," and "Drifting Too Far From The Shore."
I count 22 spiritual songs and hymns in this 3 CD set (more than a third of the total 54). A handful of these feature solo vocal performances by Williams; the remaining 17 include vocal contributions from members of the Drifting Cowboys (but no Audrey Williams, thank goodness!).
"When God Dips His Love In My Heart," "(I'm Gonna) Sing, Sing, Sing," "I'll Fly Away," "I'll Have A New Life," "I Heard My Savior Calling Me," "When The Saints Go Marching In," "(I've Got My) One Way Ticket To The Sky," "Where The Soul Never Dies," and "Wait For The Light To Shine" are all uplifting gospel songs with spirited performances.
"I Dreamed That Great Judgment Morning" runs over 5 minutes and offers an incredibly sorrowful, damning message. I really value listening to this forceful track but wouldn't want to hear it too often! "I Dreamed That Great Judgment Morning" is more than a century old and has similar phrases as those on the amazing 1930 record by the Dunham Jubilee Singers titled "I Dreamed Of The Judgment Morning," but the 2 songs seem quite different, all the same.
This 3 CD set has a very nice booklet incorporated into the cover/CD storage with many photos, an introduction by William's daughter Jett Williams, and text by the authoritative Colin Escott (with excellent notes about the songs and a few opinions regarding the performances).
Free Music Review: THE KING OF COUNTRY SOUL ON THE LOST HIGHWAY IN '51
Hit: 5 Stars
I had heard about these recordings because there was a legal fight over them. What's more, I knew that with all of the radio shows that Hank performed on there had to be more recordings of him singing live than I had found over the years. Well, here's a large piece of the priceless Hank Williams gold that I have sought. Three disks worth, as a matter of fact.
Hank and the Drifting Cowboys play too many of Hank's brilliant songs for me to enumerate here, and a good number of songs that he never recorded for release, be they his own compositions or just favorites of his. This set is a complete treasure of American music.
For starters, you get to hear just why Hank was so special as a performer and not just a songwriter. He sings these songs as well or better than he did on his albums! His voice was so well honed, strong, and clear that performing live was no more of a challenge to him than recording them to perfection on his records. I suspect this has to do with the fact that he grew up playing live on the street corners and in front of his mother's boarding house. Imagine a popular singer today going on live radio and effortlessly putting their soul into their oeuvre of hits and also obscure songs and having them come out as polished and soulful as these. It will not happen.
This set is a reminder of why and how Hank became so big so fast. It was strictly immense talent and the ability to get a song over by baring his soul to the audience; recorded or live along with the fact that he wrote deceptively simple songs that the average person can still completely relate to yet are as poetic as Robert Frost. That's a combination that still brings people to tears.
An added bonus and charm of this set is that you get to hear Hank speak live and off the cuff. It lends a lot of humanity to the man that we see in all of the black and white pictures ad who, before this set, was dangerously close to becoming a marble man of history. Now we can hear his charm and talent and just exactly how Hank Williams the boy from Alabama became HANK WILLIAMS the star and king of country blues and soul.
It doesn't get anymore authentic than this. It doesn't get anymore brilliant than this. And for music lovers, your money can be no better spent than on this. It is truly a historic document for the ages and some of the best music that you will ever hear.
Ride with Hank and the drifting Cowboys for a while down that old "Lost Highway" and I know that you will agree. This is the easiest five stars that I have ever given to a product.
Kevin W. Mattingly
Harrisburg Times
Free Music Review: Hank unplugged -- STUNNING
Hit: 5 Stars
'Hank Williams: The Unreleased Recordings' is an event which, like the transition from Newtonian to quantum physics, serves to change our fundamental frame of reference.
We all knew about the Hank Williams legend -- the prolific songwriting, the remarkable voice. But despite the obvious talent on display, many of Hank's extant studio recordings have a stilted feel to them, perhaps reflecting the tampering of producers and arrangers. 'The Unreleased Recordings' shatters that limited understanding forever. These one-take, full-group performances, taped in the style of a live show, are the equivalent of 'Hank Williams Unplugged.' For the first time, we realize just how unimaginably high Hank Williams set the bar of vocal performance.
The sound quality of these performances reveals Hank singing with what the liner notes aptly describe as 'frightening intensity,' an intensity that might be compared to Maria Callas. His band colleagues, particularly fiddle player Jerry Rivers and steel guitarist Don Helms, instrumentally echo every vocal lick with utter precision. In combination, this team delivers a devastating wallop.
Exposed to 'The Unreleased Recordings,' people who don't listen to country music and have never heard of Hank Williams get a faraway look in their eyes, and just fall silent. Vocals like this did not exist until now, in any genre. It's almost unbelievable.
Even after many playings of this album, I still have difficulty accepting that it is real. It just cannot be true that lost recordings of this quality, of a singer and a band this great, have been dropped into our midst like an unanticipated Rosetta stone, 57 years later. But if you can suspend disbelief, 'The Unreleased Recordings' is probably the most important, and likely the greatest, country album of our lifetimes.
Free Music Review: Essential for any serious music collection
Hit: 5 Stars
I already owned 40 GREATEST HITS and THE COMPLETE HANK WILLIAMS and thought that I had acquired all the Hank Williams I would ever own. This set is not only an essential acquisition for anyone who loves Hank Williams but it also contains many of the best performances of many of his best known songs. There are also a number of songs that are found nowhere else in any version.
Many of these performances are simply the best that exist of some of his most famous songs. For instance, I prefer the version here of "I Can't Help It If I'm Still in Love with You" to any other. As great as the hit version of the song is, his performance on the Mother's Best show (which in the intro they claim is the first public performance of the song) just has more passion than the studio version. I have to confess that I'm moderately irritated by the reaction of the people in the studio to Hank's songs, but that is more than offset by the brilliance of the performances. There is just enough difference between the studio performances and the radio performances to give these songs a freshness lacking if you've heard them all several dozen times.
These performances are so wonderful that they would serve as a great introduction to Williams even for those completely unfamiliar with his music (if such a thing exists, since his music is woven into the fabric of our culture).
One thing that struck me while immersing myself in these great songs was that we didn't really know that they existed. It made me wonder just how many great music potential CDs are still out there, waiting to be released, of equally great artists. If you had told me that there was absolutely first-rate Hank Williams music yet to be released, I wouldn't have believed you. But I'm delighted to have been surprised.