Hank Williams: The Lost Concerts Limited Collector’s Edition

Time Life To Release Hank Williams: The Lost Concerts
Limited Collector’s Edition
on October 2, 2012

The Only Known Live Recordings of
Country Music Icon Hank Williams
Includes Onstage Banter,
Offering A Genuine View Of His Concerts Were Like

Collection Also Features Rare Radio Interview

Nashville, Tenn. (July 16, 2012) — Live albums are commonplace today,
but tape recording was in its infancy during country music legend Hank
Williams’ lifetime. The equipment was cumbersome and tape was expensive,
so very little live recording was done back then. Incredibly, two
concerts performed by Williams were recorded in the months before his
death and will be released for the first time as Hank Williams: The Lost Concerts Limited Collector’s Edition on
October 2nd (Time Life).  The collection includes 19 tracks as well as
Hank’s revealing conversations with the audience, introducing songs and
telling anecdotes about his life.  As a bonus feature, a radio interview
Williams did in 1951 has been added to the CD, one of very few in
existence.

“Just when you thought you had discovered and heard everything my dad
ever did, along comes these bonus jewels in the crown of The Great One,
as we sometimes refer to Hank around here,” says Hank’s daughter, Jett
Williams.  “I got to know my dad first and best in the Mother’s Best
sponsored early morning radio shows that aired in the early ’50’s on WSM
radio.  I was so captivated with his wit and humor on these many
shows.  He came alive to me.  But these were structured shows with
commercial breaks while he extolled the virtues of his favorite flour
miller.  In these live performances — the only two known to exist —
and in this warm and in-depth radio interview, he truly springs to
life.  When they were given to me and my husband, Keith Adkinson, we
knew they would find a place in our ongoing partnership with Time
Life…and they have.”

No live concert recordings of Hank Williams have been released until now.  In fact, the two shows on Hank Williams: The Lost Concerts Limited Collector’s Editionwere
recorded by chance.  A radio DJ in Buffalo, New York, taped one of
Hank’s local concerts to play back on the air. Just a few weeks later,
another performance was recorded by the promoter to play to his wife,
who was too sick to attend, this time in Pennsylvania. The two concerts
capture Hank Williams as he’s never been heard before: live and
unscripted, giving insight into the legend as an engaging, riveting
performer.  They were recorded just six weeks apart in May and July
1952, and reveal Williams at the peak of his career.  His biggest hits
“Hey Good Looking”,” Jambalaya,” “I Saw the Light,” “Lovesick Blues,”
“Cold, Cold Heart,” and “I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love with
You)” are performed with a far more vibrant and intimate feel that the
studio recordings, peppered by personal stories about his band members,
himself, and his songs.  The album also includes the only known live
recording of “Are You Walking and A Talking.”  In addition, the CD also
features an extremely rare radio interview with Williams made in 1951. 
It was conducted with Mack Sanders for KFBI in Wichita, Kan. on
September 14, 1951.

“These late night performances of full concerts allow him to dominate
the stage and the crowd in a way previously unheard and unknown,” Jett
Williams explains.  “He exudes the wit, extraordinary charisma and
awesome talent that made him our first superstar.  He is at the top of
his game and clearly demonstrates why those in attendance never forgot
the occasion.  That he was at full throttle and in complete control
within months of his untimely death pretty much says it all regarding
his dominating entertaining capabilities. The studio recordings and juke
box masters can’t touch the reality of his genius as manifested in
these shows.  He was so far ahead of every other entertainer, singer and
songwriter that he didn’t even know they were behind him.”

Since his death in 1953, Williams has risen in popularity to become one
of most iconic figures in all of American music.  In 2009, Time Life
partnered with Jett Williams to release a series of vintage recordings,
most of which had never been available on CD before.  The
GRAMMY-nominated Mother’s Best recordings included 143 recordings
released as installments over a three year period, increasing the number
of known Williams’ recordings by fifty percent.   Time Life also issued
tapes from his syndicated radio series, “The Health And Happiness
Show”.

Hank Williams: The Lost Concerts
Limited Collector’s Edition

Tracklisting:

Niagara Falls, New York: April 25, 1952.
1.  Comedy with Hank and the Drifting Cowboys
2.  I Can’t Help It
3.  Jerry Rivers and the Drifting Cowboys: Orange Blossom Special
4.  Why Don’t You Love Me
5.  Are You Walking and A Talking
6.  The Funeral
7.  Hey Good Looking
8.  Cold, Cold Heart
9.  Lovesick Blues

Sunset Park, West Grove, PA: July 13, 1952.
10.  Introductions
11.  Hey Good Looking
12.  Comedy with Hank and the Drifting Cowboys
13.  Jerry Rivers and the Drifting Cowboys: Fire On The Mountain
14.  Lonesome Whistle
15.  Jambalaya
16.  Long Gone Lonesome Blues
17.  Half As Much
18.  I Saw The Light
19.  Lovesick Blues
20.  Interview: Hank interviewed by Mack Sanders, KFBI, Wichita, Kansas, September 14, 1951.

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