LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Omnivore Recordings will soon release the full-length version of The Garden Spot Programs, 1950, featuring 24 performances, unheard for 64 years, from country music legend Hank Williams. Rescued from obscurity, these shows originally aired more than six decades ago; The Garden Spot Programs, 1950 collects
material from the four episodes now known to exist. Due out May 20,
2014, the set follows the release of Omnivore’s collectible 10” vinyl
Record Store Day EP sampler.
From
hits to standards to songs rarely (if ever) performed, this is pure
Hank Williams, including playful between-song banter. Featuring fully
restored audio, The Garden Spot Programs, 1950 is an exceptional listening experience. Painstakingly
transferred, restored and mastered from original transcription discs by
Grammy Award winning engineer Michael Graves. Williams’
daughter, Jett, is excited that her father’s lost material is not only
seeing the light of day decades later, but will be available on CD,
digital and LP.
The
CD packaging contains rare photos and liner notes from the collection
of set co-producer and Williams biographer Colin Escott. Also available
on LP, the first pressing will be on limited edition, translucent red
vinyl (with black vinyl to follow), containing Escott’s informative
notes and a download card.
Escott
writes in his notes: “Set the time machine for early morning on
KSIB-AM, Creston, Iowa. February 1950. Country radio was beginning its
slow transition from live music to DJ shows. Live music and DJ shows
were augmented by transcribed shows. After buying 15 minutes of airtime
on small-market stations, sponsors would prerecord shows with well known
artists, duplicate them, and ship them out on 12 or 16-inch transcribed
discs.”
“That’s how Hank Williams came to be on KSIB in February
1950. Sandwiched between the local ‘live’ acts, it was almost as if he
were visiting with Skeets and those Radio Rascals. His sponsor was one
of the nation’s largest plant nurseries, Naughton Farms, seven hundred
miles south in Waxahachie, Texas. Given that Naughton was a big player
in the nursery business, Hank’s shows were almost certainly shipped to
many small stations, but only KSIB’s copies survived. Those of us who
have studied Hank’s life and career had no idea that these recordings existed.”
Any music from Hank Williams is worth celebrating. Discovering material that has been unheard for generations is monumental.
“It’s
incredible to me that we’re still finding new recordings by my dad —
great ones at that,” says Jett Williams. “No one even suspected that
these recordings existed. We partnered with Omnivore Recordings for this
release, and I especially love it that they’re taking my dad back to
vinyl.”
Track Listing:1. The Garden Spot Jingle2. Lovesick Blues3. A Mansion On The Hill4. Fiddle Tune5. I’ve Just Told Mama Goodbye6. Closing/Oh! Susanna7. The Garden Spot Jingle8. Mind Your Own Business9. Lovesick Blues10. Fiddle Tune11. At The First Fall Of Snow12. Closing/Oh! Susanna13. The Garden Spot Jingle14. I Can’t Get You Off Of My Mind15. I Don’t Care (If Tomorrow Never Comes)16. Fiddle Tune17. Farther Along18. Closing/Oh! Susanna19. The Garden Spot Jingle20. I’ll Be A Bachelor ’Til I Die21. Wedding Bells22. Fiddle Tune23. Jesus Remembered Me24. Closing/Oh! Susanna
Tracks 1 – 6 taken from Naughton Farms Garden Spot Show #4Tracks 7 – 12 taken from Naughton Farms Garden Spot Show #9Tracks 13 – 18 taken from Naughton Farms Garden Spot Show #10Tracks 19 – 24 taken from Naughton Farms Garden Spot Show #11
