Hank Williams: The Complete Mother’s Best Recordings….Plus!
16 Disc Collection
Available September 28th From Time Life
American music legend Hank Williams has long been considered one of the
earliest influences on rock ‘n’ roll and in fact was the first of a very few
artists to be inducted in both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the
Country Music Hall of Fame. His legacy will be honored in a new 16-disc
box set, Hank Williams: The Complete Mother’s Best Recordings…Plus! due September 28th via Time Life at www.hankwilliamsmothersbest.com.
Williams’s vocals, steeped in emotion, have influenced generations of rock
and Americana artists, and lately have been covered by more rock artists than country acts. In
the way he wrote and the way he sang, he set the standard for self-expression and
believability that has inspired rock artists from Elvis Presley onward. Rolling Stone
named him as one of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and Bob Dylan, Tom
Petty, Keith Richards, Norah Jones, Beck and countless others have reinterpreted his songs.
Dylan and John Fogerty both cite him as an early influence, Pearl Jam’s Stone
Gossard created a side band in his honor called the Hank Khoir and Neil Young, who
owns one of Williams’ original guitars, wrote “This Old Guitar” about it. Williams was
awarded a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation earlier this year from Columbia University.
Many journalists refer to Hank Williams as the first rock ‘n’ roll casualty. He was
an original rock ‘n’ roll rebel, making his music his way without compromise. Williams’ songs
…and his searing performances of them… were intensely personal statements. His simple poeticism is still the benchmark by which popular songs are measured.
Hank Williams Complete Mother Best Recordings….Plus! features fifteen audio discs and
a bonus DVD with performances including Williams’ first-ever rendition of “Cold, Cold Heart”
and “I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love with You)” just days after they were written,
as well as many songs he never recorded elsewhere such as “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain”
and “On Top of Old Smoky.” On the DVD, two of Hank’s original band members
reminisce about his brief, incendiary career. The project also contains a booklet
with an introduction by Hank Williams, Jr., afterword by Jett Williams and over
one-hundred pages on the history of Williams written by respected music writer
and Hank Williams historian, Colin Escott. This deluxe, limited edition set is lavishly
packaged in a box designed to look like an antique radio ! with a working radio dial that
plays selections from the radio shows. The 16-disc collector’s box set contains 72 complete
15-minute shows, featuring 143 performances by Hank Williams together with conversation, and
much more. The music and the unguarded conversation make this the first three-dimensional
portrait of an American music legend.
The recordings are from Williams’ Mother’s Best Flour shows, recorded at the pinnacle
of his career in 1951 at radio station WSM. Thinking the shows would only
reach a small, mostly rural audience in middle Tennessee, Hank was unguarded in both
his conversation and choice of songs. Accordingly, we hear him perform many songs he
never performed elsewhere, including some from his childhood. . The original acetate recordings
were painstakingly restored after they were salvaged from a trash can by a WSM employee
and turned over to Hank’s daughter, Jett Williams. The sound quality of these exceptional
radio shows is at least comparable to his studio recordings, and many critics have
remarked that the “direct-to-disc” Mother’s Best recordings actually have more presence
and clarity.
The collection is available from Time Life at www.hankwilliamsmothersbest.com or
by calling (212) 991-5195.
Fans may also order from Hillbilly-Music.com's Music Store through it's affiliation with Amazon.com via this link:
Hank Williams Complete Mother's Best Flour Recordings.
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