File Under King Of Country
* Hank Williams: Theme Song (2 mb) | I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still In Love With You) (7.5 mb) | Panhandle Rag (3 mb) | Gathering Flowers For The Master’s Bouquet (6 mb) | Bill Cheatham (4 mb)
From The Complete Mother’s Best Transcriptions
Hank Williams was a true original. He infused country with the blues and gospel that he learned from his childhood friend “Tee-Tot”. He also managed to define the self-destructive rock ‘n’ roll life style. Though he only lived for 29 short years, almost all of his compositions have become standards in the country repertoire.
More than fifty years after his death, Hank Williams ranks among the most powerfully iconic figures in American music. Iconic to the point that man and myth are inextricably entwined. He set the agenda for contemporary country songcraft and sang his songs with such believability that we feel privy to his world, despite the fact that he left no in-depth interviews and just a few letters. His brief life and tragic death have only compounded his appeal.
(By Colin Escott)
From late 1950 to 1951, though, he was just like anyone else and trying to make ends meet however he could. So, he took home around $100 a week for singing and selling Mother’s Best Flour every morning during a 15 minute show on the radio. Most people would probably just blow the whole thing off and go through the motions of playing. Not Hank Williams, though. He still poured his heart and soul into every performance. Here’s a complete 15 minute radio show for your perusal. So, sit back and soak in these tunes from “that love-sick blues boy”
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r.piggy said,
February 3, 2005 @ 2:14 am
Would this post count as religious proseltyzation. Anyways, AMEN BROTHER!
cb said,
February 3, 2005 @ 11:09 am
Most likely it would. And you MUST listen and believe…or you will perish.
-cb
AKD said,
February 3, 2005 @ 7:52 pm
This is great, never heard any of these shows. Died at 29 huh? I must be doing something wrong, now I feel old.
As always, thanks for the post. I’ve really been enjoying your selections lately, just been way busy so haven’t been able to get back to you.
Hmmm, now for some reason I got a “hankerin’” for biscuits!
cb said,
February 4, 2005 @ 3:49 am
AKD-
Glad you’re diggin’ the Hank Williams. He’s an amazing individual. And definitely be on the look out for more Mother’s Best shows!
-cb
DSJ said,
February 4, 2005 @ 9:04 am
HELL YEAH! I love the Hank but I’m sadly lacking more than 1 CD of his material. You rock!
jazzyhair said,
February 6, 2005 @ 12:20 pm
hey this is the best!!!lets get some more hillbilly hootenanny up there my son. More of this biscuit and gravy mix puleez listening here in bonnie scotland and lovin every bite of this blog
Ronald said,
February 13, 2005 @ 11:41 pm
When are we going to get these officially released instead of folks passing around shoddy sounding bootlegs?
cb said,
February 14, 2005 @ 2:25 am
Are you volunteering your time and money to remaster and release them?
But seriously, without a whole hell-of-a lot of work by highly paid audio engineers (there’s 15 cds worth of this stuff), this is probably about as good as it gets. These sessions weren’t professionally recorded. They were recorded onto acetates which, when not taken care of properly, are much easier to scratch than vinly records.
Also, I’m not sure where the objection to the sound quality is coming from. For 50 year old recordings, I think they sound pretty great.
-cb