"The voice was coming from the radio, but it had such an easy affable tone that it could have been coming from the swing at the end of the porch, just the familiar voice coming out of the summer darkness where the shadow of the climbing roses fell. All across the south, [folks] were gathered before a makeshift electronic shrine whose god was Hank Williams....for nobody was kidding anybody. The best were the supporting cast...Hank was the real thing. It as rumored that he had his problems, but hell, we all had our problems. That just made him more surly one of us"
- From the liner notes by William Gay
Hank Williams, "the hillbilly Shakespeare," left this world nearly 50 years ago yet he retains his hold on the American imagination as the most potent icon of country music.
On September 19th, Mercury Records Nashville releases a collection of rare recordings of solo radio performances and song demos, including notes about the music by Williams biographer Colin Escott. Nine tracks had not been released in this form until the Grammy-winning 'Complete Hank Williams' boxed set released in 1998. The original cover art is by Jon Langford, founding member of the Mekons and the Waco Brothers. Also included is an essay by southern writer William Gay, recent winner of the James Michener Memorial prize, and frequent contributor to the Oxford American.
Ten of the eighteen cuts here come from early 1949 appearances on Shreveport, LA's KWKH; all but one of the rest are demo recordings made to pitch songs - some by other writers, some by Williams himself. The collection reveals a rarely-considered side of Williams, an entertainer deeply aware of the work of fellow musicians like Roy Acuff and Ernest Tubb, yet also capable of investing their songs with his own unmatched emotional depth. Without the instrumental backing found on all of his studio and most of his live recordings, these selections offer Hank Williams at his most direct and intimate, whether performing a familiar favorite or struggling to master a brand new creation. "Alone With His Guitar" is both an historically significant document and a compelling work of art, deepening our understanding of both the Poet of the People and ourselves.
The CD version will include enhanced CD/ROM material never before released including previously un-issued spoken word recordings and exclusive visual elements. One recording of note is a commercial Williams recorded for his friend Neal "Pappy" McCormick, who was running for sheriff.
Click here to check out an interesting essay about Hank