Hank Williams – The Complete Mother's Best Recordings... Plus!

I am not the first and won't be the last to sing the praises of the legendary Hank Williams. He displayed such talent as a singer-songwriter his influence surpassed the country western genre. In 1937 at the age of 14 he was given his own radio show on WSFA in Montgomery, Alabama, and put together a band known as The Drifting Cowboys. Hank expanded into recording religious music under the name Luke the Drifter. He had 11 #1 hits, such as "Cold, Cold Heart", "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)", and "Your Cheatin' Heart"; quite a few more in the Top Ten, and has been covered by many different artists over the years, from Tony Bennett to Beck.

Hank's personal life wasn't as successful. He had problems with alcohol and drugs, resulting in his dismissal from WSFA in 1942 and the Grand Old Opry in 1952. Hs first marriage to Audrey Sheppard ended in divorce. He died on New Year's Day 1953 en route to a concert in Canton, OH at the age of 29.

Two years earlier he found himself a busy man and doing well. He played over 100 concert dates; earned five Top Ten Country hits, including two #1s, and starred on a 15-minute morning radio broadcast sponsored by Mother's Best Flour for Nashville's WSM that aired at 7:15 am throughout the year. The shows were recorded to 16" acetate discs and were almost thrown away if it hadn’t been for photographer Les Leverett, who is owed a debt of gratitude. After a court battle, the recordings were deemed to be the property of the Williams estate.

In conjunction with Time Life, the shows are being released in a limited edition deluxe set currently available only online or by phone. Fans will be thrilled to learn that the Mother's Best collection increases "the number of known Hank Williams recordings by fifty percent," according to the website.

The packaging is stunning. It is shaped like an old-time radio and the back has a picture of what the electronics inside would look like. There's a knob on the front that plays a recording from WSM. Inside the packaging are 16 discs: 15 CDs and one DVD. There are "72 complete 15-minute shows, featuring 143 performances by Hank Williams." A number of songs are repeated over the course of the year. Some he never recorded commercially and others he never recorded elsewhere. The website identifies them for the curious.

Most of the shows have a similar rundown. Hank sings a song, the band or another singer gets a song, and then Hank closes with a religious song. In between he serves as a spokesman for Mother's Best products. Cousin Louie Buck, who assists with the introductions of the "lovesick blues boy" and the product promotion, hosted the program. Hank is backed by The Drifting Cowboys who at this stage are Don Helms, Sammy Pruett, Jerry Rivers and Cedric Rainwater. Hank and the musicians are in fine form throughout and it's easy to understand why he was so popular. He has a great voice and is able to evoke the emotions of the song's stories. The fellas are entertaining when bantering back and forth. Audrey sings on several programs at the onset but stops appearing. She's not a very good singer so she isn't missed, and their fraying relationship is likely a contributing factor for her absence.

The shows at the beginning of the set are identified by the specific dates they aired through January and February. Then the cataloging isn’t as accurate with notations like "probably February" and "early March" moving on to the less specific "probably Spring."

Disc 15 is slightly different. With the same basic premise, Hank records an audition in Spring 1952 in the hopes of getting sponsored by Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix. "Stars in Her Eyes" is a Venereal Disease Public Service Announcement where Hank serves as a balladeer as the story plays out. Lena starts dating her boss Joe and within a week they stay the night together. After being married a month, he has to go away for three months for work, which causes her great stress. She takes his picture off the mantle, and then Joe's pal from high school, Leo comes around. After a month, he brings over some alcohol and gets her drunk. She ends up catching syphilis and has to tell her husband. It is bizarre.

The DVD is entitled "Hank Williams: The Untold Stories," a 41-minute interview with Hank's daughter; former band member Helms and supporting act Big Bill Lister, both of whom have since passed away, and WSM engineer Glenn Snoddy. They share stories and heap praise onto Hank. Also included in the set is an informative 108-page book that contains annotated liner notes detailing each program and a double-sided poster with Hank on one side and his 1951-tour schedule on the other.

The Complete Mother’s Best Recordings….Plus! is a fantastic and important piece of history that allows listeners a glimpse of the past. The shows are very enjoyable, but because of their repetitive nature, particularly in regards to the commercials, I prefer listening to them one episode at a time like they originally aired rather than an entire disc at a time.

Jake Brown of Glorious Noise opens the set:

Article first published as Music Review: Hank Williams - The Complete Mother's Best Recordings... Plus! on Blogcritics.

Johnny Cash - American VI: Ain't No Grave

Johnny Cash died on September 12, 2003, and although producer Rick Rubin stated this album was coming when American V: A Hundred Highways was released in 2006, it's understandable for there to be trepidation among fans. No matter the genre, many music legends after their deaths, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Elvis Presley, and Frank Sinatra to name a few, have had their discographies bloated by record labels emptying the vaults, releasing alternate takes, unreleased tracks, and live performances an artist may not have wanted the public to hear. That's in addition to all the repurpsoed material used in numerous greatest hits and best-of collections that flood the market. Not every posthumous release has been a bust because quite a few gems have been unearthed but fans have been burned many times over by this practice.

In this instance, everyone can unburden themselves of that concern because Johnny's legacy is in the capable and trusted hands of producer Rick Rubin and associate producer/son John Carter Cash and is culled from the same sessions that created American V, which found Johnny backed by talented musicians Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench of the Heartbreakers, and guitarists Smokey Hormel, Matt Sweeney, and Johnny Polansky.

The album opens with the title track serving as a counterpoint to the fatalistic "God's Gonna Cut You Down." A foot stomps (Seth Avett), referencing the previous song, and chains clatter during this spiritual as Johnny sings of his eventual ascension, "ain't no grave/ Can hold my body down," and meeting with loved ones that went on ahead. The arrangement includes Scott Avett on banjo and Tench creating some wonderful flourishes.

Although Sheryl Crow's "Redemption Day" was released in 1996, when Johnny sings it in 2003, it seems directed at the war in Iraq as he shows empathy for the troops and disgust at the leaders he mockingly calls "men of great" as he asks them "Was there no oil to excavate/ No riches in trade for the fate/ Of every person who died in hate." Johnny's anti-war stance is brought back into focus on Ed McCurdy's "Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream" about a man who dreamt "the world had all agreed/ To put an end to war." The subject obviously weighed heavy on a man of his age who had seen that path taken too many times.

Kris Kristofferson's "For The Good Times" is a song about the break-up of a relationship ("I know it's over/ But life goes on"), yet when Johnny sings about "the good times," it becomes a love song to his recently departed June Carter.

Johnny's gospel hymn "I Corinthians 15:55" is likely to draw a tear to all those who bonded with the man as he sings of what was his then-impending end. It begins with the first two lines from the Bible passage: "Oh death, where is thy sting? / Oh grave, where is thy victory?" but all is calm as he sounds comforted knowing "hope springs eternal just over the rise/ When I see my redeemer beckoning me."

Folk singer Tom Paxton's "Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound" presents an alternate position as Johnny sounds like he no longer has that security of his certainty. This unknowing causes him a "troubled mind" and is a fitting song for the current upheaval many in the United States feel.

Quick to provide comfort, Johnny sings J.H. Red Hayes & Jack Rhodes' "Satisfied Mind" over an acoustic guitar. He wants to dispel the notion that wealth is the answer to problems because "Money can't buy back/ Your youth when you're old/ Or a friend when you're lonely/ Or a love that's grown cold."

As the album closes and Johnny says goodbye for the last time, he references his previous farewell "We'll Meet Again" from American IV with Queen Liliuokalani's "Aloha Oe" which contains the same line and sentiment. He alternates between English and Hawaiian, evoking the image of sailing off into the sunset.

Ain't No Grave is a satisfying swansong to Johnny's career. Dealing with failing health and the loss of his beloved June in his final days, the listener can hear Johnny made peace with his mortality and attained a level of awareness about life that inspired him to create great art, which should in turn inspire those who come into contact with it.

Johnny Cash: At Folsom Prison - Legacy Edition

As legend has it, while stationed in West Germany as he served in the United States Air Force, Johnny Cash saw the movie Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison and was inspired to the write his classic 1955 hit “Folsom Prison Blues.” What’s not as well known about the story is that Cash liberally took from Gordon Jenkins’ “Crescent City Blues” and settled a lawsuit because of it. But that didn’t stop “Folsom Prison Blues” from becoming a quintessential Johnny Cash song due in part to its combination of a prisoner and a train, frequent themes throughout his work.

As he sang in “Man in Black,” Cash had empathy for all those in society “who are held back” and that included inmates, which is why he performed in jails and advocated prison reforms. The first time it was captured live for people outside the walls was 1968’s At Folsom Prison, a landmark album that helped revitalize Cash’s career, which had gone into a slump because of his drug addiction and shifting priorities at Columbia Records. In 1973, he told Rolling Stone, “that's where things really got started for me again.”

In 1999, At Folsom Prison was re-released with three extra tracks and once again in 2008 labeled a “Legacy Edition” with both shows recorded from that day, the 65-minute first show with seven previously unissued tracks and the 75-minute second show with 24 previously unissued tracks. The shows are also uncensored, so you hear Cash sing about how he “shot that bad bitch down” in “Cocaine Blues,” which gets raucous approval from the inmates, and during the second show at the beginning of “25 Minutes To Go” he playfully warns the audience, “don’t say ‘shit’ or anything like that out loud.” The “Legacy Edition” also includes a feature-length documentary that examines the album’s creation and its legacy. Cash can be heard in interviews throughout and many others including Cash’s bassist Marshall Grant, Marty Stuart, Merle Haggard, and former inmates reflect upon it.

The beginning of the disc one is new material as Los Angles radio DJ Hugh Cherry handles announcements. Then the supporting acts perform: Carl Perkins with his classic “Blue Suede Shoes” followed by The Statler Brothers “The Ole House.”

Backed by arguably the best backing trio ever in country music, the Tennessee Three, Cash opens, as the original album did, with “Folsom Prison Blues.” He then wisely chooses many other songs his audience will identify with from the two previously mentioned to “Joe Bean” who is going to be hanged for a crime he didn’t commit. Cash closes the set with Glen Sherley’s “Greystone Chapel.” Sherley was a Folsom inmate at the time and wrote about the prison’s church.

Yet, the set is not all prison songs. Although Merle Travis’ “Dark As A Dungeon” is about a coal mine, the audience can identify with the lyrics “Where danger is double and pleasures are few/ Where the rain never falls and the sun never shines.” Also, two funny love songs by Cowboy Jack Clement, “Dirty Old Egg Sucking Dog” and “Flushed From The Bathroom Of Your Heart,” have a serious subtext about affairs of the heart.

About half the unissued material is Cash alone with his guitar singing somber songs. “The Long Black Veil” is what a man’s wife wears because he went to jail and was hung rather than give his alibi “I’d been in the arms/ of my best friend’s wife.” In “Send A Picture of Mother” a man requests upon his brother’s release not to mention that his escape attempt will forever keep him in jail. “The Wall” is about a man who commits suicide trying to escape jail. While there was no doubt many a tough and hardened man in the audience, it’s hard to believe all eyes were dry after these songs.

To the delight of the men, June Carter came out for their hit duet “Jackson” and the previously unreleased cover of Ray Charles’ “I Got A Woman.” After the seven-minute “Legend of John Henry’s Hammer,” June offers a silly poem about a cow, which can be heard for the first time.

The second show started three hours after the first started and you can hear the difference. Cash and the Tennessee Three aren’t as energetic as the first show, and on “Orange Blossom Special” Cash messes up the lyrics and sounds out of breath. Still, any Johnny Cash concert is miles ahead of many other artists and the second show is well worth a listen. “Give My Love to Rose” and “I Got Stripes” are the only songs from the second show that made the original-album cut. The only other song not played earlier was “Long-Legged Guitar Pickin’ Man” which they really rock on, especially June’s raspy growl. It's amazing they never thought to release it until now.

Carl Perkins and The Statler Brothers played more songs than the previous show. The highlight is the Statlers’ “You Can’t Have Your Kate and Edith, Too,” a very funny song with the narrator telling a friend he has to choose one woman, and it better not be the narrator’s.

At Folsom Prison: Legacy Edition improves on the original release, which is a hard feat to accomplish for an album of such historical significance. It is a must-have for any music fan that doesn’t own it, and a valuable upgrade if you do.

Willie Nelson: One Hell of a Ride

That is certainly an apt description for the life of Willie Hugh Nelson, a country music icon of the last half of the twentieth century. Born in Fort Worth, he eventually made his way to Nashville. He initially got signed as a songwriter, creating hits for artists like Ray Price (“Night Life”), Faron Young (“Hello Walls”), and Patsy Cline (“Crazy”), all of which are included on this album sung by Willie. His success helped earn him a recording contract in 1962. He eventually landed at RCA Records and worked with Chet Atkins who produced him.

On Disc One, the early Willie is on display. It opens with a rarity and one of the first songs he ever recorded. “When I’ve Sang My Last Hillbilly Song” was laid to tape one night in late 1954/early ‘55 at a radio station Willie worked at. The rest of the songs are good and brought Willie moderate success, including “The Party’s Over,” which years later Don Meredith made the unofficial goodnight theme on ABC’s Monday Night Football. The ones that did chart averaged in the twenties on the Billboard Hot Country Singles; however, Atkins’ Nashville Sound made them generic. Willie sounded like everyone else at the time, and this confinement frustrated him.

The remainder of this review can be read at Blogcritics.

Dixie Chicks
SHUT UP & SING

Throughout the years many musicians have recorded their exploits on film and video, mostly concert performances. There are a select few that capture key pivotal events in an artist’s career away from the stage. The most famous is probably Don’t Look Back, featuring Bob Dylan on tour in London 1965 as he changed his sound from folk to rock, causing great distress to some fans. Some Kind of Monster found Metallica on the brink of implosion when long-time bassist Jason Newsted left the band and singer James Hetfield battling addictions. Joining the ranks of compelling portraits is the Dixie Chicks with Shut Up & Sing.

Even people who didn’t listen to country music couldn’t avoid hearing about the Dixie Chicks back in 2003. At the beginning on their “Top of the World” tour, lead singer Natalie Maines spoke out in London during the run up to the second Iraq war at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, the most fitting name of a venue for a detractor of President Bush’s plans to appear. Carl Jung would be proud. To the delight of the audience she said, “Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas.” Not surprisingly, this upset many people back home in the States, especially a good portion of their fans who couldn’t separate the art from the artist. Radio stations dropped them from play lists; some from fan complaints, others in a proactive move.

The reaction to and aftermath of Maines’ comments as the women tour the U.S. are intercut with the band’s work on their follow-up album, the eventual multiple Grammy Award-winning Taking The Long Way. It sells well, although while a new band would love to sell over two million albums, that is well below the numbers of their previous releases. Sales for the supporting tour in the States weren’t great, causing them to cancel some dates and move to smaller venues. The story comes full circle as the band returns to the scene of the crime to perform at Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

The film allows the viewer to see the women off stage, away from the music and hoopla. Maines is a fighter. She won’t back down or even concede just to get back in with her former fans and radio stations. She has the spirit of other outlaw country artists who blazed their own trail when Nashville no longer cast the spotlight on them. Sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire could very easily have kicked out Maines and moved on, but the group is a family, so they circled the wagons.

Shut Up & Sing presents an intriguing look inside at celebrities handling a public relations crisis and a real-life one as some nut sent a death threat that the authorities took very seriously. Although former fans will probably still be holding a grudge, the film is enjoyable. It provides a compelling look at people sticking together and standing up for what they believe as well as showing artists process their experiences through their craft.

Unfortunately, the DVD is bare bones, which is too bad because the extremely talented, Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple was a co-director. I wanted to know her involvement and how the project came to be because the events began happening before the idea for the project took form. Were the Dixie Chicks originally planning on recording the tour for a DVD and luck was the main factor in this film’s creation? I would also have liked to have heard the band’s reaction to the film after time to reflect on the events and the ability to see the footage put together.