Bob Dylan, Robbie Burns, and Hank

Bob Dylan has identified Robbie Burns as the greatest influence on his work. Not a bad choice on Bob’s part, although he has identified Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie, and Smokey Robinson as idols and major influences in the past. The Dylan revelation came in an HMV advertisng campaign called ‘My Inspiration’ which is asking hundreds of artists to [...]

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Petition asks Grand Old Opry to reinstate Hank

I don’t have a strong opinion one way or the other on whether it’s important to reinstate Hank as a member of the Grand Old Opry. If they decided to do it, they would probably make it a big media event  and they would get more out of it financially, with ratings, sales  etc than Hank [...]

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BBC and PopMatters Hank Williams’ reviews

The impact of the ‘Unreleased Recordings’ on the reputation, particularily the international reputation, of Hank Williams is immeasurable. I’ve posted some of the links to international reviews earlier. These writers from around the world are finding that the wide range of songs that interested Hank Williams as he prepared and recorded the ‘Mother’s Best’ shows, [...]

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Hank Williams takes western classic ‘Cool Water’ to new level

Reviewers of the Unreleased Recordings have often found the Son’s of the Pioneers Bob Nolan song ‘Cool Water’ to be Hank Williams greatest performance on the 3 CD Box Set. I should say that ‘On Top Of Old Smokey’ runs a strong second with many reviewers as Hank’s greatest vocal performance  on the Box Set, [...]

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Charlie Daniels in Esquire Magazine

Charlie Daniels is featured in the latest issue of Esquire. I like Charlie Daniels but have never been a huge fan. Charlie is now 72 years old. Of course, the reason I mention the interview  is because he talks about Hank Williams in this brief quote. That lonesome whip-poor-will, he sounds too blue to fly, [...]

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France loves Hank

Well, I think that’s what this means: Hank Williams, la substantifiquemoelle Trois coffrets exhument 150 inédits de l’ange déchu du blues blanc, disparu en 1953. Histoire d’une rédemption. I don’t speak French so this will be a short post. What you see above is the headline and sub headline to a story in Liberation which leads me to think [...]

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Video of Hank Williams’ Memorial

The Montgomery  Advertiser Newspaper has  video of the Hank Williams’ Memorial at the gravesite on January 1st. Seems like a small group in attendance. One of the letter writers in the Comment Section  of the paper says the organizers should  try to get a bit more publicity and attract more media attention.  But it certainly is [...]

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New Year’s Day party for Hank

Here’s a nice little story from NBC News New York about an annual New Years Day party for Hank Williams in the Big Apple. What a great tradition. Hank Williams died on New Year’s Day in 1953 at the age of 29, and each year he’s remembered at NYC‘s honky tonk the Rodeo Bar with [...]

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