“Tidy” is not a word often associated with the against-the-grain work of Hank III, but it’s a fitting way to describe the way “Long Gone Daddy” packages up a full-bodied sampling of his career, style and influences.
Due April 17th on Curb Records, this 10-song collection could have been titled “Long Gone Granddaddy” for the shuffling country blues flavor of not just the Hank Williams covers but of much of the batch.

Grandpa’s contributions, title track “I’m A Long Gone Daddy” and “Neath A Cold Gray Tomb of Stone,” are complemented by fiddle and steel-drenched songs written by generations he influenced, including Merle Haggard (“The Bottle Let Me Down”), Johnny Cash (“Wreck of the Old 97”) and Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson (“Good Hearted Woman”).

The singer-songwriter Hank Williams influenced most – on this record, at least – is Hank III, whose remarkable vocal, including yodeling sendoff on the title track, would have been just right on a circa 1950 Grand Ole Opry or Louisiana Hayride stage.

A collection of six previously unreleased recordings and four resurrected from prior releases, the album is an exclamation point on the style and mood of Hank III’s 1999 “Risin’ Outlaw” breakthrough and acclaimed follow-up “Lovesick Broke & Driftin’.”

As “This Ain’t Montgomery,” a lament of the state of modern country, states: “Hank Williams is dead and he ain’t comin’ back here again.”

True, of course. But he’d be proud of his grandson.

Track Listing:
1) I’m A Long Gone Daddy
2) Sun Comes Up
3) The Bottle Let Me Down
4) Wreck Of The Old ’97
5) Neath A Cold Gray Tomb Of Stone
6) The Wind Blew Cold
7) Good Hearted Woman
This Ain’t Montgomery (with Joey Allcorn)
9) What They Want Me To Be
10) If The Shoe Fits (Shuffle Mix)

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 Time Life and the Estate of Hank Williams announced today the September 13, 2011 release of newly discovered historic Williams’ recordings that are meticulously restored with state of the art technology. Hank Williams: The Legend Begins is a 3-CD package that offers one disc entitled “Rare And Unreleased,” which contains the earliest recordings of a 15-year-old Williams and four songs from a home recording in 1940. The other two CDs are from Williams’ first syndicated radio show in 1949, Health And Happiness, that have been restored using the technology that earned so many plaudits for the Grammy nominated project, The Complete Mother’s Best Recordings….Plus! This highly developed sound technology delivers Williams’ performances as they were originally heard more than sixty years ago.

“Talk about a discovery!,” exclaims Hank’s daughter, Jett Williams. “The first recording of my dad when he was fifteen was given to me decades ago, and then the 1940 home recordings followed a few years later. My husband Keith and I finally got up the nerve to get with the best sound people in Nashville to see if we could salvage these extraordinary recordings. It worked! We did it! What a special treat for music lovers around the world to listen to the talent of an evolving genius. These recordings are a God send and very special to me and Hank’s fans.”

“Hank continues to speak to and entertain us across the generations,” says Mike Jason, Senior Vice President of Retail, Time Life. “These recordings give us a rare and special insight as this American music giant begins his career.”

Also included on the “Rare and Unreleased” CD is an additional program. The March Of Dimes show features several songs and a touching monologue from Williams, in which he talks about the fear of polio that blighted every summer in the early 1950’s; in particular, he expresses his concern that Hank, Jr. might contract the disease. Williams died shortly before the cure was announced that ended the scourge.

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