Billy Cowsill, Jane Hawley, Stewart MacDougall, Tom Phillips, Tim Williams - Sorrow Bound Hank Williams Re-Examined Mp3

Tracklist

Notes

In any career in American popular culture can be described as meteoric, it would be that of the late country singer / songwriter Hank Williams. His professional recording career lasted only six years – his reign at the top of the country charts lasted a mere four years and yet he left a volume of work behind which dwarfs those of other icons who died before their time. Robert Johnson left little over two dozen recordings, and James Dean a handful of films, whereas Hank Williams created more than 80 single recordings (including posthumous releases) and literally ruled the country charts for four solid years. After honing his musical skills (and his fondness for liquor) in beer joints and schoolhouse dances in his native Alabama, he burst on the national scene with the recording of “The Lovesick Blues” and a legendary six encores for his first Grande Ole Opry performance. He was the bridge between the musics of Bill Monroe and Elvis Presley, one hand reaching into old-time country music while the other hand played the blues and pointed the way toward rockabilly. After a very public divorce and re-marriage, after being fired by the Opry when his drinking and drug addiction made him chronically unreliable, he died of an overdose after mixing prescription drugs and liquor in the back seat of a Cadillac on his way to a New Year’s Day show on January 1, 1953. He was twenty-nine years old, and left behind a canon of songs which will be performed as long as the human voice and hand make music, as long as the joy and despair of the human conditions remains constant.

The premise for this recording was simple: select five from Alberta’s large community of singers and songwriters, back them with a skilled and sensitive band, and record three of each artist’s favorite Hank Williams songs; then record three originals by each artist which they feel were, in some way, touched by Williams’ spirit and legacy. The sessions took place on consecutive days for just over a week, in the autumn of 2004. Many were cut old-school, live off the studio floor. The lines between producer, artists and band quickly blurred, with suggestions coming from all quarters and artists joining with the studio band on one another’s tracks. The whole process was a reaffirmation of the joy of making music.

This recording is dedicated to the memory of Joel Shortt, founder and owner of Ruby Moon Records. Husband, father, friend, lawyer and discerning music lover, his untimely death during the mixing of threes tracks left a hold if the lives of everyone he touched.

TIM WILLIAMS