Hank Williams Sings
| Hank Williams Sings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Hank Williams | ||||
| Released | November 9, 1951 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Label | MGM Records | |||
| Producer | Fred Rose | |||
| Hank Williams chronology | ||||
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Hank Williams Sings is the debut album of country music singer-songwriter Hank Williams. Following hit records and a tour, Williams appeared on the Perry Como show. Predicting a sales boost for the performance, MGM Records released the album on November 9, 1952.
Background
By 1951 Hank Williams' popularity soared. Following the chart topping records of "Cold, Cold Heart" and "Hey Good Lookin'", he joined the Hadacol caravan, a train-transported roadshow that toured the South in a forty-nine dates one night show schedule. After the tour disbanded before the shows were completed, Williams returned to Nashville, Tennessee. In September 1951, he traveled to Hollywood after being offered a part as the Sheriff in Small Town Girl. Ultimately, Williams did not participate of the movie.[1]
The album and its release
On November 14, Williams was invited to The Perry Como Chesterfield Show. Anticipating the show, and the possible record sales that it could propell, MGM Records released Hank Williams Sings.[2] The songs were recorded by Williams during sessions between 1946, 1947 and 1949.[3] Producer Fred Rose took songs from previous single releases that did not sell well at the moment of their release. The album was released in three formats: ten-inch LP, a four 45rpm packaged set and a four 78rpm set.[2]
Williams indicated to Billboard that the label had decided not to release an album with new sides, since it felt that "(it) would only spread jockey and juke plays too thinly instead of getting the concentrated push on a single record".[4] The release failed to chart.[5]
Track listing
| Side one | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording date[6] | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Lost Highway" | Leon Payne | March 1, 1949 | 2:40 | ||||||
| 2. | "I've Just Told Mama Goodbye" | Slim Sweet, Curley Kinsey | March 20, 1949 | 2:53 | ||||||
| 3. | "I Saw the Light" | Hank Williams | April 21, 1947 | 2:43 | ||||||
| 4. | "Six More Miles (To The Graveyard)" | Hank Williams | April 21, 1947 | 2:46 | ||||||
| Side two | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording date[6] | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "A Mansion On The Hill" | Hank Williams | November 7, 1947 | 2:33 | ||||||
| 2. | "Wealth Won't Save Your Soul" | Hank Williams | December 11, 1946 | 2:45 | ||||||
| 3. | "Wedding Bells" | Claude Boone | March 20, 1949 | 2:53 | ||||||
| 4. | "A House Without Love" | Hank Williams | August 30, 1949 | 2:52 | ||||||
Personnel
- Hank Williams -vocals, guitar
- Zeb Turner, Zeke Turner, Louis Innis, Jack Shook, Clyde Baum, James "Guy" Willis (g) - Guitar
- Tommy Jackson, Dale Potter, Charles "Skeeter" Willis, Robert "Chubby" Wise - fiddle
- Vic Willis - accordion
- Jerry Byrd, Don Davis, Dale "Smokey" Lohman - steelguitar
- Louis Innis, Ernie Newton, probably Ernie Newton, Bronson "Brownie" Reynolds, Velma Williams, Charles "Indian" Wright - bass
References
Footnotes
- ↑ Koon, George William 2 1983, p. 50-57.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Escott, Colin 1994, p. 135.
- ↑ Williams, Roger M 1981, p. 260-263.
- ↑ Billboard Staff 1951, p. 22.
- ↑ Larkin, Colin 2002, p. 185.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Koon, George William 1983, p. 149.
Bibliography
- Billboard Staff (1951). "Williams Tells How And When His Disks Click". Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc) 63 (47). ISSN 0006-2510.
- Escott, Colin (1994). Hank Williams: The Biography. Hachette Digital, Inc. p. 307. ISBN 0-316-24986-6.
- Koon, George William (1983). Hank Williams: a bio-bibliography. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-22982-4.
- Koon, George William (1983). Hank Williams, so lonesome. University of Mississippi press. ISBN 978-1-57806-283-6.
- Larkin, Colin (2002). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Fifties Music. Virgin Books. ISBN 978-1-852-27937-0.
- Williams, Roger M (1981). Sing A Sad Song. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-00861-0.