Soundtrack to be Released for Hank Williams Biopic “I Saw The Light”
The release has been delayed and the early reviews have been lackluster, but that won’t stop the creators of the Hank Williams biopic I Saw The Light starring Tom Hiddleston from releasing a soundtrack album for the upcoming movie. Set to arrive on March 25th—the same date the long-anticipated film will finally arrive in theaters—I Saw The Light (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) will feature actor Tom Hiddleston re-creating seven Hank Williams classics, and other selected songs that appear in the movie performed by various artists.
Backing Tom Hiddleston up are the “Saddle Spring Boys,” and include notable names such as Rodney Crowell, Stuart Duncan, Mickey Raphael, and Chris Scruggs. Tom Hiddleston worked extensively with Rodney Crowell ahead of the movie to try and re-create the sound and stage persona of Hank Williams for the movie, but not everyone was impressed. Hank’s grandson, Hank Williams III criticized Hiddleston for having “no soul or moan” in his voice. The soundtrack will give listeners seven chances to judge for themselves, including Hiddleston’s take on “Hey Good Lookin'” that was released on Friday (listen below).
I Saw The Light was originally scheduled to be released on November 27th through Sony Pictures Classics, and was also buzzed as a potential Oscar contender. But the release was delayed last minute, possibly after bad reviews made the film an unlikely candidate for industry awards. The film was written and directed by Marc Abraham, and is based off of Colin Escott’s Hank Williams biography. Rotten Tomatoes is currently scoring the film at an abysmal 29% based on early reviews from film festivals.
I Saw The Light Track Listing:
The Saddle Spring Boys
Richard Bennett (Guitar)
Luke Bulla (Fiddle)
Rodney Crowell (Guitar and Vocals)
Stuart Duncan (Fiddle)
Larry Franklin (Fiddle)
Wes Langlois (Guitar)
Tim Lauer (Organ)
Mickey Raphael (Harmonica)
Michael Rinne (Bass)
Chris Scruggs (Steel Guitar and Vocals)
Nathaniel Smith (Cello)
Takeio Stroud (Drums)
January 29, 2016 @ 7:29 pm
I hope he acts well.
January 29, 2016 @ 7:41 pm
This might expose some folks to Emmett Miller and George Morgan
January 29, 2016 @ 9:13 pm
this is 100% pointless. Why on earth would I listen to
a British actor sing Hank Williams songs when I could just listen to Hank Williams. For the movie, fine, but is anyone really gonna buy this soundtrack over a Hanks Williams best of anthology? I hope not. Glad they included a delmore brothers song I guess.
January 29, 2016 @ 9:40 pm
While I will go see the film, I have no intrest in a soundtrack of Hank songs with someone else singing them…..especially a bloke from across the pond. I am not knocking his acting skills.
January 29, 2016 @ 11:03 pm
Reminds me of the Walk the Line soundtrack. It’s almost required for this type of movie, but 95% of the population is going to just get the original songs.
Got to admit I’m curious how Santa Baby works into the movie.
January 30, 2016 @ 5:17 am
I don’t like country music, but I like Johnny Cash.
January 30, 2016 @ 6:59 am
I agree the originals are better, but I honestly thought that Joaquin Pheonix killed it in the singing For Walk the Line. Thought his impersonations for the songs were, for the most part, spot on.
Off one listen to Hey Good Lookin above, not sure I can say the same for Hiddleston
January 30, 2016 @ 9:33 pm
Yeah, I do think releasing soundtracks for music biopics is kind of silly, but they always do it. I’m looking forward to the movie, but I’m not going to sit around and listen to the music from it. I’d rather listen to Hank himself.
January 30, 2016 @ 12:04 am
Oooh…Music is good, but the voice is not working…
Despite the reviews, I wanted to see the movie, but if we have to listen to the actor do all the singing…hmmm…may think twice…
That’s a tough gig, trying to be Hank Williams. Can anyone pull it off?
January 30, 2016 @ 8:17 am
Hank 3 probably could, and they should have asked him to do it! It’s truly an insult to anyone who enjoyed/enjoys his music and his legacy to have someone not even from this country, portraying the most legendary country singer of all time!
January 30, 2016 @ 6:43 pm
He’s pretty dang close to a mirror image of his Granddaddy. Looks like him, moves like him, hell he even sounds like him. Who knows if he would have been willing to get into acting though.
February 1, 2016 @ 9:27 am
Have you ever seen or heard Hank Williams sing? III moves nothing like his grandfather; Hank kept time by bobbing at the knees, III keeps time by bobbing his head. Their guitar playing styles are different as well. And while III has the moan and the phrasing down, vocally he doesn’t sound any more like Hank than any random guy singing through his nose on karaoke night.
February 2, 2016 @ 10:20 am
Yes I have seen and heard Hank Williams. And yes I think your opinion about “any random guy singing through his nose” is horse shit. Have a good one.
January 30, 2016 @ 9:02 pm
Disagree. I would much rather hear 15-20 minutes of not-exactly-like-Hank singing than watch 120 minutes of amateur acting.
January 30, 2016 @ 3:44 am
No.
January 30, 2016 @ 3:45 am
There were no drums in seniors music.
January 30, 2016 @ 6:43 am
I do not like foreners cumin over herr and taken American jobs. Thanks agin Obuma.
January 30, 2016 @ 7:33 am
As huge a hit as “Jambalaya” was, it’s probably the dumbest and least inspiring song Hank ever wrote, and the notion that they would shaft “I’m So Lonesome” for this movie is one thing, but the title of the movie is “I Saw the Light” for crying out loud but that song got shafted; again to make room for “Jambalaya” which wasn’t even released while he was alive!
And at only thirteen tracks… wow. They should have at least done some extra numbers for a bonus DVD or something, thirteen tracks is just way too few, especially when you have to whittle down Hank Williams’ material. It should at least be twenty songs in length.
That said, the public will probably love this picture. The same thing happened to Hee Haw, Starlight Express, and the Titanic Movie (the dumb James Cameron one not the good one with Barbara Stanwyck) Critics are real good at missing the point of art, and as insulated as the industry has become, most inside critics are just pawns anyway.
January 30, 2016 @ 8:20 am
I’ve got no particular problem with 13 songs, and this movie is going to be a dud anyway so it’s not like this is a gateway drug opportunity for the Hank Williams legacy. If someone wants to listen to Hank, go pick up the Greatest Hits. But I have seen in numerous reviews where people say that for a music movie, there was surprisingly little music in the score. That it felt empty, and there barely even any ambient music in it. This would go along with your concern that there’s not enough music.
January 30, 2016 @ 8:15 am
To be honest, his singing in the the track above isn’t abrasive enough. Hank wasn’t some amazing vocalist and in my opinion it sounds too polished. But I’m going to go see the movie and enjoy it for what it is is. Just like Joaquin will never be Johnny Cash, it isn’t fair to do what I just did to Tom and compare him to Hank.
January 30, 2016 @ 5:55 pm
Awful!!
The new Jones movie better have the actor moving his lips to George singing!
January 30, 2016 @ 8:31 pm
The first problem is, they blew any current or near-future opportunities to really do his story right on the big screen, but I’m of a general mind the concept of ‘biopics done right’ is an oxymoron. It really is just the overall lack of creativity and balls what makes this one appear extra bland from the get-go. So much so that Walk the Line seems great by comparison.
Hank was raised in a brothel by, well, have you seen what his real mom looked like? This could’ve brought to life the amazing carny tale, the hardscrabble and lawless American life that was Hank’s in the early 30s. Instead it comes over as a denuded mockumentary about some droll stiff doing a mannequin impression on stage. Do they even have a scene where he steals Faron’s wife at gunpoint? So far it looks like a 120 minute cotton candy boat ride careening toward the credits. The song reproductions are painfully analgesic.
This should break the all-time record for low-selling soundtracks, or maybe given America 2016 and pop country, it will be an all time seller, who knows at this juncture? Getting Hank III to do it would’ve been a step in the right direction, but only a small piece to the puzzle. It takes vision to live an authentic life, or even make a movie about someone who did.
January 30, 2016 @ 9:28 pm
Well I’ll be the dissenting voice and say I think it sounds fine. Not amazing, certainly not exactly like Hank, but good enough to get the music across. And good enough that it probably won’t distract from Hiddleston’s overall performance (which despite the negative reviews of the movie as a whole, has been near universally praised as exceptional, a fact that went strangely unmentioned in this article). Look, there will never be any pleasing those who are rooting for the performance to fall flat (because you want the Brit to fail and/or you want Hank III’s criticism to be vindicated) and are not interested in actually enjoying it. But I’m looking forward to watching it with an actual open mind, and I’ll bet I’ll end up having a better time than those that don’t.
January 30, 2016 @ 9:33 pm
I’ve mentioned how the reviews have praised Hiddleston in numerous articles on this movie. It wasn’t purposely left out, I just don’t want to rehash every single movie detail each time I post an article on this movie. I think I’m up to or past 20 articles on “I Saw The Light” at this point, and I’m sure there will be more to come.
January 30, 2016 @ 9:44 pm
Wow, that was a quick response — no wonder they call you Trigger!
No, it’s true; you have mentioned it. It’s just that the article above discusses how bad the reviews were (and they definitely were), then says not all agree that Hiddleston captured the music/stage presence, then recounts Hank III’s criticism (which was actually from before he or anyone else saw the movie), then reiterates that the reviews were negative. To me, that would cause most readers to infer that the negative reviews were due to the performance, which wasn’t the case. I know you’re trying to be objective; I just think the above reads a little skewed.
February 1, 2016 @ 10:31 am
I agree. The phrasing is off, but vocally he’s solid enough that I’m not going to still be thinking about how bad a song was two scenes later.
If it were a 90-minute performance video than, sure, I’d want to see someone who sounded just like Hank. But it’s not; it’s a movie about Hank’s life, or at least a part of it, so the acting is much more important than the singing. I don’t need the actor to sing just like Hank because if I want to listen to Hank I’ll listen to Hank.
I’m not sure if I’m going to see it or not, and it has nothing to do with the acting or singing. When I first heard about it my initial thought was “Great, I’m in!” but after having most of a year to think about it I’ve come to realize that, after spending the last 30 years absorbing everything I can find about the man, I’m probably not going to get anything out of it. And of course they’ll take some dramatic license to make it a more enjoyable movie which is fine but will still annoy me when it doesn’t match up 100% with the true story.
January 31, 2016 @ 3:11 pm
How do you have a movie and soundtrack called “I Saw The Light” without including “I Saw The Light”? Terrible decision right off the bat.
January 31, 2016 @ 10:38 pm
Hope hes a better actor than a singer…… that was ahit
February 1, 2016 @ 1:18 pm
He couldn’t be more like Hank, ‘cuz then he would have to die.
February 1, 2016 @ 1:19 pm
That’s right he’s a yank, he ain’t no son of Hank.