One of the best things CMT did in the last decade was to air the limited series Sun Records back in 2017. Consisting of eight episodes written by Hank Williams biographer Colin Escott, and based off the Million Dollar Quartet musical, it captured the important moments that most all of popular music sprang from.
Beginning earlier in November—and rising to a fevered pitch over the last few days—there has been concern that the house of Hank Williams called Beechwood Hall is about to be demolished. But the house’s ties to country music and it’s history deserve greater context.
On August 11th, 1952—70 years ago today—one of the most notorious moments in country music history occurred. The original King of Country Music, and the genre’s first undisputed superstar, Hank Williams, was unceremoniously fired from the institution that he helped bring to prominence.
On this night in 1951 when Hank found the time to record the demo for “Tear In My Beer,” and 40 years later when it became a big hit in country, it proved that a good song with a simple sentiment can often withstand the ultimate test of time, and be entered into eternal cultural relevance.
Could it be that the most important and influential bloodline in country music history actually has a lost branch? Country History X Episode #11 delves into this complicated and convoluted story, while now a 4th generation of performers have emerged looking to carry on Hank’s name.
If you have a hankering for Hank and haven’t received your fill of music from the Hillbilly Shakespeare over the years, you’re in luck. BMG is getting ready to release a rare collection of Hank Williams archive material made in October of 1949 called “The Complete Health & Happiness Recordings.”
Saving Country Music posted a total of 27 articles about I Saw The Light before it’s release. This will make #28. The reason such dedicated interest was shown to the film was because of the potential it carried for exposing the music and the legacy of Hank Williams to an entirely new generation, and to preserve and promote his legacy for generations to come.
It was August of 1952, and the life of Hank Williams was in a downward spiral. The Hillbilly Shakespeare already suffered from chronic back pain which helped lead to his notorious alcoholism, and then earlier in 1952, Hank suffered a fall during a hunting trip in Tennessee, facilitating his use of painkillers such as morphine.
Two of the last remaining important pieces in the cast of the upcoming biopic on the life of Hank Williams entitled “I Saw The Light” have been revealed. “I Saw The Light” is being produced and directed by Marc Abraham, who also adapted the screenplay from Colin Escott’s Hank Williams biography. The movie is currently shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana, and is set to be released in 2015.
The upcoming biopic on Hank Williams entitled I Saw The Light has its leading lady. The part of Audrey Williams—Hank’s first wife and one of the foremost influences on his music—will be played by Elizabeth Olsen, little sister of famous twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, and recent star of films such as Captain America:The Winter Soldier and Godzilla. She will play Audrey across from Tom Hiddleston.
ow we have received our first taste of Tom Hiddleston as Hank Williams, and some are applauding, and some have started the furor over the casting anew. Though Hiddleston seemed to do a fine job singing, some Hank Williams fans are not feeling the similarities in the style. Hiddleston made a surprise appearance at the Wheatland Music Festival in Michigan on Saturday.
Country music legend Hank Williams will be getting a brand new retrospective in an upcoming movie called “I Saw The Light” that will be based off of the Colin Escott biography of Hank’s life, and directed and written by Marc Abraham, an American film producer known for such movies as Spy Game and most recently The Man With The Iron Fists.
25 tracks unearthed from four live studio performances recorded in Nashville in 1950 come together to constitute a new edition to the complete work of the Drifting Cowboy, Hank Williams. The performances, released by Omnivore Records and originally sponsored by Naughton Farms, a mail-order plant nursery in Waxahachie, TX, capture Hank Williams in his purest form.
Yes ladies and gentlemen, just when you thought you heard the last note of music from the legendary Hank Williams, yet another collection of recordings has surfaced from the Hillbilly Shakespeare called The Garden Spot Programs, 1950 to be released by Omnivore Records on May 20th. The 24 tracks haven’t been heard by the public in 64 years, and will be made available on CD, LP, and vinyl.
For many up-and-coming country artists, simply getting to meet their country heroes is thrill enough. Getting the honor of portraying them in a big theatrical production? That is the thrill of a lifetime. Adam Lee of Kansas City’s Adam Lee & The Dead Horse Sound Company is getting that very chance by apprising the role of Johnny Cash in the musical “Million Dollar Quartet.”
I noticed this for the first time last year, that as the birthday of Hank Williams approached, people were looking at it more than just a bulletin you would pass along on social network sites. It felt like a full blown observance, maybe even a quasi-holiday. And the days leading up to it, there was anticipation.