This is a collection of songs Hank Williams wrote but never recorded.
Performers include: Ernest Tubb, Kitty Wells, Jimmy Swan, Johnnie & Jack, Rex Griffin, Jimmie Davis.
Contains 17 tracks.
Personnel: Jack Anglin (vocals, guitar); Johnnie Wright, Lynn Davis (vocals); Eddie Hill (baritone, guitar); Molly O'Day (guitar, banjo); Ted Brooks, Jimmy Rollins, George Morgan, Jimmie Logsdon, Jimmy Swan, Little Jimmy Dickens, Ray Price, Rex Griffin, Roy Clark (guitar); Tony Lane, George McCoy, James "Jimmie" Selph, Dickie Harris (steel guitar); Jerry Rivers, Johnny Gimble (fiddle); Marvin H. Hughes, Harold Carmack, Owen Bradley (piano).
Liner Note Author: Kevin Coffey.
Recording information: 09/25/1939-??/??/1954.
Illustrators: Colin Escott; Robert Gentry ; R.A. Andreas; Lynn Russwurm.
Photographers: Colin Escott; Robert Gentry ; R.A. Andreas; Lynn Russwurm.
Songwriter to Legend is an essential addendum to the Complete Hank Williams box set, as it collects a bevy of songs that Williams wrote but did not record in the studio. Williams had a good sense of quality control and did not give away his best material, so there are no forgotten masterpieces among these recordings. But there are some worthwhile tracks, particularly Red Sovine's recording of "You're Barking Up the Wrong Tree Now" and Braxton Shooford's "Rockin' Chair Daddy." In addition to these "lost" songs written or co-written by Williams, there are ten tributes recorded after his death by such artists as Marvin Rainwater, Ernest Tubb, Johnnie & Jack, and Jimmie Skinner, as well as Kitty Wells' "answer" song, "My Cold, Cold Heart Is Melted Now" and Rex Griffin's 1939 version of "Lovesick Blues," which served as the template for Williams' recording. As a dubious bonus, there is a "mystery bonus track" with an unidentified artist relating tales of Williams' shortcomings to the tune of "The Battle of New Orleans." Fascinating. ~ Greg Adams
