Product Description

At the peak of his career in 1951, Hank Williams recorded 143 songs for the Mother's Best Flour Company. Hank sang with his regular studio band and recorded his hits as well as many songs he never recorded commercially anywhere else. From this amazing legacy, Time Life is proud to release this historic 3 CD, 54 track collection drawn from the very best of the Mother's Best recordings.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain
2. Dust On The Bible
3. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
4. I Heard My Savior Calling Me
5. Precious Lord, Take My Hand
6. Hey, Good Lookin'
7. On Top Of Old Smoky
8. I Can't Tell My Heart That
9. I Dreamed That the Great Judgement Morning
10. Next Sunday Darling Is My Birthday
11. At The First Fall Of Snow
12. Dear John
13. The Blind Child's Prayer
14. I'll Have A New Life
15. On The Banks Of The Pontchartrain
16. Low And Lonely
17. Drifting Too Far From The Shore
18. I'm Gonna Sing

Disc 2:

1. I Can't Help It(If I'm Still In Love With You)
2. Seaman's Blues
3. The Prodigal Son
4. Cherokee Boogie
5. Where He Leads Me
6. From Jerusalem to Jericho
7. Cool Water
8. I've Got My One Way Ticket To The Sky
9. Searching For A Soldier's Grave
10. California Zephyr
11. Softly And Tenderly
12. Just When I Needed You
13. Gathering Flowers For The Master's Bouquet
14. Why Should We Try Anymore
15. The Old Country Church
16. May You Never Be Alone
17. When The Fire Comes Down
18. Lonely Tombs

Disc 3:

1. Pictures From Life's Other Side
2. I'll Fly Away
3. Cold, Cold Heart
4. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You
5. When God Dips His Love In My Heart
6. Thy Burdens Are Greater Than Mine
7. When The Saints Go Marching In
8. I'll Sail My Ship Alone
9. Wedding Bells
10. Mind Your Own Business
11. You Blotted My Happy Schooldays
12. Where The Soul Never Dies
13. Pins And Needles(In My Heart)
14. Tennessee Border
15. There's Nothing As Sweet As My Baby
16. Wait For The Light To Shine
17. If I Didn't Love You
18. The Pale Horse And His Rider

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3429 in Music
• Released on: 2008-10-28
• Number of discs: 3
• Format: Box set
• Dimensions: .88 pounds

Customer Reviews

Time Travel to 1951
This set is an astonishingly great addition to Hank Williams' recorded legacy. The 54 songs are all previously unreleased (28 of which are the only existing versions recorded by Hank Williams). These are peak-period 'Live In The Studio' recordings that equal or surpass the quality of Williams' studio masters in performance and sound quality (with a few exceptions). Some songs are preceded or followed by studio chatter, conversation, introductions or promotion of the sponsor's product (Mother's Best Flour)--and the effect is like having Hank Williams and his band in the room with you, performing his hits, personal favorite songs and brand new compositions, just for you circa 1951, if you could time travel. And now you can.

A Tidal Wave of Good Fortune for Hank's Fans
Unbelievable! This is like finding the end of a rainbow for Hank's fans. Joe Palmaccio (credited with sound restoration and mastering) deserves to have his picture printed on folding money. I have over the years come into the possession of unreleased performances (like a different version of this collection's first mind-blowing cut "Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain," which even has another verse); but the sound quality is nothing as good as that of most all of the songs on here; some of it sounds just like a studio record from the period.

And like a studio record, Hank is singing each song 110%. The hair on the back of my neck was up from beginning to end. It's a great day for Hank's fans to be alive! I'm one of the devoted fan who would have walked across Texas in July just for the privilege of paying 10 times what these recordings cost, and still considered myself lucky; this has to be the best buy in music history. Thankfully "The Complete Hank Williams" (which is friggin excellent, by the way) was misnamed. If "On Top of Old Smoky" or "I'll Sail My Ship Alone" don't become current radio hits, then there's little hope for mankind left. The opener on Disc 2, "I Can't Help it if I'm Still in Love With You," again, is worth the cost of this whole collection, as would be just all the banter and talking on them. What a treasure trove.
A heartfelt 'thank you' to all who made this friggin incredible collection possible. It's the best thing to happen to Hank's fans in at least a decade; I feel sorry for all Hank's fans who never got to hear this collection; this must be how winning the lottery feels.

Rabid Shutterbug
Montgomery, Alabama

Nothing short of a miracle!
I don't know where to start my praise for this set -- I could start at its mere existence, almost 60 years from the date of the original broadcasts. Or I could marvel at the astonishing sound quality of most of these cuts -- indeed overall it is better than the studio cuts, and I'm sure much care has been devoted to the restoration. Or I could focus on the emotive delivery, the pleasure of listening to Hank's mournful wail, how his love of the music shows through in every verse, and how the accompaniment, especially the steel guitar, provides the ideal backdrop to that voice.

PS there's an amazing booklet will all kinds of interesting photos!