| |
 |
|
|
- Sample
some sounds from Hank Williams: Still Cookin’
- A
Magnetic Personality
Before Elvis Presley and Beatles came on the scene, Hank Williams
commanded rowdy crowds of fans with a captivating performing
style. From local talent contests, to regional clubs, there
was just something... some mysterious attraction... you couldn’t
quite put your finger on.
>Listen in REAL
AUDIO or WINDOWS
MEDIA
- Cowboys
and Crooners
One of America’s favorite crooners got an early career
boost thanks to Hank Williams. Hank was still riding high
on the success of his country smash “Lovesick Blues”
when a young Italian singer hit the pop charts with another
Williams composition. Hank’s driver Charles Carr saw
it coming one day when he and the country singer stopped in
a diner outside of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
>Listen in REAL
AUDIO or WINDOWS
MEDIA
- The
Sounds of the Road
In order to re-create the ambience of Hank Williams’ last
ride, ideastream producer David C. Barnett and engineer Al Dahlhausen
needed the sounds of a 1952 Cadillac convertible. They found a
pretty close match at the Western Reserve Historical Society’s
Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum which has a 1951 Caddy in its collection.
This vintage car was a hardtop, but its engine was the same as
the 1952 model. With Crawford Collection Manager Al Unrein acting
as chauffeur, Al Dahlhausen recorded the quiet rumble of the motor,
along with the slamming of the trunk and doors.
- Hank’s
Children: A Conversation With Jett Williams
One
of the legacies not explored in Hank Williams - Still
Cookin’ is the fact that Hank sired two children.
Hank Sr.’s
daughter was born in January 1953, as the result of a liaison
between Hank and Bobbie Jett. Today, Jett Williams tours the country
as a musician, paying tribute to the father she never knew. Jett
was in Cleveland as part of the 2002 American Music Masters concert
held at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Before the
show, she spoke to ideastream’s David C.
Barnett about the experience of finding her father. Her memories
of a singer named Hank Williams go back to her childhood in Mobile,
Alabama.
- Cincinnati
- Music City
Nashville is one of the most important cities in the modern American
music industry, but that wasn’t the case when Hank Williams
was starting his career. For high quality recording with the best
studio musicians, producer Fred Rose sent Hank up north to Cincinnati.
Music scholar
and Cincinnati native Steven Tracy wrote about his hometown’s
reputation in the 1998 book, Going
to Cincinnati - A History of the Blues in the Queen City.
ideastream’s David C. Barnett asked him
to talk about that history.
- Musicians
for Hank Williams - Still Cookin'
 In
addition to the Hank Williams songs performed by contemporary
musicians and Hank himself, Hank Williams - Still Cookin'
features the musical talents of Dave Giegerich, Bunky Markert
and Al Schlimm, playing a variety of stringed instruments. Between
the three of them, you can hear the sounds of acoustic and electric
guitars, plus mandolin, dobro and a sho-bro. Dave did the most
musical multitasking for this project, both playing an assortment
of instruments and recording the session. When not helping preserve
the legacy of Hank Williams, Dave plays in a Maryland-based band
known as The
Hula Monsters.
|
|
