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When Hank Williams died, in the back seat of his Cadillac early on New Year’s Day in 1953, the 29-year-old country superstar left behind a legend that still towers over Nashville, as well as a tan leather briefcase. That satchel was filled with gold in the form of four spiral-bound notebooks with hand-written, unrecorded lyrics to 66 songs that had yet to be set to music.
Some were just rhyming couplets, while others were complete from verse to chorus. All had been locked away in his publisher’s vault in Nashville for more than 50 years.
On Tuesday, a dozen of those unsung, unknown gems will be released on the CD, “The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams,” featuring the master’s words completed by high-profile collaborators.
Ace country producer Mary Martin originally tapped Bob Dylan as the sole songwriter for the project, but Dylan reportedly turned her down because “the task is just too mighty.’’ Whether intimidated by the challenge or lacking the time to finish songs started by the guy who wrote classics such as “Hey Good Lookin’, ” “I Saw the Light” and “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” Dylan instead chose to record just one song.
“The Love That Faded” is a finely crafted mid-tempo country waltz with Tex-Mex flair. Like many of the record’s numbers, this one had a strong, nearly complete chorus but required work in the verses. With its fiddles and whining pedal steel guitar, the song rings true to Williams’ style as Dylan grunts and growls the words written long ago by Hank: “I tried to forget that we’ll never be/ all that’s left for me are dust and debris.”
Besides finishing that tune, Dylan used his influence to enlist an A-list roster of songwriters from inside and outside the Nashville establishment — including his son Jakob Dylan, Sheryl Crow, Jack White, Merle Haggard, Rodney Crowell, Lucinda Williams (no relation) and Hank’s granddaughter Holly Williams. Here’s what a few of them have to say about collaborating with country’s most revered icon.
“You Know That I Know” JACK WHITE: I didn’t want to have an ego trip. He probably had something in mind when he was writing it, how it might sound, so I just wanted to put it out on tape for him and take myself out of the context. When I finished it I got to play it for Bob [Dylan] to see what he thought. He said, “It sounds like it’s from the 1950s. It sounds like [Hank] wrote it and not a day’s gone by.” That was pretty much all I needed to hear.
“The Sermon on the Mount” MERLE HAGGARD: Bob told me to think what Hank would have used as a melody and write that, so that’s what I did. A lot of people don’t know it, but Hank was a very spiritual person. Every show he did would feature a church song. You’ve got to remember that Hank died at 29 years old, so it’s unusual that a man his age would have his head wrapped around spirituality, but it seemed from my own reading that it was as much a part of his nature as honky-tonk.
“Blue Is My Heart” HOLLY WILLIAMS:
I know Hank was my grandfather, but it was Bob and Mary [Martin] who showed me the lyrics. I would have loved to have gone up to the attic and made this discovery, but it wasn’t that way — so much of our family things are scattered between labels, lawyers, publishers. When I worked on “Blue Is My Heart,” I was both overwhelmed and challenged because I’m a Hank fan and because I’m related to him. A few years ago, I had an incredibly vivid dream of being with Hank. It was so real that I feel like I met him. I hope he likes what I did with his words.
“I’m So Happy I Found You” LUCINDA WILLIAMS: I was drawn to the title because it’s a great sentiment and it’s also unusual for so much happiness to be in a Hank Williams song. I worked the [completed lyrics] into a ballad, and it really just clicked. I’ve always felt like I had a connection to Hank because of my dad. He met him after a show in 1952 in Lake Charles, [La.], and they went out drinking together. My dad was a young struggling poet and college professor, and he was drinking bourbon to impress Hank. Hank was drinking beer. After a few rounds, Hank told him, “Williams, you should be drinking beer ’cause you have a beer-drinking soul.’’ He switched to beer after that.
“I Hope You Shed a Million Tears” RODNEY CROWELL (performed with Vince Gill): I only had four original lines from Hank: “I gave my heart and soul to you/ you done me wrong for years/ I hope someday you suffer too/ and shed a million tears.” Beautiful. Vince [Gill] suggested we get Don Helms to play the steel guitar part. Don used to play with Hank and he showed up for this session and played the same guitar and same amp he did in the old days. That’s when we really felt like we were visited by Hank’s ghost.