Live After Death

Hank Williams: The Lost Concerts Limited Collector’s Edition is an album that is genuinely a diamond in the rough. Released this past month on Time Life, the 19-track collection covers two concerts over the span of two months in 1952, as well as an extraordinary radio interview by Mark Sanders, KFBI Kansas, on September 14^th, 1951. One of the concerts was recorded in Niagara Falls, New York, while the second concert is from Sunset Park, West Grove, PA, a popular country music spot. The real beauty of this album is that no live concert recordings of Williams have ever been released, until now. Eerily, all the live recordings occurred right before his death in 1953. The two recordings capture Williams completely in his element, unscripted and deeply inviting.

The collection features some of Williams’ best hits, interwoven with intimate conversations and comedy routines with the audience. Songs performed include fan favorite “Hey Good Looking,” down home country “Jambalaya,” foot stomping “I Saw the Light,” and harmonica-kissed “Lovesick Blues,” but you’d be hard pressed to find one track on this album that isn’t captivating.

Williams proves to be a mastermind and father of contemporary country music, but the collection gives us a deeper glimpse into who Williams was, and his charm is enrapturing through your speakers, even 60 years after his death. Hank Williams: The Lost Concerts Limited Collector’s Edition is an album every music fan should own. Whether you like country or not, this time capsule of musical history is a treasure to experience.