Sept. 17: On this date in Americana music, Hank Williams was born in 1923. His impact on country, rock and Americana has been enormous, particularly in terms of songwriting.
It’s appropriate then, that some of today’s top songwriters are paying tribute to Williams by taking lyrics found in a notebook on the day he died, and completing the songs.
Billy Bragg and Wilco set the standard for this with their collaboration on Woody Guthrie’s songs. The line-up for “The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams,” set for release on Oct. 4, looks very promising:
Alan Jackson on “You’ve Been Lonesome, Too”
Bob Dylan on “The Love That Faded”
Norah Jones on “How Many Times Have You Broken My Heart?”
Jack White on “You Know That I Know”
Lucinda Williams on “I’m So Happy I Found You”
Vince Gill and Rodney Crowell on “I Hope You Shed a Million Tears”
Patty Loveless on “You’re Through Fooling Me”
Levon Helm on”You’ll Never Again Be Mine”
Holly Williams on “Blue Is My Heart”
Jakob Dylan on “Oh, Mama, Come Home”
Sheryl Crow on “Angel Mine”
Merle Haggard on “The Sermon on the Mount.”
