Search - Hank Williams :: The Legend Begins: Rare & Unreleased Recordings

Time Life is proud to release the 3-CD set: Hank Williams: The Legend Begins- Rare and Unreleased Recordings. It's another unique glimpse into the musical career of country music's greatest star who passed away in 1953 at the age of 29.

Still more to discover: No one knew in 1938 that when a teenager made his first recording in the kitchen of a famed DJ in Montgomery, Alabama, that the teen would go on to become the King of Country Music. Decades later, that DJ, Uncle Bob Helton, met Hank's daughter Jett, telling her he had something from her father. Audio engineers at the Country Music Hall of Fame weren't sure what to make of the acetate until an engineer put his thumb on the spinning disc to slow it down -- at that point they heard Hank's first recordings: a blues song called "Fan It," along with "Alexander's Ragtime Band." These songs survived on an acetate that was recorded at around 60 RPM (not 33, 45 or 78); the fragile acetate coating was already flaking off the disc...another year or two and it would have been unplayable and lost forever!

In addition to this unbelievable find, this collection features four previously unreleased recordings from 1940. Jett bought this rare acetate at auction from a collector, giving us "San Antonio Rose," "St. Louis Blues," "Greenback Dollar" and "Freight Train."

Rounding out this amazing collection are eight 15-minute recordings for the Health and Happiness shows, Hank's first syndicated radio series sponsored by a manufacturer of a patent cure-all, Hadacol. He sings his hits like "Lovesick Blues," "Lost Highway," and "A Mansion on the Hill," plus mixes in hymns and songs that he never recorded elsewhere, including "Tramp on the Street..." reckoned to be one of his most compelling performances.