Cd, Movie Pays Tribute To Hank Williams
Producer Don Was (Bonnie Raitt, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Elton John, B52s, Bob Seger, Jackson Browne, Neil Diamond, etc., etc.) assembled a huge new group, Orquestra Was, to record a collection of little-known Hank Williams songs using the usual Was innovative and non-country techniques.
The package, “Forever’s a Long, Long Time” is scheduled for release April 8, and is complemented by a 15-minute movie directed by Was and co-starring Kris Kristofferson and soul singer Sweet Pea Atkinson.
Having brought country and rhythm & blues artists together on the Grammy-winning MCA album “Rhythm, Country and Blues” (and having produced or co-produced albums by such country names as Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kristofferson and Travis Tritt), Was says “Forever’s a Long, Long Time” is sort of “an extension of” his “Rhythm, Country and Blues” work. He adds he happened across a book of Williams’ lyrics just as he was formulating the Orquestra Was idea in his head.
Was wanted to use “fairly obscure” Williams material because he “didn’t want to force the comparison with what he (Hank) had originally done with them.” His choice of which obscure ones to use was influenced by the plot of the movie.
“To me, the film and the music comprise one piece and are inextricable from each other. Specific songs were chosen to work with the film, and the story was created to work with this treatment of Hank’s music. Hopefully, the film enhances your appreciation of the music and vice versa.”
The Williams songs include “I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But Time,” “Never Again (Will I Knock on Your Door)” and “I’m So Tired of It All.” Although many songs are sung by soul vocalists like Portia Griffin of the Sweet Temptations and actor/singer Atkinson, “I’m So Tired of It All.” - a previously unrecorded Williams lyric - is sung by country standard-setter Merle Haggard.
Krauss album first in five years
Alison Krauss & Union Station’s new album, “So Long, So Wrong,” is the group’s first new studio collection in five years - and Krauss is just finishing her first non-working extended time off in six years.
HeadHunters back with a blast
The new Kentucky HeadHunters, a third incarnation that employs one of the Phelps brothers (Doug) who helped make the group a countercountry hit act at the beginning of the ‘90s, are back on recognizable turf in a new album titled “Stompin’ Grounds.”
Phelps actually rejoined the band a year ago, four years after he and brother Ricky - lead singer of the original HeadHunters - left to form a duo. Now Doug has taken over the lead singing role as well as added a third guitar. His reintroduction has caused a creative explosion that has resulted in 21 new songs.
“The first night we went into the practice house to see how we could do some of the old songs with Doug singing the lead vocals,” guitarist Richard Young remembers. “After about three songs we just tore into writing new material.”
Phelps says it seemed “like I never left.”
Guitarist Greg Martin said that “Stompin’ Grounds” is “a lot like the period when we came up with our first album - things were just flying off the tops of everybody’s heads.”
Hold onto your cowboy hats.