Review: Hank Williams, “The Garden Spot Programs 1950”

Hello everybody, Garden Spot is on the air/So just relax and listen in your easy rocking chair/Music for the family in the good old-fashioned way/I hope that we can please you, bring you sunshine every day!

That bucolic, peppy introduction opened Naughton Farms’ Garden Spot radio program, “the show that brings you all your favorite folk music singers.”  One such “folk music singer” in 1950 was Hank Williams.  Omnivore Recordings’ new The Garden Spot Programs, 1950 (OVCD-87, 2014) preserves 24 tracks from four of these programs which haven’t been heard since their initial broadcasts.  In fact, nobody even knew these recordings existed until a deejay and author, George Gimarc, found them on transcription disks from Creston, Iowa’s KSIB radio station in 2013.  With the cooperation of the Williams estate, Omnivore has issued these lost treasures on a splendid single-disc presentation.

Radio has always played a key role in the country music story, largely due to the popularity of WSM’s Grand Ole Opry.  Williams was no stranger to sponsored radio programs; he had been pitching items on radio since 1937.  Many of these performances made their way to records, including for Johnnie Fair Syrup and patent medicine Hadacol.  His 1951 shows for Mother’s Best, a flour and farm feed company, also famously survived.  The Garden Spot Programs of 1950 were sponsored by Naughton Farms, a mail-order plant nursery in Waxahachie, Texas.  Despite the company’s Texan origins, the programs were recorded in Nashville, Tennessee.  The format was simple – Williams would perform, and during breaks, a local announcer would appear on-air.  He would inform the audience of the plants for sale and provide instructions to write the station to buy them.  Radio station personnel would process the C.O.D. orders and pass them onto Naughton Farms for fulfillment.

Williams made the recordings featured here at Castle Recording Laboratories in Nashville’s Tulane Hotel, not far from Opry flagship WSM.  Once the recordings were made, they were transferred to the 16-inch transcription disks and sent to radio stations across the country for broadcast; only the KSIB disks discovered by Gimarc are known to survive.  The station apparently preserved the disks well, too.  The clarity of these recordings, as restored and mastered by Michael Graves, is shockingly good.  For the Garden Spot sessions, Williams wasn’t joined by his usual Drifting Cowboy Band, and indeed, there’s no evidence as to who was performing alongside Williams.  Longtime Williams historian Colin Escott, in his typically erudite liner notes, surmises that the steel guitarist could be Don Davis (rather than Don Helms) or more likely, Clell Sumney, and takes a reasoned guess that the fiddler might be Dale Potter.  In any event, though, these musicians bring a different sound to Williams’ songs than the Drifting Cowboys.

This disc, produced by Escott and Omnivore’s Cheryl Pawelski, recreates what it must have been like to listen to the original programs with jingles and between-song banter.  Of the disc’s 24 cuts, 12 are proper songs – other tracks are jingles, brief, hoedown-ready instrumental fiddle tunes, and finale performances of Stephen Foster’s 1848 American standard “Oh! Susanna.”  Stick around after the final listed track, too, to hear a three-minute commercial for Naughton Farms’ rose bushes “that will make your yard the beauty spot this spring!”

We have plenty more after the jump, so stick around, won’t you?

Release Round-Up: Week of May 19

Oasis, Definitely Maybe: Chasing The Sun Edition (Big Brother/Ngrooves)

Oasis’ debut album is remastered and expanded; the first in a planned series of multi-format reissues from the legendary Britpop band.

1CD remaster: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
2LP remaster: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
3CD deluxe edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
3CD/2LP/1 x 7″ box set: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Billy Joel, A Matter of Trust: The Bridge to Russia (Columbia/Legacy)

The Piano Man’s 1987 sojourn to the USSR is chronicled anew, with expansions of both the original KOHUEPT album and video program and a newly-filmed retrospective documentary on Billy’s trip.

2CD/1DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
2CD/1BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
DVD: Amazon U.S.
BD: Amazon U.S.

Deep Purple, Made in Japan: 40th Anniversary Deluxe Editions(Universal U.K.)

No less than six formats of the band’s breakthrough live album are now available overseas. All together now: “Smooooooke on the waaaaaater”!

1CD remaster: Amazon U.K.
2CD deluxe edition: Amazon U.K.
4CD/1DVD box set: Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.
2LP remaster: Amazon U.K.
9LP box set: Amazon U.K.
Blu-Ray Audio: Amazon U.K.

 

R.E.M., Unplugged 1991/2001: The Complete Sessions (Warner Bros.) / Complete I.R.S. Rarities 1982-1987 (I.R.S./UMe)

Originally released as a vinyl box on Record Store Day, both of R.E.M.’s trips to MTV Unplugged are now available as a more affordable two-disc set. Also, a digital compilation nets just about every B-side and bonus track the band put out for their first label.

Unplugged: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
I.R.S.: Amazon U.S.

Roy Orbison, Mystery Girl Deluxe (Roy’s Boys/Legacy)

Released weeks after Orbison’s sudden passing, Mystery Girl rightfully restored Roy’s legend and even got him onto pop radio with “You Got It.” It’s expanded with unheard studio demos, an unreleased song completed by Roy’s sons with John Carter Cash, and also available with a DVD packed with a new documentary and rare and unseen promo videos.

Deluxe CD/DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Expanded CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Deluxe 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Hank Williams, The Garden Spot Programs 1950 (Omnivore)

Long-lost radio rarities from one of the kings of country are uncovered for the first time!

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

The Doors, Weird Scenes Inside the Gold Mine (Elektra/Rhino)

A double-disc 1972 Doors compilation gets its premiere release on CD. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

R. Kelly, The Essential R. Kelly (RCA/Legacy)

Love him or hate him – yes, we’ve been listening – the 35 tracks on this two-disc set do a good job of pointing out Kellz as one of the best male R&B performers of his generation. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Aaron Neville, For the Good Times: The Allen Toussaint Sessions (Fuel 2000)

Fuel collects 22 vintage sides from two New Orleans legends: vocalist Aaron Neville and songwriter-producer Allen Toussaint! (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Miles Davis, Take Off: The Complete Blue Note Albums (Blue Note)

Blue Note’s 75th anniversary program continues with this release collecting Davis’ small but important output, from the period of 1952-1954, for the venerable label. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Devo, Something Else for Everybody (Booji Boy)

Fresh factory rejects from the band’s most recent studio album! (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Folk Heroes: Omnivore Celebrates Hank Williams and Dave Van Ronk

This month, Omnivore Recordings turns its attention to two singer-songwriters who could be said to embody the spirit of American music, Hank Williams and Dave Van Ronk.

Though he died just aged 29 in 1953, Hank Williams remains a towering figure in country-and-western music.  The likes of “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “Cold, Cold Heart,” “Jambalaya (On the Bayou)” and “Hey Good Lookin’” have been recorded countless times in country, pop, R&B and rock renditions by artists young and old.  Naturally the appetite for unheard Williams music has hardly diminished over the passing years, resulting in numerous archival excavations of rare material.   Omnivore’s The Garden Spot Programs 1950 is 2014’s major Williams find.

The label previewed the title, which arrives in stores on May 20, with a Record Store Day exclusive vinyl release containing eight songs.  On February 24, we wrote, “Culled from rare radio show recordings Williams cut for Naughton Farms, a plant nursery in Waxahachie, Texas (with a session band, not his familiar Drifting Cowboys ensemble), these recordings found Williams tackle hits, standards and material he rarely, if ever, recorded anywhere else. Sourced from newly-discovered transcription discs, these tunes haven’t been heard for nearly six decades.”

The 24 tracks on The Garden Spot Programs collects material from the four such programs that still exist, and preserve Williams’ between-song patter, as well. Among the full release’s 24 tracks are songs such as “Oh Susanna,” “A Mansion on the Hill,” “I Can’t Get You Off of My Mind,” “Lovesick Blues” and “I’ll Be a Bachelor ‘Til I Die,” with some songs presented in multiple versions.  The CD packaging contains rare photos from the collection of historian and co-producer Colin Escott, as well as his new liner notes.  The release will be available on both CD and LP, with the first vinyl pressing on limited-edition, translucent red vinyl (with black vinyl to follow).  The LP package also contains Escott’s notes as well as a download card.  Williams’ daughter Jett Williams commented of The Garden Spot Programs, “It’s incredible to me that we’re still finding new recordings by my dad. Great ones, at that! No one even suspected that these recordings existed. We partnered with Omnivore Recordings for this release, and I especially love it that they’re taking my dad back to vinyl.”

After the jump:  we travel from Hank’s native Alabama to the heart of Greenwich Village with “The Mayor of MacDougal Street,” Dave Van Ronk!

Hank Williams, Jaco Pastorius Lead Off Omnivore’s RSD Slate

That change in the air pressure you’re probably feeling around your favorite indie record store can only mean one thing: Record Store Day 2014 is coming your way. April 19 will see a host of beloved major and independent labels celebrating the good old resilient brick-and-mortar store with various titles sold exclusively at participating stores. And the beloved cratediggers at Omnivore Recordings have four exciting titles prepared for the big day – nearly all of which feature artists making their debut appearances on the label.

In a fitfully-brief career that ended with his untimely death at the age of 29, Hank Williams still managed to do more for country music than most, with a sizable stable of crossover hits including “Move It On Over,” “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” and “Hey Good Lookin’.” Omnivore has quite an incredible find with its first RSD 2014 title, The Garden Spot Programs, 1950 – Extended Play. Culled from rare radio show recordings Williams cut for Naughton Farms, a plant nursery in Waxahachie, Texas (with a session band, not his familiar Drifting Cowboys ensemble), these recordings found Williams tackle hits, standards and material he rarely, if ever, recorded anywhere else. Sourced from newly-discovered transcription discs, these tunes haven’t been heard for nearly six decades; a month after the release of this 10″, 33 1/3 RPM disc (packed in a 78-RPM style sleeve with notes from co-producer Colin Escott), Omnivore will release 24 of these tracks from four shows on a new CD/LP compilation on May 20. (Keep an eye here for more info about that set soon!)

Two years before jazz bassist Jaco Pastorius (1951-1987) burst onto the scene with his 1976 solo album, the 22-year-old musician was working out his early solo material in after-hours sessions at Criteria Studios in Miami. Six cuts from those sessions soon made their way onto an acetate disc with which to entice prospective labels; now, that acetate is partially recreated on splatter vinyl (with one bonus track) as well as a CD featuring 11 selections from the entire session. (Happily, this title will be added to the label catalogue after the RSD celebrations.) Modern American Music…Period! The Criteria Sessions features two essays from DownBeat contributor/Jaco biographer Bill Milkowski as well as fan, package co-producer and Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo. Altogether, the set makes a perfect companion to the forthcoming documentary Jaco, about the late legend.

After the jump, Omnivore has a single from a most unexpected voice – an actor’s – and a special compilation of live cuts from some familiar Omnivores!

Lost Highway, Found on Vinyl: 10th Anniversary Box Coming Next Month

With a name like Lost Highway Records, it might be tough to parse the mission statement of such a company – unless, of course, you know your Hank Williams. In fact, they’ve been supplying fans with some of the best in alternative rock and country. And now, to celebrate a decade in business, next month sees the release of a mega-vinyl box set highlighting some of the label’s best output.

Lost Highway, founded in 2000 by Luke Lewis, started their existence off with a bang, distributing the massively successful soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou? (reissued and expanded earlier this year, in fact) as well as Ryan Adams’ breakthrough Gold in 2001. Since then, they’ve handled distribution for country legends from Willie Nelson to Lucinda Williams, several of Johnny Cash’s iconic, career-closing American Recordings, albums by rock stalwarts including Elvis Costello and Morrissey, great new rootsy acts like Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears – and yes, even some catalogue action from Hank Williams.

In celebration of the label’s one-decade mark, Lost Highway has been releasing some of their most famous albums, as well as recent favorites, on limited edition clear vinyl. Next month, to finish off the celebration, all 19 of those reissued albums will be boxed together. Only 500 boxes will be available worldwide, 250 of which are now available on Amazon.

After the jump, check out the LPs that are going to be in the box! (A special thanks to the great Buy These Records for the tip; fans of The Second Disc will likely find a lot to like about this site.)

More Catalogue Gold from the Grammys

Just as we noted the box sets and other catalogue sets that were nominated for Grammys this year, we would also like to tip the hat to the recordings that were put into the Grammy Hall of Fame, as announced Monday.

Thirty recordings, including nine LPs, have been added to a group that now includes 881 classic pieces of music. The oldest recordings on the list are two singles, “Dark Was the Night – Cold Was the Ground” by Blind Willie Johnson and “My Mammy” by Al Jolson (both released in 1927); the newest is Prince and The Revolution’s Purple Rain, released in 1984.

Rest assured we’ll be covering some of these recordings in future Reissue Theory posts!

Read the press release here; the complete list is after the jump.

Box Set Round-Up: Hank Williams and Level 42

There’s a pair you’d never expect to see in the same title. A few bits of news around the way regarding a few box sets coming up. First up, Time-Life has got a really large box set of Hank Williams material coming out. The Complete Mother’s Best Recordings…Plus! is a 16-disc box set (including a DVD) of all Williams legendary, surviving recordings for Nashville radio station WSM (where he had his own show sponsored by Mother’s Best Flour).

These 72 acetates were recorded through 1951, two years before Williams died at just 29 years old, and famously rescued from a garbage bin in the 1970s and unreleased until 2008 and 2009, after years of legal wrangling between Williams’ estate and both PolyGram (owner of MGM Records, Williams’ label in life) and Legacy Entertainment (not the label, but a company which acquired the tapes). Time-Life did several box sets of some of the tracks, but this set will encompass all of that material.

Also, Hip-O has planned an August 3 release date for Living It Up, a four-disc box set by British pop act Level 42. The set includes two discs of all the band’s single A-sides, another disc of mostly-unreleased rarities and a set of brand-new, acoustic recordings of the band’s best-loved tunes.

After the jump, take a look at the cover art and track listing, straight from the band’s official Web site.