Omnivore Recordings Celebrates Hank Williams’ 100th Birthday With Two New Releases

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Hank Williams. Photo: Courtesy of Colin Escott

To celebrate what would have been Hank Williams’ 100th birthday, BMG has released Hank 100: Greatest Radio Hits 1923–2023, a brand new best-of collection.

The release is produced by the Omnivore Recordings team, who will also be releasing a blue vinyl reissue of The Garden Spot Programs, 1950, which was awarded Best Historical Album at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, out on Sept. 29.

Hank 100 is available as a double LP and CD, and features 25 of Williams’ greatest hits presented in unique live and radio performances, including a rare version of Williams’ No. 1 hit from 1952, “Jambalaya (On The Bayou)” recorded live on July 13, 1952 at Sunset Park, West Grove, Pennsylvania. It also features legendary classics such as “Hey Good Lookin’,” “Moanin’ The Blues,”  “Cold, Cold Heart,” “Move It On Over,” “Lovesick Blues,” and many more. The collection was curated by Grammy award winner Cheryl Pawelski and mastered by Grammy award winner Michael Graves, with liner notes from Grammy-winning Williams Historian, Colin Escott.

Originally released in 2014, The Garden Spot Programs, 1950 uncovered 24 performances that were last heard, on the radio in Texas, over 64 years ago. In February of 1950, Williams hosted several Garden Spot radio shows for Naughton Farms, a plant nursery in Waxahachie, Texas.

From hits to standards to songs rarely, if ever, performed, this is pure Williams, including playful, between song banter. Fully restored to incredible quality, this album is more like being in the studio when they were recorded than actually listening to them on the radio. The special new edition of the record on blue vinyl also dons a unique album cover.

Hank 100: Greatest Radio Hits 1923–2023 Tracklist:
1. Move It On Over
2. I’m A Long Gone Daddy
3. A Mansion On The Hill
4. Lovesick Blues
5. Wedding Bells
6. Mind Your Own Business
7. You’re Gonna Change (Or I’m Gonna Leave)
8. Lost Highway
9. There’ll Be No Teardrops Tonight
10. I Just Don’t Like This Kind Of Livin’
11. Long Gone Lonesome Blues
12. Why Don’t You Love Me?
13. They’ll Never Take Her Love From Me
14. Why Should We Try Anymore?
15. Moanin’ The Blues
16. Nobody’s Lonesome For Me
17. Cold, Cold Heart
18. Dear John
19. I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still In Love With You)
20. Hey Good Lookin’
21. (I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle
22. I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry
23. Jambalaya (On The Bayou)
24. I’ll Fly Away
25. I Saw The Light

The Garden Spot Programs, 1950 Tracklist:
1. The Garden Spot Jingle
2. Lovesick Blues
3. A Mansion On The Hill
4. Fiddle Tune
5. I’ve Just Told Mama Goodbye
6. Closing/Oh! Susanna
7. The Garden Spot Jingle
8. Mind Your Own Business
9. Lovesick Blues
10. Fiddle Tune
11. At The First Fall Of Snow
12. Closing/Oh! Susanna
13. The Garden Spot Jingle
14. I Can’t Get You Off My Mind
15. I Don’t Care (If Tomorrow Never Comes)
16. Fiddle Tune
17. Farther Along
18. Closing/Oh! Susanna
19. The Garden Spot Jingle
20. I’ll Be A Bachelor ’Til I Die
21. Wedding Bells
22. Fiddle Tune
23. Jesus Remembered Me
24. Closing/Oh! Susanna

Steven Boero
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