Various The Blues According To Hank Williams (CD Deluxe Book, Ltd.)

(Richard Weize Archive) 28 tracks, CD in a 32-page deluxe hardcover book (27 x 27 cm), limited edition

A magnificent documentary about the significant influence of Hank Williams (1923–1953) on black musicians—the CD with 28 songs in a 34-page hardcover book (27 x 27 cm) is released by Richard Weize Archives.

The mere fact that this collection exists, that there were enough tracks to fill it, says a lot about Hank Williams. He was neither the first nor the only one, but no country artist of the 20th century traversed musical genres more effortlessly or frequently than Hank Williams. The recordings brought together in this collection were not hits, but they show more appreciation for Williams by black artists than was generally known. They go beyond the fact that black artists could record hillbilly as a genre—that was Ray Charles' contribution. Here we see that Hank Williams in particular was also a source of inspiration for black artists.

The songs collected here were written by a poorly educated, unassuming, poor white boy from Alabama. And yet artists from Fats Domino to Tommy Edwards, from Louis Armstrong to Sonny Knight, from Katie Webster to the Delta Rhythm Boys all immersed themselves in this music and treated it as their own. They united with these songs. That says something quite extraordinary about Hank Williams and the universality of his music. Perhaps it needs to be said more often and more clearly.