Artist: Hank Williams
Album: The Complete Health & Happiness Recordings
Label: BMG
Release Date: 6.24.2019
This is the first release of the 1949 Hank Williams’ The Health & Happiness Show on vinyl (3 LPs), originally released by BMG in 1993 on CD and cassette. Fans are treated to all eight episodes of the 12-minute show. Not only does the package deliver great recordings of Hank Williams favorites “Lovesick Blues,” “Mind Your Own Business,” “I Saw The Light” and “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” it features him and his wife, Audrey, on several duets. It also spotlights Williams’ band, The Drifting Cowboys, comprised of Jerry Rivers on fiddle, Bob McNett on guitar, Hillous Butrum on bass and Don Helms on steel.
The best thing from these recordings could easily be the rapport listeners will hear between Williams and emcee Grant Turner, as well as Williams and his band members. There is a balance of equal respect and a playful attitude among all of the folks on the show.
Additionally, this project includes the only known performance by Williams of “The Tramp On The Street.” It had been included in a self-published songbook by Williams a few years before these shows were done, but it is not on any of his other albums.
The Health and Happiness Show was sponsored by the rather dubious elixir Hadacol, which apparently had a great deal of alcohol mixed with very few ingredients that were good for you. The short-lived show, with these eight segments being recorded over several days, was forced to end when the company that manufactured the product had to close due to large debts and an impending federal investigation. Thankfully for Williams, his association with the product did little to dampen his career, which had taken off just as the programs began.
ꟷVernell Hackett
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