Various Artists: The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams
Bob Dylan has gathered Alan Jackson, Merle Haggard, and other musicians to record songs from the lyric books Hank Williams left behind.
***
By putting music to unfinished Hank Williams songs, some of the biggest names in pop and country have created “a veritable holy grail for fans,” said Neil McCormick in the London Telegraph. These songs aren’t “weak experiments and rejects, but gems that Williams never got around to demoing.” Entrusted with lyric books Williams left behind, Bob Dylan assembled a wide range of musicians to record the songs, including country stalwarts Alan Jackson and Merle Haggard, and such indie pop stars as Norah Jones and Jack White. It’s not just the country artists who do the material justice, said Steve Morley in Country Weekly. Even “the most un-country voices have a unique, soulful quality that makes them suited for the deeply felt sentiments” of the songs. The most touching moment comes courtesy of Hank’s granddaughter Holly Williams and her father, Hank Jr., as they “use their late forebear’s own words to lament his very absence.” If you like country drama, “it doesn’t get any better.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
What should you be stockpiling for 'World War Three'?
In the Spotlight Britons advised to prepare after the EU tells its citizens to have an emergency kit just in case
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Carnivore diet: why people are eating only meat
The Explainer 'Meatfluencers' are taking social media by storm but experts warn meat-only diets have health consequences
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Scientists want to fight malaria by poisoning mosquitoes with human blood
Under the radar Drugging the bugs
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published