A few weeks ago on his radio show, Bob Dylan talked about how Hank Williams passed away in the back of a Cadillac on January 1st, 1953. What he didn’t reveal then was that he is in possession of the contents of the briefcase that Hank Williams was carrying with him on that final ride; namely, the lyrics to his unfinished songs.

What?!

Well, that was my reaction when I read it right here in Paste Magazine: Dylan, Jack White, others finish Hank songs.

Bob Dylan is heading up a project to have several artists write music and record some of Hank Williams’ final lyrics, according to Steppin´ In It bassist Dominic Suchyta, who played on one of the tracks.

“This project started when Bob Dylan acquired the ‘lost´ Hank Williams songs,” Suchyta tells Paste. “Essentially, the lyric sheets Hank died with in his briefcase. Jack [White] is my oldest friend, we talk on occasion and he asked me to come down and record. Dylan had contacted him to see if he’d like to finish some of these tunes.”

[...]

The entire participant list is still under wraps. “No doubt Dylan recorded a tune for it with the Modern Times sessions,” Suchya posits. “I’ve also heard through the grapevine that Willie Nelson and Norah Jones are involved, but like I said this is a shot in the dark. It’s been an interesting project in that sense. I´m a huge fan of Hank Williams and was moved to hear what Jack had to contribute.”

Well, if all this is even half-true, it’s something to look forward to indeed.

…

Addendum: In his memoir, “Chronicles,” Bob recounts how, from his hospital bed, Woody Guthrie told him he could have his unfinished lyrics. Then, Dylan very amusingly describes the fateful way in which he failed to get them, trudging across a semi-frozen swamp to Guthrie’s house, scaring Arlo’s babysitter, and departing empty-handed. He was soon to be swept up by the force of his own creativity, and the moment for carrying Woody’s torch simply passed. Those unfinished songs were later given to Billy Bragg and the band Wilco, who put tunes to them and released them on an album in 1998. How ironic, but very sweetly so, if Bob Dylan now has the chance to do this with some unfinished songs of the great Hank Williams.

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