cover image Hank Williams Revealed: Snapshots from the Lost Highway

Hank Williams Revealed: Snapshots from the Lost Highway

Colin Escott, Various, Kira Florita. Da Capo Press, $35 (208pp) ISBN 978-0-306-81052-7

When Hank Williams died in the backseat of a car at age 29, he left behind grieving fans, friends and family, as well as eight guns, eight pairs of boots, 11 hats and a saddle. Hank Williams: Snapshots from the Lost Highway by Colin Escott and Kira Florita gathers together just about every last piece of paper having anything do to with country music's greatest and most tragic star (hence the postmortem inventory). Much of the material is new: included in this volume are the handwritten lyrics to 30 songs never recorded or published, private family correspondence and some 150 previously unpublished photographs, including Hank's first baby photo. (Nov.)