"Computers, Social Networks, and the lack of Great New Bands and Artists"

 Being a Baby Boomer, I grew up in the Golden Age of American Music. The 60s and 70s brought out a lot of great new artists, genres and music which still shines today on CDs. In the era of  records, you had to be good to get a record deal, because making a good record required a big label studio ,real A and R people and a scene that was incredible in lots of ways.

  In Memphis, you had Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash. You had a heavy influence of English musicians starting with the Beatles who propelled rock music to a new level. You had Cream, The Who and The Rolling Stones as iconic groups.

   In Nashville, music row and The Grand Ole Opry was in full flight with artists like Patsy Cline, Chet Atkins, and a thriving business which is alive now, more than ever.

  Artists had something to say or express with their music; the first protest musicians who were not afraid to use music and lyrics as a tool to protest Vietnam War. There was a generation that were not afraid to go against the grain and let their message out. Country Joe and The Fish with "It's 1,2,3 What are we fighting for". It was a time of questioning what was going on and protest and "4 Dead In Ohio" by Crosby,Stills,Nash and Young was a true story song that was a great song in it's own merits.

    They were part of the west coast hippie movement including the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service , Jefferson Airplane and a Spanish guitarist named Carlos Santana. This movement had a life of it's own.

  Meanwhile, Down South, We have the new southern Rock scene with many great bands featuring Lynyrd Skynrd, the Allman Brothers Band and the Marshall Tucker Band. I am just dancing around the periphery here with these groups, there were so many more important bands.

   So, What's going on Today? A lot of the same artists releasing new music from Thirty Years ago. And We have the computer and the vanishing CD. Along the way, We started with Records, to Eight track tapes, cassette tapes (which I still Like), to CDs and now the ipod with it's mp3 format. A generation of young folk who have grown up listening to mp3s, They can't appreciate what the Baby Boomers like myself had ,growing up with full bandwidth analog music. Music will always survive, in what form, that is the Question.

Time Life Building Strong Marketing Campaign For Hank Williams: The Legend Begins That Releases Sept. 13, 2011

Coverage Will Include National TV Shows WGN Midday News And Daytime Along With Coverage From Blurt Magazine, Hits Magazine, Billboard.com, Blogcritics.org, Country Weekly And Chicago Tribune

Fairfax, VA (September 12, 2011) -- The highly anticipated Hank Williams: The Legend Begins releases tomorrow, September 13th, through Time Life and the Estate of Hank Williams. Already there is critical acclaim for the project with coverage from such major media outlets as national television programs, WGN Midday News (September 20) and Daytime (September 27); magazines such as Blurt, Vintage Guitar, Goldmine, Hits and Country Weekly; high-profile newspapers like Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, Tennessean and Arkansas Democrat Gazette; and online webzines, Billboard.com and Blogcritics.org.  Williams’ daughter, Jett, is also doing a three day satellite radio tour that includes over forty radio stations and syndicated outlets that service 100+ stations.  In conjunction with the radio interviews, close to eight-hundred radio stations are doing promotional giveaways during street week and over the weekend. In addition, there will be national and focused online marketing initiatives (e.g. contests, social networking, and email blasts to extensive related data bases etc.)
The 3-CD box set offers Williams’ first recordings at fifteen and seventeen years old, which have never been heard before, along with his first radio series, Health & Happiness.  The recordings have been restored with the highly acclaimed technology that was used for the Grammy nominated project last year, The Complete Mother’s Best Recordings….Plus!.   Hank Williams: The Legend Begins will be available online at Amazon.com, along with other digital and retail outlets.
"I am very proud that these recordings have been made available to everyone,” says Hank Williams, Jr.  “It was great to hear of their discovery, and then to share the treasure of daddy's music is wonderful!  It really takes you back to a time when family meant something, where we would all circle around that radio and listen to those legendary shows.  It is a rare find indeed and I'm so glad people will now have the chance to hear that part of history."
 "This might be the most rewarding component of this entire multi-year project," adds Jett Williams."  I am just so pleased that I was able to obtain and preserve these early recordings of my dad.  To think of him at 14 or 15 sitting at a kitchen table, in a garage or wherever, singing songs that would end up being a part of his legacy is truly remarkable."

The music will take you back to 1938 when Williams was a 15-year-old teenager performing his first recordings of Fan It and Alexander’s Ragtime Band.  Then fast forward to 1940, and the rare home recordings show how much Williams’ voice had matured in two years when he rocks out to four classics of American music; Freight Train Blues, New San Antonio Rose, St. Louis Blues, and Greenback Dollar.  In 1949, Williams recorded his first syndicated radio series, The Health And Happiness Show.  Forty-nine songs from the show have been restored on Hank Williams: The Legend Begins which gives superior quality to these historic CDs.