Still, most of the songs on the “Lost Notebooks” album hew to Williams’s sound; Ms. Martin noted that it was difficult to settle on a sequence because so many of the artists submitted waltzes.
The least familiar name among the contributors is Holly Williams, Williams’s granddaughter, who has previously released two albums of folk-inflected country originals. She had to add two verses of her own to the song fragment “Blue Is My Heart,” on which her father, Hank Williams Jr., adds backup vocals.
“As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten so much into my family’s heritage,” she said. “Growing up I really didn’t understand his legacy. It was when I heard Bob Dylan and Tom Waits and Neil Young talking about Hank Williams that I started to understand. Now I just want to make sure that someone keeps it going for the next generation in our family.” (Williams’s grandson Shelton Hank Williams, who performs honky-tonk country and punk-metal as Hank 3, was not asked to participate, and has said that “it seems a little strange for somebody to finish a half-finished Hank Williams song.”)
Others have also expressed apprehension about the concept, whose closest precedent is the use of unpublished Woody Guthrie lyrics on the two “Mermaid Avenue” albums that Billy Bragg and Wilco released in 1998 and 2000. There is a Facebook group called Stop the Desecration of Hank Williams Unfinished Songs. Chet Flippo, the editorial director of CMT and
CMT.com, recently wrote that the album is “utterly fascinating” but also asked, “If you were a painter and were asked to execute a painting based on a very rudimentary fragment of sketches by Picasso, would you do that?”
Jakob Dylan, Bob’s son, whose inclusion on the album marks the first time his work has appeared side by side with his father’s, was circumspect about the project. “I wouldn’t be so lofty or arrogant to think I was actually co-writing with Hank Williams,” he said. “This was one way to interpret the lyrics, but I don’t think it defines the song.” Ms. Crow saw it as a challenge that might help her own songwriting. “I think whenever you’re playing tennis with John McEnroe, it ups your level a little,” she said, “so I hope this did something for my own art.”
Most of the musicians, though, immediately recalled the thrill they felt when first given their assignment. “This has got to be one of the coolest things ever,” Mr. Jackson said. “To be credited as writing a song with Hank Williams, that means more to me than winning a Grammy.”
‘It Felt Like I Did Conjure the Ghost’
Some of the artists who participated in the “Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams” album discuss how they approached the song they selected.
Alan Jackson
“You’ve Been Lonesome, Too”
The song I chose was pretty complete, where some of the others felt a little more rambling. The melody just kind of jumped out — that was the easy part. I wanted it to be a tribute, to do it as much like Hank as I could. I recorded with the same instrumentation he used, no drums. I was trying to sing like Hank. The guys in the band all said it felt kind of haunting in the studio. Everybody got goose bumps.
Sheryl Crow
“Angel Mine”
Hank had such a distinct cadence to his writing. I just picked up the lyric and read it, and the flow of reading it set up how I would sing it. I could feel the tempo, how he would have sung it, where he might have yodeled. I tried to picture myself sitting around with Hank or the Carter Family, to get myself into that place. I played a 1930s Martin guitar, something that felt like it would have been in the room.
Jakob Dylan
“Oh, Mama, Come Home”
All the lyrics I looked through already had a melody inherent in the writing, so I picked something where it just kind of busted out at me. I thought it was important to stick with a melody that he might have used, but I didn’t try to mimic or replicate his sound. These songs really are timeless, so I didn’t think there was a need to be precious.
Lucinda Williams
“I’m So Happy I Found You”
I immediately picked this one, because it was so unusual for a Hank Williams song: it’s a happy love song. I didn’t change anything in the lyrics, I felt like that was sacred. I initially cut it with my band, but it sounded too straight or something, so I cut it with just me and my guitar. That gave it a more languid, jazzy feel. It felt like I did conjure the ghost, but that wasn’t a new feeling. I’ve always had such affinity for his music, I felt that connection already.
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