Every once in a blue moon, maybe a blue moon over Kentucky, someone at a radio station or a recording studio discovers lost treasures from the world of music. Just so happens such a discovery was made recently in Nashville at local radio station WSM – the radio station that hosted Hank Williams Mother's Best early morning radio program. Seems that when Hank Williams went out on tour the station was able to give continuity to his radio show by utilizing songs cut on acetate for just that reason. Acetates are metal discs covered with acetone into which the recording grooves were etched.

Acetate discs are extremely fragile, which is what make this discovery so special. The acetates were found at the bottom of a dumpster where an employee had mistakenly thrown away the discs. It took awhile for the songs to get all the proper approvals (a Supreme Court decision no less) so that they could be released to the public in general. The 1951 collection of Mother's Best radio recordings total an impressive 143 Hank Williams songs. 1951 was the end of one of the happiest periods in Hank's troubled and storied life and he enjoyed a #1 song on the country charts that year too when Cold, Cold Heart hit the top. Next year, his wife filed for divorce and and he eventually met his maker on the way to play a New Year's gig in Canton, Ohio.