Hank Williams Sr.’s daughter cherishes tapes

Hank Williams Sr.’s daughter cherishes tapes

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Jett Williams never met her father, Hank Williams Sr., who died in the back seat of a Cadillac five days before she was born in 1953.

But she’s come to learn more about him from 143 never-released recordings he did for a radio program in 1951.

The recordings were retrieved from a trash bin and ended up part of the Williams estate. They’re being released over the next three years (with the first batch hitting stores last week).

“It’s very intimate,” Jett Williams, a 55-year-old country singer, said recently. “It’s like he came over to your house and he’s saying, ‘Let me tell you about this song I just wrote.’

“It’s interesting because it’s live, and you hear him make a mistake or the band make a mistake and you get to hear how he handles it,” she added.

“You hear him tell jokes and how quick his wit is.”

Born to Bobbie Jett, Williams’ girlfriend between his two marriages, Jett Williams didn’t have a clue her father was Hank Williams until her 21st birthday. It took her years of legal action to receive recognition and a share of his estate.

She says that, unlike Elvis Presley, there’s not much material out there that shows his personality.

Loss of co-star weighs on Samuel L. Jackson

LOS ANGELES — Samuel L. Jackson doesn’t feel normal promoting his latest film “Soul Men” without co-star Bernie Mac.

In the movie, which opens Friday, Jackson and Mac play former bandmates who embark on a zany cross-country road trip to perform at the memorial concert for their deceased lead singer. Mac died of complications from pneumonia in August after production on the film ended.

“It’s even weirder that he never saw the movie,” Jackson said.

The “Lakeview Terrace” and “Snakes on a Plane” star called Mac a friend and said the “Ocean’s 11” co-star would attend and perform comedy at Jackson’s golf tournament in Bermuda. Outside of filming “Soul Men,” Jackson said he didn’t get to spend much time with Mac, who starred in “The Bernie Mac Show,” the Fox comedy series that aired from 2001 to 2006.

“We used to talk about blowing up and being famous and doing all this stuff and all of that,” said Jackson.

“Then, when he got famous, he was here in LA, and I never saw him because he was too busy doing his TV show every day. I didn’t go by and bother him, but I would run into him at functions, and we got to get together.”

Bonaduce divorce final

LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles judge has signed off on the amicable end to Danny Bonaduce’s nearly 18-year marriage.

Bonaduce will pay $16,000 a month to his ex-wife, Gretchen, for spousal and child support. The former couple will retain joint custody of their children, who are 14 and 7 years old.

Their marriage was the subject of the reality show “Breaking Bonaduce,” which also chronicled the former child star’s bout with addiction. Gretchen Bonaduce filed for divorce in April 2007.

Danny Bonaduce now hosts a radio talk show in Los Angeles, as well as VH1’s “I Know My Kid’s a Star.”

Documents signed by a judge Thursday indicate Bonaduce isn’t giving up on marriage: He’s keeping the rights to sell a show called “The Next Mrs. Bonaduce.”

Today’s birthdays

Opera singer Joan Sutherland is 82. Actor Barry Newman is 70. Singer Johnny Rivers is 66. Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell is 65. Singer Nick Gilder is 57. Actor Christopher Knight (“The Brady Bunch”) is 51. Guitarist Greg Tribbett of Mudvayne is 40. Actor Jeremy London (“Party of Five”) is 36. Actress Yunjin Kim (“Lost”) is 35. Guitarist Zach Myers of Shinedown is 25.