October 23, 2006--The Associated Press reports that Sony/ATV Music Publishing says a 59-year-old notebook that once belonged to the late country singer Hank Williams and was recently in the hands of two collectors had been stolen from its offices.
The publishing company's officials say they learned it was missing only after a Chicago Sun-Times article detailed how the collectors acquired the notebook, which contains lyrics to several unpublished Williams songs and has a value as high as $250,000.
The company filed a stolen property report with police on Sept. 20. Stephen Shutts and Robert Reynolds said they acquired the notebook this past summer after being contacted by an older Nashville-area woman last November.
The two men run the Honky Tonk Hall of Fame, a traveling exhibit that includes among its 1,750 items a pair of Elvis' white underwear, circa 1970. Neither man is suspected of any role in a possible theft, though it's unclear if they might face penalties for possession of stolen property. The notebook remains in their possession.
Sony/ATV President and CEO Troy Tomlinson said the company was taking the matter very seriously. The notebook is a known artifact among Music Row historians, containing roughed-out song lyrics to about 20 unpublished songs and various musings written by Hank between May 2, 1947 and 1949.
Hank Williams was a star in the late 1940s and early 1950s with hits like "Your Cheatin' Heart" and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry." He died in 1953.
Police spokesman Don Aaron said an investigation is under way.