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Hiram Hank Williams

If you mind your own business you'll be busy all the time

About Me


Hiram Hank Williams
Born: September 17th, 1923- Mount Olive West, Alabama
Died: January 1, 1953- Oak Hill, West Virginia
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Hiram "Hank" King Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter, who has become an icon of country music and Rock 'n' Roll, and one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. A leading exponent of the Honky Tonk style, he had numerous hit records, and his charismatic performances and succinct compositions fueled his fame. His songbook is one of the backbones of country music, several are pop standards as well. He has been covered in a range of pop, gospel, and rock styles. His legend has only grown since his premature death at the age of 29. His son Hank Williams Jr., his daughter Jett Williams, and his grandchildren Hank Williams III and Holly Williams are also professional singers.

My Interests


myspaceprodesigns mp3 players
Playlist
Ramblin Man, Lost Highway, Settin The Woods On Fire, I Heard That Lonesome Whistle, Mansion On The Hill, Your Cheatin Heart, Mind Your Own Business, Crazy Heart, Long Gone Lonesome Blues, Your Gonna Change, Move It On Over, Hey Good Lookin', You Win Again, Moanin The Blues, Howlin' At The Moon, Never Get Out Of Here Alive, I Saw The Light, Honky Tonk Blues, I'm So Lonesome

Make sure you stop on by Hank's Honky Tonk
Grab a stool, get yerself a bottle and a glass. Sit back or hit the dance floor, shoot some pool. Enjoy the crowd, listen to the jukebox and of course Mr. Hank Williams who will be making a live appearance. Enjoy!

Special Links...
BCMA - Birthplace of Country Music Alliance
Blue Ridge Music Trails
The Crooked Road

I'd like to meet:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "I thought he lived in our house. When I was a boy in Alabama, his voice, his words, his agony and joy and spirit were as inescapable as the heat, the damp, the sound of the wind in the pines… Even in his beautifully tailored western suits, he had told our story with beauty and pride and pain and something very close to love, for a man who had seemed to loathe himself, before he died…" - Excerpt from Bragg's liner notes

Liner notes by Rick Bragg, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the best-selling novel All Over But The Shoutin'. Congratulations to Rick Bragg on his Grammy Nomination in the album liner notes category for Live At The Grand Ole Opry.

©2000 Mercury Records, a Universal Music Company

HANK WILLIAMS By: Colin Escott
More than fifty years after his death, Hank Williams ranks among the most powerfully iconic figures in American music. Iconic to the point that man and myth are inextricably entwined. He set the agenda for contemporary country songcraft and sang his songs with such believability that we feel privy to his world, despite the fact that he left no in-depth interviews and just a few letters. His brief life and tragic death have only compounded his appeal.

Born in the tiny settlement of Mount Olive in south-central Alabama on September 17, 1923, Hiram "Hank" Williams grew up with a sense of apartness that never left him. A spinal condition, in all likelihood spina bifida occulta, ensured that he couldn't work in the same occupations as his contemporaries: logging or farming. When Hank was six years old, his aloneness was compounded when his father, Lon, went into a veterans' hospital; Hank would see him just twice in the next seven years. His mother, Lilly, ran rooming houses, first in Greenville, Alabama, and then in Montgomery.

Local influences shaped Hank's music more profoundly than the big stars of the day. The gospel songs of both the black and white communities taught him that music, whether sacred or secular, must have a spiritual component. He learned traditional folk ballads and early country songs from neighbors and friends, and blues from a local African-American street musician, Rufus Payne (also known as Teetot). Payne not only taught Hank how to play the guitar, but helped him overcome his innate shyness. The blues feel that suffuses much of Hank Williams' work is almost certainly Teetot's legacy.

Entering local talent talent contests soon after moving to Montgomery in 1937, Hank had served a ten-year apprenticeship by the time he scored his first hit, "Move It on Over," in 1947. He was twenty-three then, and twenty-five when the success of "Lovesick Blues" (a minstrel era song he did not write) earned him an invitation to join the preeminent radio barndance, Nashville's Grand Ole Opry. His star rose rapidly. He wrote songs compulsively, and his producer/music publisher, Fred Rose, helped him isolate and refine those that held promise. The result was an unbroken string of hits that included "Honky Tonkin'," "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," "Mansion on the Hill," "Cold, Cold Heart," "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)," "Honky Tonk Blues," "Jambalaya," "Your Cheatin' Heart," and "You Win Again." He was a recording artist for six years, and, during that time, recorded just 66 songs under his own name (together with a few more as part of a husband-and-wife act, Hank & Audrey, and a more still under his moralistic alter ego, Luke the Drifter). Of the 66 songs recorded under his own name, an astonishing 37 were hits. More than once, he cut three songs that became standards in one afternoon.

The fourteen "Luke the Drifter" recordings were narrations and talking blues. Luke the Drifter walked with Hank Williams and talked through him. If Hank Williams could be headstrong and willful, a backslider and a reprobate, then Luke the Drifter was compassionate and moralistic, capable of dispensing all the sage advice that Hank Williams ignored. Luke the Drifter had seen it all, yet could still be moved to tears by a chance encounter on his travels. Although little known in comparison with the hits, the "Luke the Drifter" narrations were the closest Hank Williams came to bearing his soul.

As a songwriter, Hank Williams matured surprisingly quickly, and his fractious relationship with his first wife, Audrey (whom he'd married in 1943), provided him with much of the raw material. After Tony Bennett covered "Cold, Cold Heart" in 1951, his songs found a broader market, a market that Hank himself would have found it hard to penetrate. To the end, he was unapologetically Southern, unable to make the compromises that Elvis Presley would make just a few years later. But Williams' songs went where he couldn't, and from 1951 onward, there was a rush to reinterpret them for the pop market. Ironically, those pop versions, which comfortably outsold Williams' originals in the early Fifties, now sound over-ornamented and outdated, while Williams' spare and haunting versions sound ageless.

It all fell apart remarkably quickly. Hank Williams grew disillusioned with success, and the unending travel compounded his back problem. A spinal operation in December 1951 only worsened the condition. Career pressures and almost ceaseless pain led to recurrent bouts of alcoholism. He missed an increasing number of showdates, frustrating those who attempted to manage or help him. His wife, Audrey, ordered him out of their house in January 1952, and he was dismissed from the Grand Ole Opry in August that year for failing to appear on Opry-sponsored showdates. Returning to Shreveport, Louisiana, where he'd been an up-and-coming star in 1948, he took a second wife, Billie Jean Jones, and hired a bogus doctor who compounded his already serious physical problems with potentially lethal drugs.

In late December 1952, Hank Williams returned to Montgomery, attempting to recuperate, but decided to meet two prearranged showdates on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. He died en route, aged just twenty-nine. Contrary to myth, Williams did not die with his star in the ascendant. "Jambalaya" had been one of the best-selling records of 1952, but while his records were topping the charts, he was so unreliable that he was reduced to playing beerhalls in Texas and Louisiana. There's a persistent myth that he would have returned to the Opry had he not died on New Year's Day 1953, but surviving correspondence suggests nothing more than a few more beerhall gigs. On a record released after his death, Williams sang of being pursued by the "Pale Horse and His Rider." On a home recording made shortly before his death, he directly addressed "The Angel of Death." It's impossible to escape the feeling that he lived with the spirits every day, and drank in part to escape them.

Timing is everything and Hank Williams came and went at precisely the right time. Country music was a cottage industry at the time of his arrival, yet, just a few years after his death, it was shaking off its "hillbilly" image. An artist as unapologetically rural as Hank Williams would have been shown the door. Elvis Presley appeared on the Grand Ole Opry just two years after Hank was dismissed, and Nashville's response to Elvis was to nurture artists who could cross between country and pop, leading to the birth of the Nashville Sound. Hank Williams didn't belong in the Nashville Sound era, but his tragically early death spared him the indignity of trying. Instead, his songs have lived on, reintrepreted by artists as diverse as Bob Dylan, jazz diva Norah Jones, crooner Perry Como, R&B star Dinah Washington, and British punk band, The The.
Source: PBS.ORG
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters

HANK LINKS

Hank Williams Official site for the country music legend. Category: Country Music Hank Williams, Sr. (1923-1953) www.hankwilliams.com

Hank Williams - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Hiram "Hank" King Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an ... Man", with vocals provided by Hank Williams III, on their 2000 release The Crybaby. ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Williams

Hank Williams - American Masters PBS broadcast celebrating the highly influential figure in American music. Includes essay, timeline, additional footage, and a filmmaker interview. Category: Country Music Hank Williams, Sr. (1923-1953) www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/williams_h.html

HANK WILLIAMS ... father of contemporary country music, Hank Williams was born on September 17, ... Hank and Audrey Williams had their first child, Randall Hank, in the ...www.thehankwilliamsmuseum.com/hankbio.htm

CMT.com : Hank Williams : Artist Main CMT.com presents complete Hank Williams information including Music Videos, Photo Galleries, News, Radio, TV Appearances, Discography, Message Board, Awards and more.www.cmt.com/artists/az/williams_sr_hank/artist.jhtml

Hank Williams Hank Williams is the father of contemporary country music. ... Hank Williams was scheduled to play a concert in Canton, OH, on January 1, 1953. ...www.alamhof.org/williamh.htm

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Hank Williams Provides information on the singer and songwriter who influenced country and rock. Category: Country Music Hank Williams, Sr. (1923-1953) www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id=211

Hank Williams - AOL Music Download, listen and watch Hank Williams music, mp3's, song lyrics, music videos, ... Price, Charley Pride, Carl Smith, Faron Young, Webb Pierce, Hank Williams, Jr. ...music.aol.com/artist/hank-williams/138231/main

CMG Worldwide CMG Worldwide also represents the world's greatest legends for marketing, licensing and legal purposes. Clients include: Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Bill Elliott, ...www.cmgww.com/music/hank

Hank Williams ... of everyone just which day it was that Hank Williams breathed his last breath. ... session, you'll see the artists listed as "HANK WILLIAMS And The Country Boys" ...www.rockabillyhall.com/HankWilliams1.html

Artists : Hank Williams Sr. : Hank Williams Sr. Biography : Great American Country By 1953 and literally worn out at 29, Hank Williams was gone. ... Cadillac en route to a show, Hank Williams fulfilled the prophecy of his own " ...gactv.com/gac/.../article/0,,GAC_26936_4805323,00.html

Amazon.com: The Complete Hank Williams: Music: Sr. Hank Williams Hank Williams rose to prominence at the exact middle of the 20th century, and ... haphazard, oft-overdubbed, slapdash Hank Williams reissues, this lavish package ...www.amazon.com/Complete-Hank-Williams-Sr/dp/B00000AFE0

ADAH: Hank Williams, Sr. - A Look Back Hank Williams Rides on down Trail of National Popularity on Air Records ... Country Song Roundup - Special Hank Williams Memorial Issue (Cover Only) ...www.archives.state.al.us/hank

Hank Williams Appreciation Society International Focusing on the relationship between Hank Sr. and Father Harold Purcell of the ... [Links to Internal and External Hank Williams Resources] ...www.angelfire.com/me2/kulacoco/hank.html

Hank Williams Museum ... is the resting place of Hank and Audrey Williams, is located only five minutes ... Hank Williams who died on January 1st, 1953. USA TODAY reports on Hank ... Category: Alabama Montgomery Museums and Exhibits www.xaust.com/hank/homepage.htm

Ron's Hank Williams Page Pictures, lyrics, sounds, facts, and more. Category: Country Music Hank Williams, Sr. (1923-1953) www.geocities.com/Nashville/3439

Hank Williams Hank Williams Sr bio page. Links to Hank's music Photos of the country music legend. ... Hank Williams Sr's soulful, lonesome and at times mournful voice along ...www.goldencountry.net/hank.htm

Hank Williams In 1943 Hank Williams met an Alabama country girl named Audrey Mae Sheppard. ... To see video clips of Hank Williams songs, buy his albums, and complete ...www2.smumn.edu/stupages/~amrose04/hank_williams.htm

The Complete Hank Williams Website: The Death Of Hank Williams But in the end it doesnt really matter, Hank Williams was dead at 29 years old. ... Charles Carr had the porters carry a lifeless Hank Williams down to the car. ...www.angelfire.com/country/hanksr/death.htm

Hank Williams Boyhood Home & Museum - Georgiana, Alabama When you visit Hank Williams' Boyhood Home & Museum at 127 Rose Street, ... street singer known as "Teetot", taught Hank Williams how to play the guitar. ...www.hankmuseum.com

Be sure to check out myspace for Hank Williams pages.

Music:

On a warm night in June, 1949, with his first number one record spilling out of radios across the country, a frail young man walked onto the stage of Nashville's Ryman Auditorium for his Grand Ole Opry debut. Behind him lay nearly a decade of struggle and rejection in pursuit of this goal; ahead, a little more than five years in the limelight.
By 1953, literally worn out at twenty-nine, Hank Williams was gone. But he had given country music much of its standard repertoire, a new definition of stardom and a legend so enduring that he is still the model for countless singers and songwriters.

Born in Mount Olive West, Alabama (near Georgiana) on September 17th, 1923, Hiriam was the second child of Lon and Lillie Williams. Lon, a WWI veteran, was hospitalized during most of Hank's early life, leaving the boy's upbringing to his strong-willed mother. Small and fragile from the beginning (and afflicted with spina bifida), Hank may well have gravitated toward music as an alternative to sports. While living in Georgiana, he befriended Rufus Payne, a black street musician known as "Tee-Tot".

Years later, Hank would say that Payne had given him "all the music training I ever had", and most biographers consider Payne the source of the noticeable blues thread running through Hank's music. Hear a sample of "Long Gone Lonesome Blues"

At sixteen, living in Montgomery, Williams quit school and began his music career in earnest. He had made his first radio appearance on WSFA in late 1936 or early 1937, and would soon become one of the station's most popular performers. He also worked beer joints and regional shows with his band, already named the Drifting Cowboys. Lillie drove the group to venues in her station wagon and collected gate money. By the early 40s, Hank was one of the biggest draws in the region, and had come to the attention of several Nashville artists and music business luminaries. But his reputation as a singer was already matched by the one he'd built for drinking and unreliability. Most considered him an unsafe bet.

In 1943 Hank met Audrey Mae Sheppard, an Alabama country girl with a two-year old daughter, Lycrecia, from a previous marriage. Audrey learned to play stand-up bass (well enough, anyway, to play in the band) and began acting as manager.

They were married in December, 1944. She desperately craved a singing career, pushing for inclusion in the show at every chance. Her ambition, however, far exceeded her talent. Audrey would vie with Lillie for Hank's attention throughout the relationship. In 1946, she accompanied her husband to Nashville to meet publisher Fred Rose.
Source: ©2000 Mercury Records, a Universal Music Company More Info: http://www.hankwilliams.com/welcome.html

Movies:

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Television:

Artist/Band: Hank Williams Lyrics
Reprinted with permission of Myrtie Le Payne
Song: Lost Highway by Leon Payne
Lost Highway by Hank Williams
I'm a rollin' stone all alone and lost
For a life of sin I have paid the cost
When I pass by all the people say
Just another guy on the lost highway
Just a deck of cards and a jug of wine
And a woman's lies makes a life like mine
O the day we met, I went astray
I started rolling down that lost highway
I was just a lad, nearly 22
Neither good nor bad, just a kid like you
And now I'm lost, too late to pray
Lord I take a cost, o the lost highway
Now boy's don't start to ramblin' round
On this road of sin are you sorrow bound
Take my advice or you'll curse the day
You started rollin' down that lost highway
Get lots more here:
http://www.allcountrytabs.com/tabs/williams-hank.html

Books:


"Traditons"- Hank Sr. and Hank III

"Tradition"- Hank Williams and Hank Williams III

Heroes:

country heroes & outlaws: hank williams III, george jones, waylon jennings, johnny cash, merle haggard, willie nelson, david allen coe, johnny paycheck, hank williams jr. and on and on and on.

Hank Williams - ( Hey Good Lookin' )
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My Blog

C'mon Into Hank's Honky Tonk

Welcome to... Hank's Honky Tonk Grab a stool, get yerself a bottle and a glass. Sit back or hit the dance floor, shoot some pool. Enjoy the crowd, listen to the jukebox and of course...
Posted by Hiram Hank Williams on Mon, 22 Jan 2007 10:57:00 PST

Hank Williams Discography

Hank Williams Discography Special thanks to Rolling Stone Magazine Online     Main Releases Jambalaya Best Of The Early Years  Country Music Legend 2006   The Be...
Posted by Hiram Hank Williams on Sun, 21 Jan 2007 07:41:00 PST

Hank Biography

Hank Bio Thanks to Book Rags and the Encyclopedia of World Biography http://www.bookrags.com/biography/ Name:                        ...
Posted by Hiram Hank Williams on Sat, 20 Jan 2007 08:22:00 PST

More Hank Songs: Lyrics & Chords

Freight Train Blues, I'd Still Want You, I Just Don't Like This Kind Of Livin', I Saw The Light, I Won't Be Home No More, Leave Me Alone With The Blues, Lonesome Whistle, On The Banks Of The Old Ponch...
Posted by Hiram Hank Williams on Sun, 07 Jan 2007 12:45:00 PST

Hank Songs: Lyrics & Chords

Howlin' At The Moon, My Buckets Got A Hole In It, My Son Calls Another Man Daddy, You Win Again, A Picture From Life's Other Side, Crazy Heart, Honky Tonk Blues, Honky Tonkin, I'll Never Get Out Of Th...
Posted by Hiram Hank Williams on Sun, 07 Jan 2007 11:43:00 PST