AKA: Hiriam King Williams
Born: Sep 17, 1923 in Mount Olive, AL
Died: Jan 1, 1953 in Oak Hill, WV
Years Active: 1940's & 1950's
Genres: Country
Styles: Honky Tonk, Traditional Country
Instruments: Vocals, Guitar
Tones: Rambunctious, Plaintive, Passionate, Sad, Rollicking, Reckless, Organic, Earthy, Exuberant, Intimate, Melancholy, Cathartic, Bleak
Labels: MGM (42), Mercury (21), PolyGram (8), Polygram (5), K-Tel (5), Universal International (3), Metro (3)
See Also: Hank Williams & the Drifting Cowboys • Hiriam Williams
AMG BIOGRAPHY
Hank Williams is the father of contemporary country music. Williams was a superstar by the age of 25; he was dead at the age of 29. In those four short years, he established the rules for all the country performers that followed him and, in the process, much of popular music. Williams wrote a body of songs that became popular classics, and his direct, emotional lyrics and vocals became the standard for most popular performers. Williams lived a life as troubled and reckless as that depicted in his songs.
Hank Williams was born in Mount Olive, AL, on September 17, 1923. When he was eight years old, Williams was given a guitar by his mother. His musical education was provided by a local blues street singer, Rufus Payne, who was called Tee Tot. From Tee Tot, Williams learned how to play the guitar and sing the blues, which would come to provide a strong undercurrent in his songwriting. Williams began performing around the Georgiana and Greenville areas of Alabama in his early teens. His mother moved the family to Montgomery, AL, in 1937, where she opened a boarding house. In Montgomery, he formed a band called the Drifting Cowboys and landed a regular spot on a local radio station, WSFA, in 1941. During his shows, Williams would sing songs from his idol, Roy Acuff, as well as several other country hits of the day. WSFA dubbed him "the Singing Kid" and Williams stayed with the station for the rest of the decade.
Williams met Audrey Mae Sheppard, a farm girl from Banks, AL, in 1943 while he was playing a medicine show. The following year, the couple married and moved into Lilly's boarding house. Audrey became Williams' manager just before the marriage. By 1946, he was a local celebrity, but he was unable to make much headway nationally. That year, Hank Williams and Audrey visited Nashville with the intent of meeting songwriter/music publisher Fred Rose, one of the heads of Acuff-Rose Publishing. Rose liked Williams' songs and asked him to record two sessions for Sterling Records, which resulted in two singles. Both of the singles — "Never Again" in December 1946 and "Honky Tonkin'" in February 1947 — were successful and Williams signed a contract with MGM Records early in 1947. Rose became the singer's manager and record producer.
"Move It On Over," released later in 1947, became Hank Williams' first single for MGM. It was an immediate hit, climbing into the country Top Five. By the summer of 1948, he had joined the Louisiana Hayride, appearing both on its tours and radio programs. "Honky Tonkin'" was released in 1948, followed by "I'm a Long Gone Daddy." While neither song was as successful as "Move It On Over," they were popular, with the latter peaking in the Top Ten. Early in 1949, he recorded "Lovesick Blues," a Tin Pan Alley song initially recorded by Emmett Miller and made popular by Rex Griffin. The single became a huge hit upon its release in the spring of 1949, staying at number one for 16 weeks and crossing over into the pop Top 25. Williams sang the song at the Grand Ole Opry, where he performed an unprecedented six encores. He had become a star.
Hank and Audrey Williams had their first child, Randall Hank, in the spring of 1949. Also in the spring, Hank Williams assembled the most famous edition of the Drifting Cowboys, featuring guitarist Bob McNett, bassist Hillous Butrum, fiddler Jerry Rivers, and steel guitarist Don Helms. Soon, he and the band were earning 1,000 dollars per concert and were selling out shows across the country. Williams had no fewer than seven hits in 1949 after "Lovesick Blues," including the Top Fives "Wedding Bells," "Mind Your Own Business," "You're Gonna Change (Or I'm Gonna Leave)," and "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It"; in addition to having a string of hit singles in 1950 including the number ones "Long Gone Lonesome Blues," "Why Don't You Love Me," and "Moanin' the Blues"; as well as the Top Tens "I Just Don't Like This Kind of Livin'," "My Son Calls Another Man Daddy," "They'll Never Take Her Love From Me," "Why Should We Try," and "Nobody's Lonesome for Me." That same year, Williams began recording a series of spiritual records under the name Luke the Drifter.
Williams continued to rack up hits in 1951, beginning with the Top Ten hit "Dear John" and its number one flip-side "Cold Cold Heart." That same year, pop vocalist Tony Bennett recorded "Cold, Cold Heart" and had a hit, leading to a stream of covers from such mainstream artists as Jo Stafford, Guy Mitchell, Frankie Laine, Teresa Brewer, and several others. Williams had also begun to experience the fruits of crossover success, appearing on the Perry Como television show and being part of a package tour that also featured Bob Hope, Jack Benny, and Minny Pearl. In addition to "Dear John" and "Cold, Cold Heart," Williams had several other hits in 1951, including the number one "Hey, Good Lookin'" and "Howlin' at the Moon," "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love With You)," "Crazy Heart," "Lonesome Whistle," and "Baby, We're Really in Love," which all charted in the Top Ten.
Though his professional career was soaring, Hank Williams' personal life was beginning to spin out of control. Before he became a star, he had a mild drinking problem, but it had been more or less controlled during his first few years of fame. However, as he began to earn large amounts of money and spend long times away from home, he began to drink frequently. Furthermore, Hank's marriage to Audrey was deteriorating. Not only were they fighting, resulting in occasional separations, but Audrey was trying to create her own recording career without any success. In the fall of 1951, Hank was on a hunting trip on his Tennessee farm when he tripped and fell, re-activating a dormant back injury. Williams began taking morphine and other pain killers for his back and quickly became addicted.
In January of 1952, Hank and Audrey separated for a final time and he headed back to Montgomery to live with his mother. The hits were still coming fast for Williams, with "Honky Tonk Blues" hitting number two in the spring. In fact, he released five more singles in 1952 — "Half As Much," "Jambalaya," "Settin' the Woods on Fire," "You Win Again," and "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive" — which all went Top Ten. In spite of all of his success, Hank turned completely reckless in 1952, spending nearly all of his waking hours drunk and taking drugs, while he was frequently destroying property and playing with guns.
Williams left his mother in early spring, moving in with Ray Price in Nashville. In May, Audrey and Hank were officially divorced. She was awarded the house and their child, as well as half of his future royalties. Williams continued to play a large number of concerts, but he was always drunk during the show, or he missed the gig altogether. In August, the Grand Ole Opry fired Williams for that very reason. He was told that he could return once he was sober. Instead of heeding the Opry's warning, he just sank deeper into his self-destructive behavior. Soon, his friends were leaving him, as the Drifting Cowboys began working with Ray Price and Fred Rose no longer supported him. Williams was still playing the Louisiana Hayride, but he was performing with local pickup bands and was earning reduced wages. That fall, he met Billie Jean Jones Eshlimar, the 19-year old daughter of a Louisiana policeman. By October, they were married. Hank also signed an agreement to support the baby — who had yet to be delivered — of one of his other girlfriends, Bobbie Jett, in October. By the end of the year, Williams was having heart problems and Toby Marshall, a con-man doctor, was giving him various prescription drugs to help soothe the pain.
Hank Williams was scheduled to play a concert in Canton, OH, on January 1, 1953. He was scheduled to fly out of Knoxville, TN, on New Year's Eve, but the weather was so bad he had to hire a chauffeur to drive him to Ohio in his new Cadillac. Before they left for Ohio, Williams was injected with two shots of the vitamin B-12 and morphine by a doctor. Williams got into the backseat of the Cadillac with a bottle of whiskey and the teenage chauffeur headed out for Canton. The driver was stopped for speeding when the policeman noticed that Williams looked like a dead man. Williams was taken to a West Virginian hospital and he was officially declared dead at 7:00 AM on January 1, 1953. Hank Williams had died in the back of the Cadillac, on his way to a concert. The last single released in his lifetime was "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive."
Hank Williams was buried in Montgomery, AL, three days later. His funeral drew a record crowd, larger than any crowd since Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as the President of the Confederacy in 1861. Dozens of country music stars attended, as did Audrey Williams, Billie Jean Jones, and Bobbie Jett, who happened to give birth to a daughter three days later. "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive" reached number one immediately after his death and it was followed by a number of hit records throughout 1953, including the number ones "Your Cheatin' Heart," "Kaw-Liga," and "Take These Chains From My Heart."
After his death, MGM wanted to keep issuing Hank Williams records, so they took some of his original demos and overdubbed bands onto the original recording. The first of these, "Weary Blues from Waitin'," was a hit but the others weren't quite as successful. In 1961, Hank Williams was one of the first inductees to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Throughout the '60s, Williams' records were released in overdubbed versions featuring heavy strings, as well as reprocessed stereo. For years, these bastardized versions were the only records in print and only in the '80s, when his music was released on compact disc, was his catalog restored to its original form. Even during those years when only overdubbed versions of his hits existed, Hank Williams' impact never diminished. His songs have become classics, his recordings have stood the test of time, and his life story is legendary. It's easy to see why Hank Williams is considered by many as the defining figure of country music. — Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Similar Artists: Webb Pierce Lefty Frizzell Hank Williams, Jr. Faron Young Carl Smith Ray Price Charley Pride
Roots and Influences: Ernest Tubb Roy Acuff
Followers: Doug Kershaw Moe Bandy Boxcar Willie Bill Haley Ronnie Hawkins Jerry Lee Lewis Del Shannon Uncle Tupelo Joe Stampley Rick Danko Rank & File Freddie Hart Ray Condo James Intveld Van Morrison J.D. Souther B.J. Thomas Tex Beaumont
Performed Songs By: Fred Rose Cliff Friend Irving Mills Leon Payne Hank Williams, Jr. Bob Nolan Claude Boone Curly Williams Jimmie Davis Hy Heath Pee Wee King Traditional Clarence Williams H.C. Williams Ernest Tubb Vic McAlpin Aubrie Gass Mel Foree Ramona Vincent
Worked With: Audrey Williams Hank Williams Jerry Rivers Bob McNett Hillous Butrum Don Helms Sammy Kershaw Joseph Wilson Don Ovens The Country Music Foundation Bret Teegarden Steve Millikan Gary Lunn Bonnie Keen Dennis Jernigan John Hammond Mark Douthit Barry Beckett
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Hank Williams: Songwriting Legacy Lives (Part 1 of 2)
Tom Robinson
12/30/2002
CMT.COM
Jan. 1, 2003 marks the 50th anniversary of Hank Williams’ death. In the first part of this two-part series, CMT.com focuses on Williams’ greatest legacy -- his songwriting. Wednesday (Jan. 1), in the second installment, writer Tom Robinson talks to Charles Carr, the college student who drove the Cadillac when Williams died on his way to a concert in Ohio
Hank Williams walked into Nashville’s Castle Studio on Sept. 23, 1952, to record, unaware it would be his last session. He left on a high note. The lanky hillbilly singer poured out his raw emotions on four songs that would become country music standards. Accompanied by talented musicians including young guitarist Chet Atkins and steel guitarist Don Helms, the session produced “Take These Chains From My Heart,” “I Could Never Be Ashamed of You,” “Kaw-Liga” and “Your Cheatin’ Heart.”
Helms had never heard “Your Cheatin’ Heart” until that afternoon. Williams penned that song -- and “Kaw-Liga” -- just a month prior while relaxing in a cottage on Kowaliga Bay in Alabama. Williams’ pal and publisher Fred Rose fine-tuned the songs, making them studio-ready for that autumn session.
Williams strummed out the tune and sang through a few lines of the composition to get warmed up. He then turned to Helms and asked for an intro. “You know what to give me,” Williams said. Helms carefully laid his thumbs on the double-neck steel and struck swelling chords that produced arguably the most famous introduction to a country song. In session terminology, they nailed it in one take. That one take, which sold millions of copies, was the only time Helms played “Your Cheatin’ Heart” with Williams. Less than four months later, Williams died on New Year’s Day 1953 in the back seat of his chauffeured Cadillac en route to a concert in Canton, Ohio.
“One take, that was it,” said Helms, a longtime member of Williams’ Drifting Cowboys band and a close friend. “We also recorded ‘Kaw-Liga’ that day, and it took a few takes to get that drum beat down just right,” Helms recalled. “That session was the last time I saw Hank alive. He had left Nashville by then but had come back for the recording session.”
In 50 years since Williams’ passing, his compositions have crossed all musical genres. From the Grateful Dead to George Jones, an impressive roster has recorded Williams’ compositions that in many cases resulted in hits.
Everyone has a favorite Williams song. For Helms it’s “Cold, Cold Heart.” He recalls, “That was Hank’s favorite, too. ‘Cold, Cold Heart’ says a lot and is easy for me to play. I could play it in three-part harmony. I could play my interpretation. When Hank wrote it he let Fred [Rose] look at it. He changed that one line from tortured mind to doubtful mind. Hank welcomed that input from Fred.”
Today, Helms performs with Jett Williams, daughter of the country music icon. In concert Jett never sings “Cold, Cold Heart,” but introduces Helms, who plays a tearful instrumental of the classic. “She’s never sung it because she knows it’s my favorite,” said Helms. “I appreciate that.”
Jett Williams was born Jan. 6, 1953 -- just two days after her father’s funeral. It’s well chronicled how as an adult she set out and discovered her true bloodlines. When Williams wrote “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and “Kaw-Liga” in the Alabama cabin, he was accompanied on the trip with his girlfriend Bobbie Jett who was pregnant with the daughter. Jett Williams took an emotional journey last summer to the Kowaliga Bay site to dedicate the cabin that had been restored to its 1952 likeness, as when her parents stayed there that mid-August.
While those two songs hold a special place for Williams’ singing daughter, her favorite dad composition is “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.” She explains, “I call it his sensory song. He asks you to hear a lonesome whistle and see a robin weep. It’s also a song about missing someone -- something in your life no longer there.”
“My dad never used the same formula in his songs,” she noted. “‘I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry’ is four verses and no chorus. Look at ‘Kaw-Liga.’ I can’t think of a song where you do verses in minor and shift to major for the chorus. The meter of the song creates that song. ‘Kaw-Liga’ was a novelty song, but because of the unique structure, ‘Kaw-Liga’ was innovative.”
Merle Kilgore was an aspiring songwriter and singer in Shreveport, La., when he hung around the Louisiana Hayride and carried the guitar cases of the country stars as they prepared to play on the KWKH radio show. Kilgore wasted little time becoming friends and absorbing songwriting tidbits from Williams. In short order Kilgore would pen the Webb Pierce hit “More and More,” followed by Claude King’s “Wolverton Mountain” and Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire,” the latter co-written with June Carter Cash.
“Hank would say everybody likes to feel sorry for themselves,” recalled Kilgore. “He’d say, ‘You write ‘em, sing ‘em and they say that’s the story of their lives.’ He carried a little spiral notebook and a little pencil stuck down in the spiral. He’d write down lyrics.”
Merle, who today manages Hank Williams Jr., has his favorite Williams composition. “Cold, Cold Heart,” he said. “It’s just straight forward and simple. It’s great. I’m not sure what Hank Jr.’s all-time favorite is. But I’ve heard him say ‘House of Gold.’”
“Hank Sr.’s longevity is unbelievable,” remarked Kilgore. “They [fans] just love to hear him sing. They’ve recycled his old stuff. They don’t like anybody to sing with him and they don’t want you to add strings. Just like to hear Hank singing.”
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Driver Recalls Hank Williams’ Last Ride (Part 2 of 2)
Tom Robinson
12/30/2002
CMT.COM
Jan. 1, 2003 marks the 50th anniversary of Hank Williams’ death. In the second installment of this two-part series, writer Tom Robinson talks to Charles Carr, the college student who drove the Cadillac when Williams died on his way to a concert in Ohio.
The two musicians rose from a brief sleep at mid-morning and searched out the restaurant of the Canton, Ohio hotel. It was New Year’s Day 1953, and they were in town to back an old friend on a new start at a matinee country music show. But first, the hot coffee, ham and eggs.
They had endured a long New Year’s Eve day and night of driving from Nashville through periodic snow, sleet and rain. The weather caused them to arrive too late for the New Year’s Eve show in Charleston, W.Va. But they were in select company, driving with the show’s promoter, A.V. “Bam” Bamford. The show headliner, Hank Williams, never arrived, either. The harsh winter front stalled the singer in Knoxville, Tenn., en route from his trip that began Dec. 30 in Montgomery, Ala.
Even Williams’ attempt at a commercial flight met foul weather and was forced to return to Knoxville. After a brief rest at Knoxville’s Andrew Johnson hotel, the singer-songwriter and his driver returned to the road, steering toward Canton late on this wintry New Year’s Eve in hopes of arriving by show time.
The musicians -- Don Helms and Autry Inman -- eagerly polished off their breakfast before heading to the auditorium to meet with Williams and then play to a packed house. Although rejuvenated, the two were about to be confronted with harsh news that would permanently impact their lives.
About the time Helms and Inman downed breakfast, driver Charles Carr, a college freshman, awakened at the apartment above the Oak Hill, W.Va., funeral home. That he rested at all was nothing short of a miracle. Carr had reason to be tired, having navigated the powder blue Cadillac carrying Williams all through the day and evening of Dec. 31. He rang in 1953 in the wee hours on a highway near Oak Hill when he discovered something terribly wrong.
Dawn had sliced through the dark sky when Carr looked back and noticed the blanket had fallen from his passenger stretched out in the back seat. Carr quietly reached to pull the blanket up. Attempting to move Williams’ arm from across his chest, “I met resistance,” he said. “I knew something was wrong.” Carr stopped at a nearby cut-rate gas station six miles from Oak Hill seeking help, then rushed his passenger to the Oak Hill Hospital. “There were no police escorts or anybody, just me driving him to the hospital,” said Carr. He drove the Cadillac around back where two hospital interns carried the singer in. Soon Williams was pronounced dead. The death certificate cited a heart problem -- “acute right ventricular dilation.” Stunned, yet exhausted, Carr managed to close his eyes in the funeral home apartment and rest.
When Helms and Inman entered the Canton City Auditorium around noon, they were unaware that Williams -- the man called the Hillbilly Shakespeare -- was dead at the young age of 29. “When we got to the auditorium, I saw Bam was serious,” Helms recalled. “He stopped me at the dressing room. If you didn’t know Bam, he was a person who could joke around. But he looked serious and I knew something was wrong. I knew something was wrong before he finished the sentence. He said Hank died.”
The show went on before an audience stunned, like they had lost their next of kin. “Everything about it and that week was strange,” said Helms. “It all seemed abnormal. In Canton, I played those Hank songs, kicking them off like I always did. But someone else was singing ‘em. Then I had to rush back to Nashville and get [wife] Hazel, and then we had to get down to Montgomery for the funeral. ”
Carr had accepted the driving gig while home from Auburn University on Christmas break. His dad ran the limousine and cab company in Montgomery, Williams’ hometown. Williams was in desperate need of a driver to get him to the package shows in Charleston and Canton. Carr didn’t mind. Williams was a family friend, and college students can always use the extra cash. However, Carr could not foresee how this journey would cast him into history while thrusting his passenger into larger-than-life proportion.
For Williams it was to serve as a fresh start from the latest tribulations in a tortured life. With Bamford’s encouragement, Helms was re-teaming with a troubled friend for this engagement. Helms hoped for good things. A cleaned-up Williams and a strong showing in Canton could result in more great things for country music’s great performer.
“I had not seen Hank since the last recording session in September in Nashville,” Helms recalled. “Hank had come up to record. I didn’t know then that would be the last time I’d see Hank alive.” Helms and Williams’ Drifting Cowboys band played with a young Ray Price and other country acts on Opry and concert appearances after Williams left Nashville.
Fifty years later, a reserved Carr -- still living in Montgomery -- is constantly called by media. Journalists seek snatches of history. Carr is the one who can offer personal glimpses of Williams’ final hours. Carr states it best: “I’m not an authority on Hank’s life, but I’m an authority on his death. I was the one there. To think, 50 years later, we’re still talking about Hank is unbelievable.
“Hank was in good spirits when we left Montgomery,” Carr recalled. “It was a dreary day in Montgomery when I picked him up at his mom’s boarding house. When we got to Birmingham that afternoon it was rainy and dreary. We spent the night there. But we had no idea the weather would get so bad. By Knoxville, the rain started turning to sleet or snow.”
What took place between Knoxville and Oak Hill has become folklore. There are stories of painkiller shots and Williams passing away long before the car reached Oak Hill. Carr, who was paid $400 as Williams’ driver, has read and heard all the stories. “We were in Bristol, or it may have been Bluefield, when we stopped for gas,” said Carr. “Hank got out of the car. I said I was going to the diner across the way and was going to get a sandwich and I asked him ‘Do you want one?’ Hank said. ‘No, I’m gonna get back in the car and get some sleep.’
“People do not need to add to Hank Williams’ life,” said Carr. “There were reports of drugs used, but the autopsy said there were no drugs. There were no drugs with us and I never saw him take drugs. If there had been drugs in him, it would have made headlines. All you got to do is see Hank’s autopsy. It shows he had a couple of mild heart attacks. He was given shots in Knoxville, but they were vitamin shots. The hotel doctor gave them to Hank to cure his case of hiccups. He got up after the shots and was all right. When we were leaving the hotel that night, he didn’t feel so good, and I had a bellman bring up a wheelchair and take him to the car.”
Carr also played an important role in Williams’ funeral on Jan. 4, 1953, in Montgomery, as would Helms. “I drove the lead limo with the family,” Carr recalled. “[Ex-wife] Audrey and [Williams’ mother] Mrs. Lillie Stone were in the limo, and Marie Harvell -- Hank’s cousin -- was in there.” Carr said Billie Jean, Williams’ current wife, attended the funeral separately with her father.
Helms and other members of the Drifting Cowboys backed the Opry stars that journeyed from Nashville to perform at the service. Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, Red Foley, Webb Pierce, Carl Smith and Jimmy Dickens … all were there along with Fred Rose, Williams’ publisher and lyrical editor. The emotional farewell played out at the City Auditorium where a reported 25,000 onlookers poured onto the street and sidewalk. Williams was the hillbilly mega giant -- and the large Montgomery gathering was certainly one reserved for royalty.
Helms recalled the emotional task of playing his double-neck steel guitar on the stage while peering a few feet below into the open casket of his departed friend. “That was tough,” Helms said, shaking his head. “It was sad. I’d play and look down and see him there. Put yourself in that position. Your best friend is down there. We played ‘I Saw the Light’ and everybody sang. It was very touching. We all got through it.”
A couple of days after the funeral Carr returned to Auburn University. Occasionally a student would ask if he was the same Charles Carr driving Williams when he died. It was a slice of fame he really didn’t wish to have. Half a century later, and in his late 60s, fame has been rekindled. Through the years Carr has owned different businesses and is currently a real estate agent. And through the years, Montgomery has remained home.
Helms, who resides north of Nashville with wife Hazel, carries on the Williams legacy. He played many years with Hank Williams Jr. Now in his mid-70s, Helms plays for Williams’ daughter Jett Williams. “I’ve played for the Williams family,” Helms said proudly. “Every day I’m touched by Hank. He’s on my wall, he’s on my record player and he’s in my heart.”
In 2002 Helms performed with the Nashville Symphony, at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. And what does Helms play in the crowd of sophisticates or rockers?
“Why, I play Hank,” he grinned. “That’s what they want to hear from me. They still want Hank.”
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Hank Williams, The Complete Hank Williams (Mercury)
If you plan to impress someone with this boxed set, it's gonna cost you. The 10-CD set generally sells for $125-$150, but it's first class all the way. In fact, the project was honored with two Grammy Awards -- for best historical album and best boxed recording package. With the CDs and liner notes provided as two separate books nestled within the hard-bound box, the set is compiled from all existing session masters and all available non-session and demo masters recorded by Williams. It does not include all alternate takes or his many radio show performances. However, what it does include is more Hank Williams music than most people will ever want to hear. That shouldn't be considered a derogatory comment, either. Collections like these are designed for discriminating fans. But as we approach New Year's Day -- the 50th anniversary of his death -- nothing could be more timely than The Complete Hank Williams.
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Family, Friends, Fans Attend Williams Memorial Service
Tom Robinson
01/03/2003
MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- The steel gray sky and chilling breeze mirrored the backdrop of a Hank Williams song. Bundled in coats and gloves, some 250 of the singer’s most faithful followers surrounded his gravesite on New Year’s morning to salute their hero on the 50th anniversary of his death.
Williams, only 29, died New Year’s morning 1953 in the back seat of his chauffeured Cadillac en route to a show in Canton, Ohio. Half a century later they are still paying respects. Old friends and new fans showed for the one-hour graveside memorial. Don Helms, steel guitarist in Williams’ Drifting Cowboys band, rode with a friend to the Oakmont Cemetery while the haunting ballad, “Ramblin’ Man,” played in the car. Also present was Charles Carr. Still lean at 68 and neatly attired in black blazer and tie, Carr was driving Williams to Ohio when the singer-songwriter died. Several members of Williams’ early bands -- LumYork, Braxton Schuffert and Jimmy Porter -- gathered. Williams’ half-sister, Leila Griffin, made the short drive from her Selma, Ala., home with her husband.
Williams and Griffin had the same father, Lon Williams. She was only 9 when her big brother died. “Daddy never got over Hank’s death,” she said. “Nobody knows how bad that hurt my dad. There have been some stories that say Hank and Daddy never got along. But that’s not true. Hank had come down Christmas to see us but we weren’t there.” Williams had a Christmas present for his dad -- a song he had written, “The Log Train.” Griffin recalled, “We weren’t home. But Hank played it for everybody around there. Daddy never got to hear it. Daddy died in 1970 and the recording wasn’t found until later.”
“This [anniversary] is sad in a way,” Griffin said. “But it makes me feel good to know he has so many fans,” she said. Noting that she stays in touch with Hank Williams Jr., Griffin said, “He called me about this week’s Opry show that he will be doing with Hank III. We stay in touch. As Hank’s getting older, he wants to know more about his family. He’s asking me more about his granddaddy.” [Hank Williams Jr. and his son, Hank Williams III, will perform Saturday (Jan. 4) on the Grand Ole Opry. CMT will televise the segment on Grand Ole Opry Live at 8 p.m. ET/PT.]
In 50 years, this marked Helms’ first visit to Montgomery on the anniversary of Williams’ death. On his recent trip, Helms was a central figure in the three days of official activities, shows and panel discussions. “I’ve always been in a different city,” he said. “For this one I wanted to come back to where it all started.”
Fans gathered from Germany, Massachusetts and neighboring states. A Williams sing-alike journeyed down from Ohio. Parents brought their youngsters, and grandparents brought grandkids, bringing them closer to what must seem a distant figure.
After the ceremony Helms treated the crowd to the hits, playing his signature steel guitar at an informal gathering at the Hank Williams Museum. Onlookers warmed themselves with hot coffee, traditional black-eyed peas and cornbread. Helms nourished their souls with the classics -- “Hey Good Lookin’,” “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and “Wedding Bells.” Musician/fans were quick to take the stage and back Helms. Some squared off at the microphone and belted out their Williams favorite as Helms nimbly weaved Drifting Cowboy magic. But the room turned silent when Helms played his favorite, “Cold, Cold Heart.”
They watched on large screen television the premiere of CMT Inside Fame, documenting the life of the hillbilly king. [The episode airs again Saturday (Jan. 4) at 9 p.m. ET/PT.] Watching documentaries about her brother is nothing new. “Everything’s been said and done before,” Griffin said after the private screening. She sides with her nephew when the feature focuses on Jett Williams being Williams’ daughter. “I’m like Hank Jr.,” she said. “Is it his daughter or is it not?”
Cecil Jackson is a robust gentleman in his mid-60s with neatly trimmed white hair and beard. He presides over the museum and oversees Williams functions. As dark fell on the cold day, Jackson led a candle light vigil at the life-size statue that captures Williams playing his guitar. They collectively sang “I Saw the Light,” eyes focused on the bronzed likeness of their departed idol. One lady wiped away tears. Another fan nudged the man next to him and pointed at the statue. “See, Hank’s looking at us,” he said. “He knows we’re here.”
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Yahoo News
OPRY'S TRIBUTE TO HANK WILLIAMS TO SPOTLIGHT THE MAN BEHIND HANK'S LEGEND
(Nashville) -- For a historical milestone in country music history, don't miss "Grand Ole Opry Live" on CMT, 8-9pm EST. HANK WILLIAMS -- The man who forever changed the face of country music with his blues tinged influence will have yet another special tribute on this Saturday's televised segment.
Rufus Payne is an unsung hero behind the legend of Hank--a hero who Hank's son is bringing out of the shadows for the credit he deserves.
Joining Hank's musical heir Hank Jr. onstage Saturday night on the Opry stage will be Henderson Payne--known in musical circles as "Tee Tot Jr." It' will be a historical second generation reunion of a legendary musical dynasty.
It was Payne's father--Rufus--known as "Tee Tot"--a black blues street singer in Alabama--who taught Hank Sr. to play guitar and sing the blues.
Hank Jr. re-traced Henderson Payne with the aid of Alabama historian Alice Harp, who brought together the re-uniting of the two sons of musical greats whose lives intersected to forever influence and change country music more than 50 years ago.
Jr. was deeply moved with the chance to bring Tee Tot Jr. back to spotlight, not only as the "second generation of the family tradition" but for a chance to pay tribute to the music of their father's. "When Tee Tot met Hank Williams it changed the whole world of country music," says Jr.
Hank Williams Jr. and Hank Williams III are each scheduled to perform on Saturday's show in honor of HANK WILLIAMS.
# # #
For more information on Hank Williams Jr. contact:
Webster & Associates Public Relations
Kirt Webster - Radio contact, 615-777-6995 x24
Stephanie Green - Television contact, 615-777-6995 x22
Diana Henderson - Magazines & Online contact, 615-777-6995 x23
Shelly Wims - Newspaper contact, 615-777-6995 x25
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Grand Ole Opry to Remember Hank Williams
Thu Jan 2, 5:19 PM ET
By JOHN GEROME, Associated Press Writer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Legend has it that when Hank Williams (news) took the Grand Ole Opry stage for the first time in 1949 he sang "Lovesick Blues" and was called back for an unheard-of six encores.
Williams would spend the next few years as an Opry regular. But his career at the premier country music program was cut short by erratic, self-destructive behavior, and soon after that his life was cut short as well.
Fifty years after his mysterious death at age 29, Williams' influence on the Opry remains large.
"If you had to divide the history of the Opry into three or four major eras, Hank would be one of those," said Charles Wolfe, author of "A Good Natured Riot," a history of the Grand Ole Opry radio show.
The Opry plans to honor Williams this weekend when his son, daughter and grandson perform at the Ryman Auditorium. Daughter Jett Williams is to play Friday night, while Hank Williams Jr. and Hank Williams III share the stage Saturday in a rare joint performance. The Saturday show was to be televised live at 8 p.m. EST on the cable network Country Music Television.
Some call Williams' debut at the Grand Ole Opry "the night of the blue smoke" because the crowd is said to have kicked up clouds of dust with its wild applause.
"I'd never seen anything like it before and never seen anything like it since," said Little Jimmy Dickens, a longtime Opry star who was there that night.
"He had something about him that people loved."
A wiry man with chiseled features and a cowboy hat, Williams played raw, honest songs such as "Cold Cold Heart," "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You)" and "Your Cheating Heart."
"Up until that point, country music was mired in the values and rhetoric of earlier days," Wolfe said. "Hank wrote about things people were really concerned about — divorce, loneliness, separation, drinking — real problems for real people."
But Williams' growing fame and his bouts with the bottle and pills began to take a toll. He found it harder to keep up with the Opry's vigorous schedule and missed shows. His performances often were erratic.
"He went on stage a lot of times when he shouldn't have," Dickens said. He described Williams as "the most moody man I think I've ever seen."
"One minute he'd be laughing and cutting up and telling funny stories, and the next minute he'd seem to be in deep thought about something."
Opry managers eventually asked Williams to leave. They sent him back to the Louisiana Hayride radio show in Shreveport, La., where he had cut his teeth before coming to the Opry. Wolfe compared it to a minor-league farm club.
"They thought he'd go down there and straighten himself out and come back," he said.
But Williams never made it back. He was found dead in the back seat of his Cadillac in West Virginia on New Year's Day 1953. He was on the way to a show in Canton, Ohio. The official cause of death: heart failure.
Some credit his continued popularity to his rebellious streak and untimely death, and of course to his music.
"You felt that this man had lived every line that he wrote, and in most cases he had," said Eddie Stubbs, a Grand Ole Opry announcer and on-air personality at WSM radio in Nashville.
Hank Williams Jr. said that despite his father's checkered history with the Opry, it is fitting that his music be commemorated there on the 50th anniversary of his death.
"It was his ultimate goal and dream to perform and be a member of the Grand Ole Opry," Williams said
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Posted by Jim Callicott on January 02, 2003 at 21:00:05:
Dick, not to add to any hype, but this is the only Hank Williams story I know. I grew up thinking the only claim to fame I had was the fact my older brother use to drink beer with Hank Williams. In fact he did, but it was before Hank became famous. In his early Louisiana Hayride days, Hank would come to Cullen, Louisiana, small town with a big honky tonk, and play for dances. My brother said that Hank would get the band kicked off, the come up front, get a beer, and start playing the pay-off pin ball machines. He'd go back, sing a couple of more songs, and repeat the process. Anyway, he and my brother go to know each other. My brother was drafted into the Army, and ended up stationed at Fort Dix(New Jersey, I think). He had been there a while when one day, there was Hank on the radio singing "Lovesick Blues". Brother had to listen to the radio all day long, until they played it again, just to make sure this was his ole drinking buddy from Louisiana. They never saw each other again.
Jim Callicott
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This week at the 'Grand Ole Opry'
TENNESSEAN.COM
By TIM GHIANNI
Entertainment Editor
''They get on me and want to know Hank why do you drink? Why do you roll smoke? Why must you live out the songs that you wrote.''
In that old rowdy tune, before the outlaw movement got out of hand, Hank Williams Jr. answered those questions in the song Family Tradition.
A celebration of the fellow who created that tradition, Hank Williams Sr., will take place in an uncommon occurrence on the Grand Ole Opry tomorrow night. That's when Bocephus and his son, Hank III, pay a tribute to their pop and grandpop in a special show at the Ryman.
Luke the Drifter died a half-century ago this New Year's Day. His body was already cold when his driver reached back to tap him near Oak Hill, W.Va.
There have been stories in recent weeks about the half-century mark of the death of Hank. Perhaps the most intriguing came the other day when our own Peter Cooper wrote about a trek he took in search of Hank's ghost along the death route from Knoxville to Oak Hill.
But those all are memories of a ghost. Eddie Jones is one of the guys who remembers Hank in life and in death.
Eddie, a good friend and former boss of this writer, was the entertainment columnist for the old Nashville Banner when Hank died 50 years ago.
''I wrote Opry stuff, went to rehearsals, picked up tidbits on the stars and wrote them,'' recalls Eddie, who was 28 years old back when the word came that Hank had died.
''The paper wanted to send someone, of course. And I was the logical person. They sent me and Johnny Morgan, our chief photographer, down to Montgomery (Ala.) to cover the funeral.
''We took the train. Went down early in the morning and came back late that night. It really wasn't a bad trip by train back then.''
There were a lot of mourners on the train. There also were chartered buses and even a planeload of stars in a charter organized by publishing magnate Wesley Rose.
Eddie remembers the funeral well. ''It was in the municipal auditorium. It was packed. There wasn't a seat in the place.
''Hank's coffin was right at the foot of the stage.
''And that stage, you could not walk on it for all the floral arrangements.''
Despite Hank's sometimes ''outlaw'' status — he was kicked off the Opry, after all — he was the top-tier country artist of his day.
''The people in the industry had tried to outdo each other (with the flowers),'' Eddie said, chuckling. ''There were truckloads of flowers.''
Eddie remembers that Audrey, Hank's ex, and his wife at the time sat on either side of the Drifter's mom in the front row.
''I can't remember who all performed,'' said Eddie. ''There were wall-to-wall tributes to Hank, interspersed with Ernest Tubb or someone doing a musical number, How Great Thou Art or the good old gospel songs.
''I would guess the service probably lasted about three hours. It went on and on and on.
''It was just so unique. I'd never been around anything like that before. It was impressive.''
Eddie's voice smiles when asked if he knew Hank at all.
''I had met him. . . . He was on the Opry for awhile and that kind of fizzled out or bombed out. And I had interviewed him a time or two.''
His favorite encounters with the legend came whenever Harold Bennett gave him a call.
''Harold ran a florist company in Melrose and for some reason, Hank and Harold were real good buddies.
''Hank would go in the back room, where Harold was making floral arrangements, and Hank would pick guitar and drink a little bit and maybe write a song or two.
''Harold would call me and say Hank was here. I'd get over there.''
Eddie pauses a moment to recall Hank as a human being, the fellow who picked guitar and drank while a florist made arrangements.
''In my limited contact with him, he was always pleasant. You could ask him about his work. He was very approachable and a very easy guy to communicate with.''
In the last 50 years, a lot of artists have died. Many under similar circumstances. Too young. Lived too fast. Had troubled personal lives.
But few have left the impact of Hank Williams, the impact that will be celebrated at the Opry tomorrow night.
''I think his legacy was that the songs that he wrote are still standards,'' said Eddie, reciting a slew of Hank titles.
''Hank Williams' music is still alive, even if Hank isn't.''
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Hank Williams Remembered After His Death
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Hank Williams (news)' tumultuous career and life ended on Jan. 1, 1953, but his legend has been growing for 50 years.
Williams died in the back seat of his blue Cadillac while on the way to a concert. He was only 29.
A half-century later, his grave in Montgomery is a major tourist attraction and two museums honor his memory, including one that displays the car in which he died.
"I think everyone liked Hank," said Don Helms, who played in Williams' band, the Drifting Cowboys.
Williams began performing in Montgomery talent shows and on a local radio station while in high school. He had his first big hit, "Move It on Over," in 1947. That was followed by many more, including "Lovesick Blues," "Your Cheatin' Heart" and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry."
His fame grew, as did stories about his personal demons. In 1951, he was hospitalized for treatment of alcohol problems and later for an overdose of pain medication that he took for a bad back.
He was fired from the Grand Ole Opry on Aug. 11, 1952, for missing show dates. A week later he was arrested for public drunkenness.
In late December, Williams hired 17-year-old Charles Carr to drive him from Montgomery to Canton, Ohio, for a Jan. 1 concert.
"We were just a couple of young guys on a car trip having fun," Carr, now 67, recalled recently.
Carr remembers Williams buying a pint of bourbon in Fort Payne, Ala., on Dec. 31. They stopped in Knoxville, Tenn., for bad weather to break and to get Williams treatment for hiccups. A doctor gave him two shots of morphine mixed with vitamin B-12.
They continued on, with Williams going to sleep in the back seat.
"He had his blue overcoat on and had a blanket over him that had fallen off," Carr said. "I reached back to put the blanket back over him and I felt a little unnatural resistance from his arm."
Carr pulled into a service station and got directions to the nearest hospital — six miles away in Oak Hill, W.Va.
"I ran in and explained my situation to the two interns who were in the hospital," Carr said. "They came out and looked at Hank and said, `He's dead.'"
The official cause of death was listed as heart failure, but the stories about liquor and pain killers endure.
Today, Williams is remembered at a museum in downtown Montgomery and another in his childhood home in Georgiana. An off-Broadway play, "Hank Williams: Lost Highway," is running in New York City.
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