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Hank Williams Sr. - Biography
| 07-07-2006 19:59 | 0 reaction(s) | add reply |
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. |
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