Hank Williams: “A Tribute To Hank Williams: Hillbilly Shakespeare”

Did you know that Hank Williams’ last performance was given at an American Federation of Musicians’ privat Christmas party for Montgomery (Alabama) Local 479 members?

The singer/songwriter/performer sang a couple of numbers at the party just a few days before he died in the back seat of a car taking him to a New Years Day gig in Canton, Ohio.

Did you know that Hank Williams’ last performance was given at an American Federation of Musicians’ privat Christmas party for Montgomery (Alabama) Local 479 members?

The singer/songwriter/performer sang a couple of numbers at the party just a few days before he died in the back seat of a car taking him to a New Years Day gig in Canton, Ohio.

The main attraction who had been booked for the bash was Hank’s pal, Leo Hudson. Hudson and the crowd encouraged the entertainer to get up and sing a couple of numbers at the Casino Lounge on Commerce Street in Montgomery. Needless to say, none of them knew it would be his last performance.

Williams’ music continues to be popular nearly 50 years after his death. The mercury 10-CD collector’s set, The Complete Hank Williams released a year ago, brought even more attention to Williams and his music. Two of the finds on the CD were Hank’s duet with Anita Carter on “I Can’t Help It” for “The Kate Smith Hour” television show, and a Shreveport, LA. Transcription from KWKH Radio of Hank, Kitty Wells and Johnny Wright on “Dear Brother (Mama Left Us This Morning).”

The booklet included in the CD box set, written by Colin Escott, places the “Dear Brother” performance date in 1948, but that is highly unlikely as the Acuff-Rose tune wasn’t published until 1949. Hank first recorded the weeper on March 1, 1949 in Nashville with his wife, Audrey, who was pregnant with Hank Jr. at the time. In late May, MGM released the Williams’ duet “Dear Brother,” while on Thursday, May 26, in Shreveport, Audrey gave birth to Randall Hank Williams, nicknamed Bocephus by his dad.

If Hank made his farewell appearance on the Louisiana Hayride on June 4, 1949, it’s more likely that Kitty and Johnny filled in for Audrey on the song either in late May or sometime before Hank’s finale.

Hank made his historic Grand Ole Opry debut on June 11, 1949, receiving an unprecedented six encores from the 3500 fan assembled at the downtown Ryman Auditorium, and a clear transcript from that memorable gig is included in Mercury’s CD package.

It is indisputable that Hank Williams was one of the greatest influences in not just country music, but all of today’s music. Marty Stuart, president of the Country Music Foundation, calls Williams “the stenographer of human emotions; he was it for us (country music). It was a good thing we had first claim on him, because the world has him now.”

Williams had his first million-selling country record in 1949 with his number one revival of “Lovesick Blues,” a 1939 Rex Griffin hit. Eleven of Williams’ own compositions also achieved million-seller status: “My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It,” “Long, Gone Lonesome Blues,” “Moanin’ The Blues,” “Cold, Cold Heart,” “Hey Good Lookin’,” “Honky Tonk Blues,” “Jambalaya,” “I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive,” “Kaw-Liga,” “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” and “Ramblin’ Man.”

Despite his short life and brief six-year recording career, Williams attained 37 Top 10 singles, with hits spanning 42 years, from the 1947 Top Five ranking with “Move It On Over” to the 1989 duet with son, Hank Jr., on “There’s A Tear In My Beer.” The latter was an electronically-produced recorded duet as well as an award-winning video.

Of course other artists helped popularize Williams songs further, among them Hawkshaw Hawkins with “Pan American,” Tony Bennett’s “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” Frankie Laine and Jo Staffor with “Hey, Good Lookin’,” Tommy Edwards’ “You Win Again,” Ray Charles’ version of “Take These Chains From My Heart” and B.J. Thomas with “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.”

The list continues with Linda Ronstadt’s “I Can’t Help It,” Jerry Lee Lewis’ “I Could Never Be Ashamed Of You” and “You Win Again,” also redone by Charley Pride. Pride also recorded “Kaw-liga” and “Honky Tonk Blues.” Rosemary Clooney had a pop smash with “Half As Much,” which was recorded by Williams, although he didn’t write it.

Proof of Williams’ reigning popularity was exhibited in September of 1998 when the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville celebrated the 75^th anniversary of Williams’ birth. Williams was enshrined in the Country Music Hall of Fame during its first year, 1961.

The 75^th anniversary celebration included an unveiling of a bronze likeness of “the Hillbilly Shakespeare” by sculptor Bill Rains. The artist and an assistant took six days to haul the eight-foot bronze statue on a low bed truck from Montana to Nashville.

An earlier bronze statue of Williams was unveiled on Sept. 17 1991 in Montgomery, Ala. Site of an annual festival celebrating the singer’s great talents. Last year, a Hank Williams’ museum was dedicated, also on Sept. 17, in the city’s old train depot at 300 Water Street.

Helping further to commemorate the 75^th year of his birth in 1998, Martin Guitar introduced a Hank Williams model D-28HW Limited Edition Instrument. There is also a fan club under the direction of Mary Wallace of Georgiana, Ala.

Williams’ comet burned out on New Year’s Day, 1953, enroute to a show in Canton, Ohio. He was 29 years old. As evidenced by the number of new singers who continue to cite Williams as an influence, the interest in his recording and the number of people Williams who filed through the Country Music Hall of Fame to see the Hank Williams special exhibit, are all assurances that his music will last forever, shining brightly in the musical firmament.

Hank Jr. says it well when he proclaims “Hank Williams will outlive us all! His music is constant – he is looked at as the Rockabilly King by many people (he’s a posthumous Forefather member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, located in Cincinnati, Ohio) – I know he always keeps the pressure on me, and I love it!”