Hank
Williams Sr's soulful,
lonesome and at times mournful voice along with his skill for writing
brilliant songs is
what made him one of the most significant and
most influential singers in the history of country
music.
Hank was born in
September 17th 1923. in a small farming community of Mount Olive near Georgina,
Alabama. His giving name at birth Hiram King
Williams. His father worked on the railroad as an
engineer.
His mother played the organ in their church. Hank taught
himself to play the guitar when he was 10 just from
watching others
Hank 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)
In his teens,
Hank learned to play and sing country songs that he heard
on the family radio, and picked up some blues chords from
a friend who was a street musician named, Tee-Tot
(Rufus Payne). When he was 14 Hank formed his own band. He
played at hoedowns.
At sixteen,
living in Montgomery, Hank quit school and began his music
career in earnest. He had made his first radio appearance
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. He had come to
the attention of several Nashville artists and
music business big wigs. However his reputation as a
singer was already matched by the one he'd built for
drinking and unreliability. Most considered him an unsafe
bet.
Hank met
his first wife Audrey during a traveling show and they
were married in December 1944 at a Alabama gas station.
Audrey had a two year old daughter named lycreica from a
pervious marriage. Audrey was a strong-willed woman who
became Hank's booking agent, road manager.
It was Audrey who encouraged Hank to
perform on stage and helped book gigs outside Alabama.
Audrey learned to play stand-up bass (well enough, anyway,
to play in the band)
The year was
1946 Audrey and Hank went to Nashville to meet with Fred
Rose . To get a publishing deal. Fred asked Hank to write
a song on the spot, Hank wrote "Mansion on the
Hill" a song that landed Hank a publishing contract
with Acuff-Rose.
During the
late 1940's Hank, a tall, slender singer with a white cowboy
hat with a short brim. Hank had his peak years at MGM
Records who signed him for a recording contract, and he became
a regular on Louisiana Hayride .
Hank
Williams recorded many songs between 1946 and 1952,
what is still acknowledged as the most important legacy in
country music.
In 1949,
Hank and Audrey's son Hank Jr was born. It was a highlight
for Hank when he asked to join the Grand Ole Opry in
Nashville, He made his Opry stage debut on June 11,
1949. It is said that he did 7 encores that night and
people were so thrilled to see him, they stamped their feet
so hard it stirred up dust that filled the air with a blue
haze in the stage lights.
The years 1949
to 1950, Hank Williams, Sr. Was country music's top artist
with hits like "Lovesick Blues," "My
Bucket's Got a Hole in It," "Moanin' the
Blues," and "Why Don't You Love Me." His
1951 hits included "Hey, Good Lookin'"
"Cold, Cold Heart," and "I Can't Help It
(If I'm Still in Love with You)." Hits of 1952 were
"Honky Tonk Blues," "Jambalaya," and
"I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive."
Hank's extraordinary
success came with a cost. Hank had been a
heavy drinker since his late teens, Hank proved to be an
undependable performer when be began showing up for
concerts drunk. Sometimes he would not show up at all.
Audrey and Hank divorced in 1951 because of their constant
fights over his drinking, the Drifting Cowboys began
to
become disillusioned with him too.
As 1952 moved
on, Hank appeared to care less about his career. His
concerts were few, and by June he had stopped performing
altogether. In August, the Grand Ole Opry fired him Hank
moved out of Nashville, and went back to Montgomery.
Fred Rose
negotiated his return to the Louisiana Hayride as of
September, and Hank moved back to Shreveport that month.
In October, he married Billie Jean Jones Eshliman. . By
this time, another woman, Bobbie Jett, was expecting
his child.
Hank worked in
Shreveport from September to December 1952. Most of his
concerts were in beer halls. His drunkenness was now a
serious problem compounded by medication. Through it all, though, Hank
never seemed to miss in the studio.
Even as he
played small halls in East Texas, his single of
"Jambalaya" was #1. If anything, his hits
increased as his bookings diminished. Just
before Christmas 1952 Hank took a break from the Hayride
and returned to Montgomery to rest. On December 30 he left
for two dates in Charleston, West Virginia, and Canton,
Ohio, but died en route.
He may have died on December 31,
1952, in the back seat of his chauffeured Cadillac, and
was pronounced dead early on January 1, 1953, in Oak Hill,
West Virginia
