september 25, 2003 many stories have been written about hank williams, and being from alabama and not far from where he was born, hank williams is a person i have heard stories about all my life. he was born in olive hill on sept, 17 1923, to lilly and elonzo williams living in a small farm and logging community in southeastern alabama about sixty miles below montgomery. southeastern alabama hasen’t changed much in the last fifty years since hank wiiliams played in honky tonks and various other places trying to make a buck or two and carve out a living in the rual south that is as far away and different from new york, chicago and los angeles as humanlly possible. when hank begin his full time music career he played in troy, ozark, dothan, enterprise, geneva, opp, andalusia, brewton, bonifay, defuniak springs, crestview, pensacola, fla, and mobile, very small towns and very little money. such was the south in the early 1940′s. after all this time people in their late 70′s and early 80′s still have stories to tell about when hank williams played in their town and they are proud to talk about it. not many famous people have left such a legacy. hank williams was an original member of the lousiana hayride from it’s inception in 1948. hank had made several records when he became a member of the hayride and his name was getting around. the story goes that hank’s mother bought him a second hand guitar when he was twelve and he learned to play it with the help of a black man named tee-tot. very little exist about tee-tot other than he taught hank some songs and chords on his guitar. when he was sixteen he got a job playing and singing on radio station wsfa in montgomery. however, due to a drinking problem hank was let go. he dropped out of school in 1942 at seventeen and tried to join the navy, but couldn’t pass the physical due to a abnormality in his spine. he then went to the west coast to try his luck working in a ship yard. when that adventure didn’t work out he returned to alabama, and begin his career as a full time musician. he was playing in the troy and ozark, alabama area when his path crossed that of one audry mae sheppard. he fell madly in love with her and they were married in andalusia, alabama, in 1944. some of the records hank had already made by 1948 were “on the banks of the old ponchartrain” , “pan american” and “when god comes to gather his jewels”. copies were sent to the hayride hoping someone there would hear them and like them and that he would become a hayride member. like them they did and he was asked to join the hayride in 1948 as an original member. the louisiana hayride was broadcast over radio station kwkh in shreveport that had a booming 50,000 watts of power that could be heard over a wide and vast area covering well over seven states. after a short time on the hayride hank got a syrup company to sponser him for a fifteen minute show over kwkh. it paid good money and gave hank the extra exposure he needed and hank was on his way to becoming a big star. at the same time he struck a deal with acuff-rose for publication of his future songs – an extremely good move that would make hank williams and his family millions and millions of dollars in future royalties. hank had a song that he had recorded on m-g-m but was not yet releaced called “love sick blues”. he decided that song would be the first one he would sing on the hayride. when he got on stage and stepped up to the microphone and begin to sing the song the audience went crazy, abso-100%-lutely insane over it. they wanted to hear it over and over again, encore after encore they wouldn’t let him leave the stage. all hank had to do was just stand there and wiggle his leg a little and the yelling started all over again. hank williams had the wiggle and shake and it drove the women crazy. no one had seen anything like before he held the whole auditorium spell bound. sound like any one else you have heard of ??? this was 1948. hank williams had the crowd in the plam of his hand. after a few weeks the word got around about this boy from alabama that was tearing up the hayride and every saturday night the place was sold out. tickets had to be bought in advance and hundreds were turned away knowing they needed a ticket before they got there. on saturday night, when it came time for hank to perform the auidence would start to scream and yell, when he went into “love sick blues” the house would come down encore after encore no one could get enough of hank williams who was a young 24 years old. talk about (setting the woods on fire) he was burning up 50,000 watts of power and then some. hank williams didn’t write “love sick blues” however it became a monster of a hit and stayed on the charts for almost ten months. m-g-m quickly released “lost highway”, “you may never be alone”, “honky tonk blues”, “mind your own business”, “my son calls another man daddy”, and “your gonna change or i’m gonna leave”. all became big, big, hits. very shortly after those hits cooled, m-g-m released “i just told mama good by” and “wedding bells” which became hits as well. hank williams was riding high fame and fortune was all his to have. the one lasting love in hank williams life happened on thursday, may 26th 1949 when randall hank williams was born in bossier city. he would be known as hank jr. nothing for the rest of hank williams life would give him more joy than hank williams jr, who he loved to call “bocephus”. the star of hank williams was shining brighter and brighter and his rise to stardom was most likely the fastest of any entertainer who ever lived. hank williams was now bigger than the louisiana hayride could handle. the grand old opry in nashville was calling. and hank williams was about to embark on a metor ride that would take him to heights that no one had ever been before. it would be a lonely ride that would take him to the top of a mountain that no human could get down from, and as he looked around from the view at the top of the world one might wonder was he happy?? he was about to spread his wings for the flight of his life into a hurricane of fame that would end his life in less than three years. hank williams made his first appearence on the grand old opry on june 11th 1949. before his first appearence he could walk the streets of nashville unoticed, after his june 11th debut he could go no where in nashville without people stopping to shake his hand and get an autograph. if he went into a resturant he got mobbed by his fans once they saw him, everyone wanted to be able say guess who imet today? hank williams the guy who made “love sick blues”. it was a packed ryman auditorium june 11, 1949, three thousand five hundred and seventy five to be exact on a hot sticky night setting on bench’s that summer, waiting for hank williams to make his first appearance on the grand old opry, and to witness rock-a-billy’s first super star. and you thought elvis was the first? think again? if you think elvis was the first to knock women out in mass numbers? dial that number again? and if you really think elvis was the first to shake a leg on stage and make women scream?? better dail 911 for help. ole hank did it in 1949 like it had never been done before, at least not at the ryman auditorium. hank williams made ‘em scream and yell more more more and he had an exception the (guys liked him also), they bought as many of his records as did the women. no one has ever had such an impact as did hank williams on june 11, 1949 at the grand old opry. he got seven encores, a record that was never broken, not at the ryman auditorium. that record stills stands. he had it all, he was tall dark and handsome with a beautiful smile that drove women crazy. he wrote and recorded great records “i’m so lonesome i could cry”, “cold cold heart”, “hey good looking”, all this happened in 1950 when hank was 27. from sept of 1949 to april of 1950 hank william’s earned over four hundred thousand dollars. thats equal to over four million dollars today. by 1951 hank william’s records were selling by the millions and “cold cold heart” was heading for no. 1 on the charts. when he died at 29 on new years day 1953, “jambalaya” was headed for no. 1 other hits would follow: “your cheatin heart” and “kawliga” which became a smash hit was written at kawliga, a man made beach about fifteen miles above tallassee, alabama, located on beautiful lake martin. the last time i was there, kawliga the ole wooden indian was still standing, at little worse for ware, but still there. i took a picture of him for ole times sake remembering those days when myself some of my friends used to swim there. i had a friend named (joyce durrough) who would keep saying i just love to hear him sing (house of gold). so many years ago it was. other hits were “take these chains from my heart” and “mansion on the hill”. hank williams is most likely the best male country singer that ever lived and the fact that he’s from alabama would make him a friend of mine if for no other reason. what i can say for sure is this hank williams was (rock-a-billy), and the first (rock-a-billy super star.) “move it on over,” pure rock-a-billy – it’s got that jumped up beat to it. many rock-a-billy artist covered his songs, gene vincent did “i can’t help it”, jerry lee lewis did “you cheatin heart” plus many more of hank’s songs. rick nelson did “my buckets got a hole in it” which was on the flip side of “believe what you say”. hank paved the road to rock-n-roll with “love sick blues”, which was most likely the first rock-a-billy song that went to no. 1 nationwide. sanford clarks “the fool” reminds one of “love sick blues” which is a very good recording. someone once said (nothing is new) follow the footsteps back to what you believe is the (original) and there you’ll find someone has already been there and done what you thought had never been done. elvis was not the first rock-a-billy artist. hank williams got there first. hank williams’ creative work took less than five years. yet today fifty years after his passing, his songs are still being recorded by someone in the entertainment business. hank williams was and is a country music legend, but his greatness goes far beyond what we call great he crossed over to blues and jazz and pop music. he had rock-a-billy in his soul. take a walk some clear cool summer night to your favorite lake, river, stream, or pond sit down quietly by the water and look up at the stars and let the heavens surround you and if you listen, really listen, you’ll hear ole hank singing “love sick blues”, oh yeah, the beautiful sound of “rock-a-billy music.”

~ Widmarc Clark