Williams began his career following in his famed father's footsteps, covering his father's songs and imitating his father's style. Williams' first television appearance was in a 1964 episode of ABC's The Jimmy Dean Show, in which at age fourteen he sang several songs associated with his father. Later that year, he was a guest star on Shindig!.
Williams' style evolved slowly as he struggled to find his own voice and place within country music. This was interrupted by a near-fatal fall off the side of Ajax Peak in Montana on August 8, 1975. After an extended recovery, he challenged the country music establishment with a blend of country, rock, and blues. As a multi-instrumentalist, Williams' repertoire of skills includes guitar, bass guitar, upright bass, steel guitar, banjo, dobro, piano, keyboards, saxophone, harmonica, fiddle, and drums.
From 1989 through October 2011, his song "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight", refashioned as "All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night", had been used to open broadcasts of Monday Night Football until it was pulled after Williams made controversial comments comparing President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler. The song returned to open the show in 2017.
On August 12, 2020, Williams was selected to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Williams' early career was guided, some say outright dominated, by his mother Audrey Williams, who many claim was the driving force that led his father to musical superstardom during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Audrey, in many ways, wished for young Hank to be nothing more than a "Hank Williams, Sr. impersonator", sometimes going as far as to have clothes designed for him that were identical to his father's stage clothes and vocal stylings very similar to those of his father.
Although Williams' recordings earned him numerous country hits throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, he became disillusioned with his role as a 'Hank Williams clone' and severed ties with his mother in order to pursue his own musical direction and tastes. After recording the soundtrack to Your Cheatin' Heart, a biography of his father, Williams, Jr. hit the charts with one of his own compositions, "Standing in the Shadows". The song signalled a move to rock and roll and other influences as he stepped from the shadow of his father.
Also during this time, Williams had his first two No. 1 songs: "All For the Love of Sunshine" (1970, featured on the soundtrack to Kelly's Heroes) and "Eleven Roses" (1972).
By the mid-1970s, Williams had finally found the musical direction that would, eventually, make him a superstar. Williams' unique blend of traditional country with southern rock and blues earned him a devoted following, although some mainstream country radio stations wouldn't touch his new songs in this blatantly untraditional sound.
While recording a series of hit songs, Williams began abusing drugs, including alcohol and eventually tried to commit suicide in 1974. Moving to Alabama, Williams began playing music with Southern rock musicians Toy Caldwell, Marshall Tucker Band and Charlie Daniels, and others.
His last major success was "There's a Tear in My Beer", a duet with his father created using electronic dubbing techniques. The song itself was written by his father, presumably, sometime between 1950 and 1953 and was recorded with Hank Williams playing just his guitar. The music video for the song combined existing television footage of Hank Williams performing and the dubbing techniques transferred the image of Hank Jr. onto the screen, so it appeared as if he were actually playing with his father. The video was an overwhelming success, both critically and commercially. It was named Video Of The Year by both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country music. Hank Williams, Jr. would go on to win a Grammy award in 1990 for Best Country Vocal Collaboration.
Despite his slumping album sales, Hank Williams Jr. continued to be a popular concert draw during the early 1990s and continued to record, with several of his recordings during this time still managing to achieve gold status, selling 500,000 copies.
He is probably best known today as the performer of the theme song for Monday Night Football, based on "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight". The opening theme became a classic, as much a part of the show as the football itself. In 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994, Williams' opening themes for Monday Night Football would earn him four Emmy awards.
Williams opened for Super Bowl XL on February 5, 2006, on ABC and was in the stands as a Pittsburgh Steelers fan.
On April 10, 2006, CMT honored Williams with the Johnny Cash Visionary Award, presenting it to him at the 2006 CMT Music Awards.
On November 11, 2008, Williams was honored as a BMI Icon at the 56th annual BMI Country Awards. The artists and songwriters named BMI Icons have had "a unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers".
In 2011, Williams was named one of "Seven Living Legends" of his native Shreveport, Louisiana, by Danny Fox (1954–2014) of KWKH radio. Others named were Bob Griffin of KSLA and KTBS-TV and James Burton. Two others cited, Claude King and Frank Page, both died in 2013.
In 2015, Hank Williams Jr. was Inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame.
Dixie On My Mind
Hank Williams Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The way they did in sweet home Alabama
And the people here don't sip Jack Daniels whiskey
The way they do in that Tennessee mountain land
I've always heard lots about the big apple
So I thought I'd come up here and see
But all I've seen so far is one big hassle
If this is the promised land, I've had all I can stand
And I'm headed back below that Dixie line
No I just don't fit in and I'll never come back again
But I'm busted here with Dixie on my mind
Oh, I'm stuck up here and I got Dixie on my mind
These people never smile or say a word
They're all too busy tryin' to make an extra dime
Oh, I'd love to haul 'em all down around Spartanburg
And show 'em how to raise hell in Carolina
Oh, the things you know that I miss most of all
Is the freedom of the rivers and the pines
They don't do much huntin' and fishin' up here, ya know
But I have met a few squirrels and one porcupine
Well if this is the promised land, I've had all I can stand
Wish I was down in Houston town tonight
Now I just don't fit in and I'll never come back again
I'm busted here with Dixie on my mind
Oh, I'm stuck up here and I got Dixie on my mind
In Hank Williams Jr.’s song “Dixie On My Mind,” he laments about how different the North is from his beloved South. Hank reflects on the fact that the radio stations up North do not sign off with Dixie, unlike in his home state of Alabama. He also notes that the people in Tennessee do not sip Jack Daniels whiskey the way they do in Tennessee, and that the people up North are too busy making an extra dime to smile or say a word. He jokes that he’d love to show them how to “raise hell in Carolina.”
Hank is disillusioned with the Big Apple, and all he’s seen so far is a hassle. He misses the freedom of the rivers and the pines in the South and laments that he hasn’t been able to hunt or fish much in the North. Hank concludes that he doesn’t fit in up North and that he’ll never come back again, but he’s “busted” up North with Dixie on his mind.
In this song, Hank Williams Jr. is expressing his love for the South and his disdain for the North. It’s a common theme in country music, where the South is often romanticized and the North is seen as cold, industrial, and lacking in the warmth and charm of the South.
Line by Line Meaning
All the stations up here don't sign off with Dixie
The radio stations in this area don't play southern music.
The way they did in sweet home Alabama
Like they do in my hometown.
And the people here don't sip Jack Daniels whiskey
The locals don't know how to drink properly.
The way they do in that Tennessee mountain land
Like they do back in Tennessee.
I've always heard lots about the big apple
I've heard many things about New York City.
So I thought I'd come up here and see
So I decided to visit and see for myself.
But all I've seen so far is one big hassle
But all I've seen so far is chaos and confusion.
Wish I was camped out on the Okeechobee
I long to be back in my hometown, camping by the lake.
If this is the promised land, I've had all I can stand
If this is paradise, I can't take it any longer.
And I'm headed back below that Dixie line
I'm going back to the south.
No I just don't fit in and I'll never come back again
I don't belong here and I won't return.
But I'm busted here with Dixie on my mind
I'm stuck here thinking and dreaming of home.
Oh, I'm stuck up here and I got Dixie on my mind
I'm trapped here thinking about my southern roots.
These people never smile or say a word
The locals here are unfriendly and unapproachable.
They're all too busy tryin' to make an extra dime
Everyone is too focused on making money.
Oh, I'd love to haul 'em all down around Spartanburg
I wish I could bring them to my town to show them how to have fun.
And show 'em how to raise hell in Carolina
And teach them how to have a good time in the south.
Oh, the things you know that I miss most of all
The things I miss the most are the simple pleasures of home.
Is the freedom of the rivers and the pines
I miss the liberty of nature.
They don't do much huntin' and fishin' up here, ya know
Nobody hunts or fishes in this area, you see.
But I have met a few squirrels and one porcupine
But I have encountered some wildlife here.
Well if this is the promised land, I've had all I can stand
If this is heaven, I can't take it anymore.
Wish I was down in Houston town tonight
I wish I were back in Houston right now.
Now I just don't fit in and I'll never come back again
I don't belong here and I'm not coming back.
I'm busted here with Dixie on my mind
I'm stuck here thinking and dreaming of home.
Oh, I'm stuck up here and I got Dixie on my mind
I'm trapped here thinking about my southern roots.
Lyrics © BOCEPHUS MUSIC INC
Written by: HANK JR. WILLIAMS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@78Wayne1993
I went to New York recently - "one big hassle" is no joke. Played this song all the way home. 👍
@kayarthur7708
I love this song especially when he mentions Spartanburg, S.C. where I was born and still live here. He is a good one. Thanks Hank.
@hutchmorel2082
Yessir
@robertlewis9565
God Bless Hank Williams Jr!
@sabrinacarter8369
Yessssss. Spartanburg girl here, too. God's country
@trent3872
I was up in your neck of the woods couple days ago, son graduated basic at fort Jackson
From what I saw I loved it, lots of pine trees and pretty rivers and creeks. Reminds me of my home, cherokee county Alabama.
@jeffhale2278
I'm kinda partial to the Jack Danibles / TN mountains reference. 😉
@williamself1924
I was born in South Carolina and lived there for 10 years I'm 13 and my dads in the air force and we got stationed in Colorado and this song explains my life up here right now.
@arthurmorgan3451
I was born a yankee but I love the dixie spirit! Much appreciation for the old souls down south and the genuine values they live by🙏🏻
@JohnDoe-ep1cp
Yankees got the same just not the city folk.