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.
Hank
Hank Williams Jr. Lyrics
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Heavy drinker I don't know
They say Hank was a mighty heavy
Thinker I recon that's so
All the songs he wrote
Everything he said they didn't come
From a light thinkers head
Some say whiskey wrecked Hank's health
They say Hank sung a real good
Song and I'll say ‘He did'
Cause he opened up his heart and
He poured out the soul that most
Of the folks keep hid
Long as I live
I never forget he's the first
Singer that I ever met
They say he is the greatest
One yet I don't know
But I wouldn't be surprised at all
If that ain't so
They tell me Hank he ain't much
On looks I don't know
Lord, I seen his picture in lots of
Song books but I still don't know
They say he was weak for
The women and wine and
He looked plumb heartsick all the time
His songs put goose bumps right on my spine
That's all I know
They say Hank sung a real good
Song and I'll say ‘He did'
Because he opened up his heart and
He poured out the soul that most of the
Singers always keep hid yes he did
Long as I live I'm gonna regret I
Can't remember him singing me to bed
They say he is the greatest
One yet I don't know
But I wouldn't be surprised at all
If that ain't so no, I won't
I won't be surprised at all, if that ain't so
The Ballad of Hank by Hank Williams Jr. is a song that tells the story of his father's rise to fame and the various struggles he encountered along the way. The opening lines of the song ask Don, Hank's former employee, to share details about his experience working with Hank Williams Sr. The rest of the song goes on to detail the story of how Hank Sr. signed with a promoter in New Orleans in the 1950s, played various gigs, but blew through his money and eventually fired some members of his band, including Don. Despite this, Hank Sr. continued to rise in fame, while some people around him, such as Don, were left behind.
The song highlights the issues of substance abuse and financial mismanagement that plagued Hank Sr. throughout his career. The story also touches upon industry politics, with the owner of the Opry exerting influence over Hank Sr. by threatening to expose infidelities to his wife. Ultimately, the song portrays how Hank Sr.'s fame surpassed many of the people around him, who were left to continue their lives with little to show for their time spent working with him.
Line by Line Meaning
Don tell us how it really was when you was workin with daddy.
Asking Don to share his past experiences with Hank Williams Sr.
Well in 1950 I took a little nip Along with Mr. Williams on the way to Mississipp' We was stacked 8 deep in a Packard limousine And we met this promoter in the town of New Orleans Now the man told Daddy that he had what it took And he liked the way he sang and he liked the way he shook He said pretty soon he'd make us all rich And we started believin' that fat sumbitch
Recalling the early days when Hank Williams Sr. and the singer met a promoter who promised them fame and fortune, leading them to believe in him.
Daddy told the man if you wanna make some dough Take a little money and book me on a show And we played them dates and we filled the places well But Hank, he'd done blowed the profits all to hell
Hank Williams Sr. suggested the promoter book him for shows to make money, which they did, but Hank Jr. blew all the profits on alcohol and drugs.
'Cause he'd run through a 10 and he'd run through a 20 And he'd run through a 100 just as fast as it could go Like a big dose of sauce to a little bitty fella He'd spend a $1000 dollars on a $100 dollar show
Describing how Hank Jr. spent money recklessly on drugs and parties, wasting large sums of money on simple things.
Hank looked at me with a funny lookin' grin, Said "I've been to the Opry and I'm goin' back again" We met the owner in a little office there And a big fat fella with some artificial hair He told Hank he wanted half of everything he made Or he'd have to tell Audrey 'bout some women Hank had laid And you told Daddy he'd better get smart, Get rid of them fellas and make a new start
Recalling a moment when Hank Jr. accompanied Hank Sr. to meet the owner of the Opry, who threatened to expose Hank Sr.'s infidelities in exchange for half of the profits. Hank Jr. advised Hank Sr. to make changes.
And he fired my ass and he fired Jerry Rivers And he fired everybody just as hard as he could go He fired old Cedric and he fired Sammy Pruitt And he fired some people that he didn't even know
Revealing how Hank Sr. responded to Hank Jr.'s advice by firing band members and people on his team, even those who he didn't know personally.
Well, every song he made it went to number one, Y'all was workin' like hell and you was havin' fun We was ridin' every day and playin' every night And every 20 minutes some of us had a fight Now, Daddy he was makin' money hand over fist, And y'all was getting' screwed but you wasn't getting kissed Yeah, I told him to pass a little bit around But he said he'd rather send it to his folks in Alabam'
Noting that Hank Sr.'s success came at the expense of those who worked hard for him without receiving fair financial compensation. The singer encouraged Hank Sr. to share the wealth, but he was more interested in supporting his family in Alabama.
Now the owner of the Opry, he's a-doin' pretty good, He's got a music company that they call Cedarwood And Hank played nothing but sold out halls And I was pumpin' gas in greasy overalls
Reflecting on how the owner of Opry and Cedarwood Music Company profited greatly from Hank Williams Sr.'s success, while the artist worked a menial job.
Hank run through a 50 and he'd run through a 100 And he'd run through a 1000 just as hard as he could go Buying Cadillac coots paying double alimony And he fired some people that he didn't even know.
Reiterating how Hank Jr. wasted money on drugs and extravagant purchases, which led him to fire even more people from his team.
Don you know you, know you used to work for me one time I sure know that come but come to think of it you fired my ass back in 1972 Oh well it's a family tradition ya know? Yap yap yap yap But I kept Jerry Rivers Right right
Ending the song with playful banter between the artist and Don, acknowledging that they've had a complicated working history together but that certain things never change, like keeping Jerry Rivers on the team.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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