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.
Honky Tonk Blues
Hank Williams Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I told my paw I'm going steppin' out
And get the honky-tonk blues
Yeah, the honky-tonk blues
Well, lord, I got 'em
I got the ho-on-ky tonk blues
Well, I went to a dance and I wore out my shoes
Them jumpin' honky-tonk blues
Yeah, the honky-tonk blues
Good lord, I got 'em
I got the ho-on-ky tonk blues
Well, I stopped into every place in town
This city life has really got me down
I got the honky-tonk blues
Yeah, the honky-tonk blues
Well, lord I got 'em
I got the ho-on-ky tonk blues
I'm gonna tuck my worries underneath my arm
And scat right back to my pappy's farm
And leave these honky-tonk blues
Yeah, the honky-tonk blues
Good lord, I got 'em
I got the ho-on-ky tonk blues
The lyrics of Hank Williams's Honky Tonk Blues reflect the singer's longing for a simpler life back home in the rural area. It begins with him leaving his home, telling his father he wants to experience some nightlife and ends with him deciding to return to his roots, tuck his worries under his arm and head back ‘home’. This is indicative of how the fast-paced city life can sometimes take its toll on an individual's psyche.
The verses in the song describe Williams's experiences, particularly at the honky-tonk bar where he wears out his shoes dancing to the point where he wakes up with a severe case of the honky-tonk blues. He bemoans the city life, which he finds exhausting and decides to leave it all behind and return to the countryside. The repetition of the phrase "the honky-tonk blues" and the raw emotion in Williams's delivery give the song a bleak, introspective vibe, which explains his longing for a simpler rural life.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, I left my home down on the rural route
I departed from my rural hometown
I told my paw I'm going steppin' out
I informed my father that I'm going out
And get the honky-tonk blues
To experience the feeling of being in a honky-tonk bar
Yeah, the honky-tonk blues
the feeling of being in a honky-tonk bar
Well, lord, I got 'em
I am currently experiencing the honky-tonk blues
I got the ho-on-ky tonk blues
I am suffering from the honky-tonk blues
Well, I went to a dance and I wore out my shoes
At a dance, I danced so much that my shoes were completely worn out
Woke up this mornin' wishin' I could lose
The next morning I woke up and wished I could shake off
Them jumpin' honky-tonk blues
The intense feeling of being in a honky-tonk bar
Good lord, I got 'em
I am still experiencing the honky-tonk blues
I got the ho-on-ky tonk blues
I am still suffering from the honky-tonk blues
Well, I stopped into every place in town
I visited every establishment in the city
This city life has really got me down
Living in the city is getting me down
I got the honky-tonk blues
I am feeling the honky-tonk blues
Yeah, the honky-tonk blues
The intense feeling of being in a honky-tonk bar
Well, lord I got 'em
I am still experiencing the honky-tonk blues
I'm gonna tuck my worries underneath my arm
I will put away my concerns
And scat right back to my pappy's farm
I will return to my father's farm
And leave these honky-tonk blues
I will escape the feeling of being in a honky-tonk bar
Yeah, the honky-tonk blues
The intense feeling of being in a honky-tonk bar
Good lord, I got 'em
I am still experiencing the honky-tonk blues
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HANK WILLIAMS SR.
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
sauquoit13456
In the April 26th, 1952 issue of Billboard Magazine, Hank Williams' "Honky Tonk Blues"* peaked at #2 {for 1 week} on it's 'Most-Played Country and Western Records On Juke Boxes' chart, and for the week it was at #2, the #1 record for that week was "Let Old Mother Have Her Way" by Carl Smith...
Between 1947 and 1989 the Mount Olive, Alabama native had forty three records on the Billboard's Country charts, thirty eight made the Top 10 with eleven reaching #1...
One of his forty three charted records was a duet with his son Hank Jr., "There's A Tear In My Beer", it peaked at #7 in 1989...
Hank Williams, born Hiram Williams, passed away at the young age of 29 on January 1st, 1953..
May he R.I.P.
*"Honky Tonk Blues" was Hank Williams' fourth of six of his records to peak at #2 on the Billboard C&W charts, the other five were "Wedding Bells" {1949} "My Bucket's Got A Hole In In" {1949}, "I Can't Help It" {1952}, "Half As Much" {1952}, and "Settin' The Woods On Fire" {1952}...
And from the 'For What It's Worth' department, the remainder of the Most-Played On Juke Boxes' Top 10 on April 26th, 1952:
At #3. "Gold Rush Is Over" by Hank Snow
#4. "Wild Side of Life" by Hank Thompson
#5. "Don't Stay Away" by Lefty Frizzell
#6. "Don't Just Stand There" by Carl Smith
#7. "Silver and Gold" by Pee Wee King
#8. "Wondering" by Webb Pierce
#9. "Slow Poke" by Pee Wee King
#10. "Bundle of Southern Sunshine" by Eddy Arnold
Aramonde Hasashi
Having all three sing on the same song and sound perfectly synced is awesome.
MsBeaver2011
What a privilege to hear these 3 men sing together!
Brady Barrows
When ever Hank 3 starts singing I still think it’s Hank Sr.
Gary Moon
You ant kidding he also looks just like the its like looking at a ghost
Donnie Dahlia
Wouldn't have been amazing if all 3 could've actually performed together
Eric Bolding
The Unforgotten
Gary Kerns
Did the 3 of them by any chance do "There's a Tear in my Beer"?
Jake The Cars and reactor videos
Gary Kerns no but hank jr and Sr did tear in my beer but not iii
Gary Kerns
OK, thanks. I wouldn't be surprised, though, if someday it does happen.
Tyler Cox
Jake Cars Reviews when was the tear in my beer music video shot