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.
I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink
Hank Williams Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Could quit doing wrong, start doing right
You don't care about what I think
I think I'll just stay here and drink
Putting you down won't square the deal
Least you know the way I feel
Take all the money in the bank
Listen close and you can hear
That loud jukebox playin' in my ear
Ain't no woman gonna change the way we think
I think I'll just stay here and drink
Hurting me now don't mean a thing
Since loving you, don't feel no pain
My mind ain't nothing but a total blank
I think I'll just stay here and drink
Mind ain't nothing but a total blank
Think I'll just stay here and drink
The song "I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink" by Hank Williams Jr. is a country song that showcases a common theme in country music - drinking away one's sorrows. The song talks about how the singer could have been holding his love, but instead, he chooses to just sit and drink his problems away. He admits that he knows he is doing wrong, but he just can't seem to stop. He also implies that no woman could change the way he thinks, and hence, he is just going to stay where he is and drink.
The song is a reflection of how people use alcohol as an escape from their problems. It’s a classic example of how a man resorts to drinking when things don’t go his way, and he doesn't have anyone to turn to. The song also tells the story of how the man's mind becomes a 'total blank' when he drinks, so he just decides to drink and forget about his problems.
Overall, the song is an emotional ballad about how people use alcohol to alleviate their pain, and how some people just can't seem to break away from the cycle of drinking.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, I could be holding you tonight
Although I have the option to be with you tonight, I am choosing not to.
Could quit doing wrong, start doing right
I know I should change my ways but it's easier said than done.
You don't care about what I think
It's apparent that your feelings towards me don't reflect concern.
I think I'll just stay here and drink
I've decided that drinking is a better option than trying to fix our relationship.
Putting you down won't square the deal
Insulting you won't solve our problems.
Least you know the way I feel
At least you understand my perspective on the situation.
Take all the money in the bank
Even if I were financially stable, I'd still choose to drink rather than confront our issues.
I think me and ol' Hank sit here and drink
Drinking alone with my thoughts is better than trying to talk to you.
Listen close and you can hear
If you focus, you can hear the loud jukebox that I'm listening to.
That loud jukebox playin' in my ear
The music is distracting me from my thoughts and emotions.
Ain't no woman gonna change the way we think
No matter what you say, I won't change my ways.
I think I'll just stay here and drink
I've decided that drinking is a better option than trying to fix our relationship.
Hurting me now don't mean a thing
At this point, I am numb to the pain you cause me.
Since loving you, don't feel no pain
Being with you may have caused me pain in the past, but now that I'm not invested, I feel nothing.
My mind ain't nothing but a total blank
All I can think about is drinking and avoiding our issues.
Think I'll just stay here and drink
I've decided that drinking is a better option than trying to fix our relationship.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Merle Haggard
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@seanhaley857
I think a more accurate title is Merle Haggard (feat. Hank Williams Jr.)
@michaelbrown4181
For real
@christian223031
Well its posted on hank Williams channel so..
@terryblankenshipmusic1322
Well it is Merle’s song and a hit for him at that , but this version right here was on a Hank Jr. Album
@arh948
Hank...". I'll follow the way you do it" ..... total respect. RIP Mighty Merle
@dylanangusnixon295
THANK GOD you did this when you did, Hank. God bless you both.
@bigcountry1978
It doesn't get much better than this.
@aaronwag2459
Big Country if there is something better it's something I missed.
@mikeconnors1599
Right on brother
@williamsherman1089
👍