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.
Knoxville Courthouse Blues
Hank Williams Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I don't wanna go to the movies couldn't if I wanted to cuz I'm on trial for lovin' you
Now this all started in a honky tonk just the other side of town
A girl come in took a stool by me ordered gin and drank it down
She lit up a cigarette sexly turned around
Well she said my name is Jannie and asked me what was mine
I answered Hank as I walked to the jukebox droppin' a dime
checked out her short dress low neck line
Kissed her lips and squeezed her hips and judged about twenty three
Whispered in my ears I said yes siree
Now the scene is a little motel out on the state highway
There in room 12 little love is about to take place
And a state trooper breaks down the door shines a flash light in my face
I said what the hell is this and another man and woman come in
And the girl I'm with starts cryin' and screamin' and she runs over to them
Said thank God you're here he tried to hurt me mama
I said now you don't mean the cop says son the girl is seventeen
So that's why I'm in Knoxville courthouse and the judge passed sentence on me
And it's ten long years for statutory rape in the state penitentiary
Lord I can't believe this is happened to me
So when next time you give a girl the eye she gives you that certain smile
Just remember under that woman's breast may beat the heart of a child
Don't you let yourself be the one to help a mixed up kids go wild
This story happened a lot that's true
But you better hope and pray it never happens to you
The song Knoxville Courthouse Blues by Hank Williams Jr. is a sad tale of a man who ends up in jail for having a relationship with an underage girl. The song begins with the singer sitting in the Knoxville courthouse with nothing to do as he waits for his trial for loving an underage girl. He recounts how he met the girl in a honky tonk bar across town. She introduced herself as Jannie, and they danced together for a few minutes before they went to a motel to have sex. Unfortunately, a state trooper bursts into their room shining a flashlight in the singer's face when he is about to have sex with Jannie. The singer is then sentenced to ten years for statutory rape in the state penitentiary.
The song's lyrics evoke a sense of sadness as the singer laments his predicament. He realizes that he has made a grave mistake by having a relationship with an underage girl. The message of the song is a warning to adult men not to take advantage of young girls, as the consequences are severe. The lyrics highlight the importance of being aware of the age of a person before starting a romantic relationship with them.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm sittin' in Knoxville courthouse ain't got a thing to do
I am sitting inside the courthouse in Knoxville with no activities to do.
I don't wanna go to the movies couldn't if I wanted to cuz I'm on trial for lovin' you
I cannot go watch a movie even if I want to as I am on trial for loving you.
Now this all started in a honky tonk just the other side of town
The incident began in a bar located on the other end of the town.
A girl come in took a stool by me ordered gin and drank it down
A girl came to the bar and sat next to me and ordered a gin which she consumed.
She lit up a cigarette sexly turned around
She lit up a cigarette and moved seductively in my direction.
Well she said my name is Jannie and asked me what was mine
She introduced herself as Jannie and asked me for my name.
I answered Hank as I walked to the jukebox droppin' a dime checked out her short dress low neck line
As I walked to the jukebox, I introduced myself as Hank and checked out her short dress with a low-neckline.
Well we danced for five or ten minutes and I held her close to me Kissed her lips and squeezed her hips and judged about twenty three Whispered in my ears I said yes siree
We danced for a short while and I held her tightly while kissing her lips, caressing her hips to which I judged her to be approximately 23 years old. She whispered in my ears that I believed what she said.
Now the scene is a little motel out on the state highway There in room 12 little love is about to take place And a state trooper breaks down the door shines a flash light in my face
We were about to make love in a little motel located beside the state highway. However, a state trooper broke down the door and shone a flashlight directly into my face.
I said what the hell is this and another man and woman come in And the girl I'm with starts cryin' and screamin' and she runs over to them Said thank God you're here he tried to hurt me mama
When another man and woman entered, the girl with me started crying and screaming while running towards them. She claimed that I tried to hurt her and thanked them for coming to help.
I said now you don't mean the cop says son the girl is seventeen
I claimed that she could not be telling the truth, but the cop clarified that she's seventeen years old.
So that's why I'm in Knoxville courthouse and the judge passed sentence on me And it's ten long years for statutory rape in the state penitentiary
I'm currently in Knoxville courthouse, and the judge gave me a ten-year sentence in the state penitentiary for statutory rape.
Lord I can't believe this is happened to me
I am still unable to believe this incident occurred to me.
So when next time you give a girl the eye she gives you that certain smile Just remember under that woman's breast may beat the heart of a child Don't you let yourself be the one to help a mixed up kids go wild This story happened a lot that's true But you better hope and pray it never happens to you
So, the next time a girl gives you a seductive look and smile, remember that she may be underage. Do not be the cause that makes a child troubled or leads her astray. This is a story that occurs frequently, but you should hope and pray that it never happens to you.
Contributed by Brayden J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.