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.
Mule Skinner Blues
Hank Williams Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Good morning to you sir hey hey yeah
Do you need another mule skinner
Down on your new mud run hey hey yeah
Yodel-a-ee-he-he
He-he-he-he-he-he
From down old Tennessee way, hey, hey
I come from Tennessee
And I can make any mule listen
Or I won't accept your pay hey hey
I won't take your pay
Yodel-a-ee-he-he
He-he-he-he-he-he
Well hey hey little water boy
Won't you bring your water 'round hey hey
If you don't like your job
Well you can throw your bucket down
Throw it down boy throw it down
Yodel-a-ee-he-he
He-he-he-he-he-he
Well I've been working down in Georgia
At a Greezy Spoon Cafe hey
Been workin' in Georgia
Just to let a no good man
Call every cent of my pay hey hey
And I'm sick of it, I want to be a mule skinner
Yodel-a-ee-he-he
He-he-he-he-he-he
Yodel-a-ee-he-he
He-he-he-he-he-he
Mule skinner blues
The song "Mule Skinner Blues" is about someone who wants to become a mule skinner working on a mud run, which is a construction site. The singer of the song is a lady mule skinner from Tennessee who is pretending to be a man in order to get a job. She boasts that she can make any mule listen or she won't accept pay. She sings about the water boy who brings water to the workers and tells him he can throw down his bucket if he doesn't like his job. She then says she has been working at a greasy spoon cafe in Georgia and is tired of a no-good man taking all her pay. She wants to be a mule skinner instead.
The song is a traditional American folk song that has been covered by many different artists, including Hank Williams Jr. The lyrics reflect the struggle for basic survival during the Great Depression when jobs were hard to come by. The lyrics also reflect the changing roles of women in the workforce during World War II. Women were encouraged to work to replace the men who were fighting in the war. The song has become a classic because of its catchy tune and the universal theme of wanting to find a better job and a better life.
Line by Line Meaning
Well good morning captain
Greetings, captain.
Good morning to you sir hey hey yeah
I wish you a good morning, sir.
Do you need another mule skinner
Are you in need of another person to handle the mules?
Down on your new mud run hey hey yeah
At your new location where mules are needed.
Yodel-a-ee-he-he
Expression of joy or enthusiasm.
Well I'm a lady mule skinner
I am a female professional who handles mules.
From down old Tennessee way, hey, hey
Hailing from Tennessee.
I come from Tennessee
I am from the state of Tennessee.
And I can make any mule listen
I possess the ability to get any mule's attention.
Or I won't accept your pay hey hey
I demand that I am properly compensated for my work.
I won't take your pay
I refuse your payment if I am not respected for my skills.
Well hey hey little water boy
Hello there, young man carrying water.
Won't you bring your water 'round hey hey
May I kindly ask you to bring the water to us.
If you don't like your job
If you feel unhappy about your current work.
Well you can throw your bucket down
You are free to quit and never come back.
Throw it down boy throw it down
Do not hesitate, go ahead and quit if you do not want to do the job.
Well I've been working down in Georgia
Recently, I have been employed in the state of Georgia.
At a Greezy Spoon Cafe hey
Specifically, I have cooked in a low-grade restaurant.
Just to let a no good man
Only to have an unpleasant person
Call every cent of my pay hey hey
Take all of the money I work hard to earn.
And I'm sick of it, I want to be a mule skinner
I am tired of being cheated and want to become a professional mule handler instead.
Mule skinner blues
Feeling the desire to become a mule skinner.
Contributed by Sarah I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Tony Harden
Please keep these coming I love Hank Jr's MGM stuff so much!
Hazel Conn
Amazing
🥰 warm heart; not a pacifist tho`
Ooooh SNAP! I'm lovin this one Hank Jr.!!!
Gary whitmer Whitmer
Dam that’s badass!!
Rosella Cestarioli
Questa canzone l ha suonavo sempre ma in un altra versione ( il blues del mandriano) cercavo di imitare
🥰 warm heart; not a pacifist tho`
GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!!!!
- Robin Williams